The denim skirt - how unoriginal, right?
I'm not writing about ground breaking trends here, 2018 has given us enough of those already. But we're currently experiencing actual hot weather in the UK and with that, the revelation of legs are upon us.
There is something about bare legs that I find distinctly risqué. I am a trouser aficionado, feeling more comfortable with my stems firmly clothed, not having to worry about positioning all limbs just-so, bracing myself for an unsuspecting gust of wind and at all costs trying to avoid a knickers flash. However, recently I started experimenting with mid length skirts as an introductory foray, a toe dip if you will, into pins-out season. The breeze about my ankles was pleasant and much welcomed in this oppressive heat and soon enough I was tempting hemlines ever shorter, shins and calfs were exposed, knees peaked out and thighs were grazed, which led to the rediscovery of the denim skirt.
The denim skirt has an insouciance similar to that of a Breton top or a brogue. However, I have always fallen short of imbuing this basic with the essence of myself that I feel necessary to do with all of my outfits. Without this 'myselfness', I rather, unsurprisingly, don't feel like myself, which affects my confidence and thus my day-to-day interactions with society. Not to be defeated and coupled with this oppressive heat wave, I decided to push through this self-imposed boundary and actually attempt a denim mini skirt. I can't say that I have made peace with tailored renditions of denim, the noughties flashbacks being all too vivid. However, I have come to the internal compromise of a loose fit, raw hemmed denim skirt, something casual and imbued with nonchalance.
Yet, once this had been decided, I was struck by another obstacle; the illusive partner to the denim skirt. I had always considered the denim mini too basic, like UGGs or bootleg jeans. A fashion faux pas that spoke of stunted style and asphyxiation of inspiration, in short, visual boredom. However, this got me to thinking; what separates the denim mini from a pair of denim jeans? Them being just as basic, if not more so, considered the Everyman staple, appropriate for most occasions and befitting any and all weathers. Once this comparison had been made, an adjustment of mindset ensued. The very blandness that had before spoken only of vanilla, now became a visual signifier of potential. Anything goes: blouses, t-shirts, jumpers, a bikini, dressed up or down, to the beach, to the bar, to lounge in, to adventure in, smartened up, casual-ed down. Little thought enabled an outfit; a lazy girl's 'how-to' in easy dressing without the basic b***h connotations.
The blank canvas of the denim mini skirt became a palette cleanser of sorts, enabling personal expression to abound. The difference laying in the nuances that separate bland and blank, as in the denim mini skirt being a blank space to project the many facets of personal style and the many renditions of expression it affords one.
(Photos via : whowhatwear, songofstyle & lovestylemindfulness.co.uk)
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