Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Triangle, Revisited

Due to a recent inquiry regarding the warmth of skirts in winter months, I thought I would post some more of my own apprehensions with wearing skirts.

My house was 60 degrees this morning, due a gas main break late yesterday afternoon, which put our heater out of commission.  Not terribly cold, but cold enough.  Cold enough for me to pull on jeans, not the cute skirt.  Not to say that it's impossible to stay warm in a skirt.  Cold-weather options would include ankle-length skirts, though I'm not a huge fan.  Without a slit, they can indeed be as warm as a pair of pants if made from thick material. 

Tights offer some amount of warmth, but not enough to keep one warm during a snow storm.  And, the short-skirt/tight ensemble poses a unique problem to someone would might have trudge through snow in -40 degree weather on a regular basis (which I may have to do later this winter).  I just don't think snowboots look great with a skirt, and snowpants would be difficult to pull off without sufficient privacy. I personally opt for tights on Sundays, mostly because I can't stand to wear non-sandal shoes without some kind of sock.  (I refuse to throw out the legging option, because I was pretty sure they were ugly in the 80s.)

I've done enough research to realize that not only has outer wear come a long way, but so has underwear.  I suppose another option would be the lovely long-legged bloomers or full-length, panted slips worn in the 1920s.  I suppose the closest thing we would have today is the secretive Moromon temple garments, though you have prove you're a member to actually purchase them online. If you're into the ankle-length skirts, my drama days are proof that petticoats and bloomers offer quite a bit of warmth to the wearer, but few styles today are petticoat-friendly.

I suppose the answer to the question is this: if you wish to stay warm while keeping with modern skirt styles, there is no adequate way to keep warm, so crack up the heater.  Or wear pants.

11 comments:

  1. I like to feel feminine and I often wear skirts in the summer, but yes, warmth must supersede fashion.
    I'd love to see some of them "bloomers" you're talking about though. Somehow I doubt they would be the new fad, but hey, you never know!
    I recently bought my daughter some leg-warmers (talk about an '80s no-so-hot fashion statement) to wear to school under her school uniform skirt because she and her brothers walk to school. And amazingly enough, SHE LIKES THEM! (I think they're pretty cute myself) So there's another option ;-)

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  2. I've also been thinking full length leg warmers are the way to go. Those exist, right?

    Incidentally, I acquisitioned a few full, ankle length skirts in a heavy fabric. Definitely not as warm as pants. :P

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  3. Leah- You can buy all kinds of bloomers! I never thought they were the next big fashion item, but I may wrong.


    http://www.bloomers4u.com/

    Rebekah- Perhaps ordering some flannel ankle bloomers would make those skirts more versatile?

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  4. Haha! They do exist! Thigh-high leg warmers!

    http://www.sockdreams.com/products/socks/thigh-highs/

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  5. Wow. Well I learn something new everyday.
    Actually those long socks look pretty cozy. I never could stand tights up around my waist.
    Actually the bloomers are pretty bloomin' cute too, but that thought, at least for me, might take a while to sink in...
    Thanks!

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  6. Dude. You rock. I totally ordered myself a pair of 40-inchers and will report back.

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  7. I really like this conversation.

    Since you're on the topic, you don't know where I might find some maternity sweater tights, do you? :D

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  8. Rebekah- I am curious to know if it's worth it. I laughed at first, but now I'm starting to really wonder if I should order some too...


    Gsuntlets- Check out A Pea in the Pod. Not exactly sweater tights, but they do sell leggings/

    http://www.apeainthepod.com/maternity/hosiery.asp

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  9. Gauntlets- Also check out Motherhood. They have more leggings, and are more affordable. They're still jersey knit, but better than nothing!

    http://www.motherhood.com/maternity/hosiery-all.asp

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  10. Also - boots. Knee-length leggings, some long socks, some boots, and a below-the-knee skirt - that'll help. But this is why I don't wear skirts as often as ex-baptist, now uber-Lutheran, husband would like - it's just a pain to get all this stuff together. "Let's see, it's 35 degrees out, we'll be outside and inside, so I need a skirt, leggings, socks, boots." Throwing on jeans is so much easier.
    http://www.6pm.com/product/7560990/color/206195
    Bonnie

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  11. "It is highly typical of the rabid plagiarism which now passes everywhere for emancipation, that a little while ago it was common for an "advanced" woman to claim the right to wear trousers; a right about as grotesque as the right to wear a false nose. Whether female liberty is much advanced by the act of wearing a skirt on each leg I do not know; perhaps Turkish women might offer some information on the point. But if the western woman walks about (as it were) trailing the curtains of the harem with her, it is quite certain that the woven mansion is meant for a perambulating palace, not for a perambulating prison. It is quite certain that the skirt means female dignity, not female submission; it can be proved by the simplest of all tests. No ruler would deliberately dress up in the recognized fetters of a slave; no judge would appear covered with broad arrows. But when men wish to be safely impressive, as judges, priests or kings, they do wear skirts, the long trailing robes of female dignity. The whole world is under petticoat government; for even men wear petticoats when they wish to govern."

    -G.K. Chesterton "What's Wrong with the World"

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