Skirting The Issue Redux

People seemed to like my post about velvet, (Sartorial Sadness) so I thought I’d try another fashion meditation. It beats politics, right?

I would swear there was a time in the early 70s when I did not even own a dress or skirt. To be dressed up was a “pants suit” à la Hillary.

Then came Dress For Success, wherein we were instructed that for business, we should wear skirted suits. That was the highest-authority garb for professional,women, pants suits made us look like “imitation men”. So that’s what I wore to go to court or meet clients. And I had dresses that I could wear with the obligatory blazer.

But, for casual wear, it was still, more than ever, all pants all the time. Especially for traveling! If you did much travel back in the days when we could, lemme ask ya: didja. ever see globe-trotting American women wearing skirts or dresses?

Well, you know me (doncha?)—I like to buck the trends. F’rinstance, I never carry a purse, unless it’s full summer and I have no pockets; even then I’ll stick my car keys in my bra and attach my wallet to my belt if I can. So In the fall of 2019 when we went to Poland to attend a wedding, Just on a whim, I packed DRESSES! Full-skirted , deep- colored heavy cotton-knit ones, the ones I occasionally used to wear to work, which I wore with big scarves that I could kinda hang from one shoulder or as a bandolier secured at the waist with a big brass-buckled leather belt. Oh and a Western hat, which I had never taken traveling before because I was sure it’d get crushed, but: what was I SAVING it for?

It was a great feeling, swishing around Krakow and Warsaw dressed as….a woman!

Of course, what shoes to wear might’ve been a problem if it hadn’t been boot weather. Boots look great with a full skirt.

Oh, I got looks askance from the forkéd ladies, our fellow American tourists with their neat slim corduroy pants, mini-backpacks and and running shoes. But the beautiful Polish women (And they all are!) smiled at me and paid me compliments. “I love your dress: like red wine!” said one.

If you haven’t worn a skirt for a while, my fellow non-fellows, y’might like to try it, just for kicks! (And speaking of kicking, it’s much more satisfying in a rippling skirt!)