Skirts, Friends and Music!

As I was thrifting today, I was struck by many marvelous maxi skirts. There were floral, striped, plaid and so many more types. However, I was even-more-struck by the t-length skirts. I found the most mesmerizing skirt. It was black with blue flowers up and down it. It was literally calling my name. It was quite peculiar that I found this skirt because I’d just recently realized these were even in fashion. I’d seen a TikTok a couple days ago of another lady’s thrift haul and saw this beautiful t-length skirt. Next thing I know, voila! It’s mine.  

Perhaps this is a recent trend. I remember I tried to pull off a long-ish skirt my senior year of highschool and someone back-handedly remarked, “Oh, I’m not confident enough to pull that off” leaving me quite well… not confident. However, I’ve always been in awe of long flowy skirts. They’re emblematic of everything I want to be; flowy, free, chic, all the good things! They remind me so much of running freely through a field and nothing else really matters. I need more of those vibes in my everyday life. They’re also super versatile. Whether you’re just going to a picnic, hanging out with some besties, relaxing or just having yourself a nice day skirts are always the best idea.  

Ever since October when I began watching documentaries and reading up on the legacy of Laurel Canyon I’ve gotten really into the fashion trends that blossomed during that era. Long dresses, flowy skirts and shirts, floral clothing, bell bottoms, you name it. I realized that a lot of these clothing trends coincided with the music that was being made. Since there was a lot of music being made about freedom and liberation during the 70’s, it’s interesting to see how that gets reflected in the clothing. The one thing that really struck me was the flowy skirts and how much it added to a performance. I remember watching a couple of the concerts from the 60’s and just seeing the way these clothes told stories, and at times just as much as the lyrics did. 

Now, flash forward to the 90’s. These knee length skirts were super in. The best proprietor of these skirts that I can think of is Rachel Green. She was an absolute relic of 90’s fashion. I can recall a couple episodes where she’s rocking a knee length skirt and some cropped white tank top. Ugh, chefs kiss! However, to stay along with the theme of Friends, Phoebe also wears many skirts. Except Phoebe wears these intensely long maxi skirts which give her a witchy look. Whereas Rachel comes off as much more hip and chic. It’s super interesting how we assign the different lengths and flowiness of skirts to different eras. Well… maybe it’s only cool to me. I’ve always been enamoured with the fashion choices for the women in friends. They each have such distinctive wardrobes that correlates perfectly to their character’s personalities.  

I wonder which length of skirt will come to define the 2010’s or even the 2020’s. Also, I wonder if other people are as into skirt lengths and their impact on fashion history as I am. I’m betting that the mini-skirt is coming back; which I’m not at all mad about. What do you think?