Up, down, up again: the hem never stands still and fashion continues to play with its lengthening and shortening according to the whims of the season. The length of the midi skirts launched by Dior and Chanel had characterized the forties, just as Mary Quant, in the sixties, is indisputably credited with the “invention” of the miniskirt.

Short, long, midi, longuette: the skirt has made an era. But never as much as this year there was coexistence: the various lengths do not replace each other, but combine and alternate continuously, passing with ease from the short featured by Miu Miu and Prada to the midi offered by Tom Ford. Wedding dresses could not remain unaffected, although spontaneously devoted to the “up to the feet” length with a marked tendency to stretch even more because of their trains, including rounded ones. And if the alternative was often limited to whether to cover or uncover the tip of the shoes, this year even the brides can choose to play bravely with the hem and not only with some midi dress of vintage imprint or circle skirts from the fifties.

The game of lengths takes place by changing the dress - if there are two, they are often chosen completely different and therefore also with different lengths - or with the same dress that is midi in front and has a train behind. This trend was masterfully displayed by Carolina Herrera in the recent fashion show held in New York with a pink tulle dress, almost a tutu, with multiple skirts on top of each other: the first short and then gradually the others, midi, maxi, and with a train, to wear all the emotions of the various lengths.

Giuliana Parabiago