"How To Style A Denim Maxi Skirt, 2023’s Biggest Fashion Trend" - Refinery 29, March 14, 2023
"8 Street Style Approved Ways to Sport a Jean Midi Skirt This Spring" - Vogue, February 28, 2023
"The 16 Best Denim Skirts of 2023, According to a Fashion Editor" - Marie Claire, February 17, 2023
"I'm Never Wearing This Ugly Sh*t Again" Jascmeen Bush, Sometime in the Mid 2000s
For many, denim skirts are merely an oscillating trend that fluctuates depending on the zeitgeist's appetite. It's got staying power, that's for sure. Denim skirts of all lengths were a Y2K staple, though they also donned a slightly more prairie silhouette in the 1970s, were reduced to micro minis in the 1960s, and even have roots in the 40s and 50s when the idea of feminizing workwear took center stage post World War 2.
That's all well and good, but for me the denim skirt means something totally different. As such, I don't care what Diesel, Isabel Marant, or Loewe have to say. Can't. Won't. You can't make me.
If you grew up in a traditional Baptist church, you already know what's up. In an obscure scripture between what to do if you find birds in a nest and what to do in the case of an abandoned donkey, the Bible speaks against men wearing women's clothing and vice versa. Though written at a time when there were no such thing as pants as we know them, the Church world took this bit and ran with it. (It's kind of their thing.)
Whether it was Sunday morning service, Wednesday night youth meetings, or Thursday night choir practice, there were no pants allowed in our church sanctuary. Sure, no one was gonna like arrest you, but they would certainly approach you and ask what the hell you were thinking.
Denim skirts were the jeans of church for girls. My mom kept a few in the trunk in case I came from school or cheerleading practice — where I guess the scripture didn't apply. They would go in and out of fashion so much that if we saw any in stores we bought more than one to keep in stock. Can't be too careful, right?
Once, on a road trip where we only met at the church, I opted for pants since it was raining so hard. Such an uproar was made that the entire caravan ended up having to stop at Walmart so I could buy enough skirts for the five-day trip. I wore pants on another occasion when I didn't expect to be at church that night and didn't make it through the door without someone asking "What I was doing?" and "Didn't I know better?"
The good news is these rules seem to be old news at the church I grew up in, I wore a full sweatsuit once and my inner teen was livingggg.
My relationship with that environment has mostly healed, but my relationship to that skirt is another issue entirely. No matter how well they're styled all I can think of is my legs getting rained on the day of that road trip and someone asking "What happened to when girls wore STOCKINGS."
Ugh.