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Polka dot skirt on a hanger.
A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment which hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs.
In Western culture, skirts are usually considered women\'s clothing. However, there are exceptions. The kilt is considered a traditional men\'s garment in Scotland, and some fashion designers, such as Jean-Paul Gaultier, have shown men\'s skirts.
At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of material (such as pareos), but most skirts are fitted to the body at the waist and fuller below, with the fullness introduced by means of dart, gores, pleats, or panels. Modern skirts are usually made of light to mid-weight fabrics, such as denim, jersey, worsted, or poplin. Skirts of thin or clingy fabrics are often worn with slips to make the material of the skirt drape better and for modesty.
The hemline of skirts can be as high as the upper thigh or as low as the ground, depending on the whims of fashion and the modesty or personal taste of the wearer.
Some medieval upper-class women wore skirts over 3 metres in diameter at the bottom. At the other extreme, the miniskirts of the 1960s were minimal garments that may have barely covered the underwear when seated.
Costume historians typically use the word "petticoat" to describe skirt-like garments of the 18th century or earlier.
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During the nineteenth century, the cut of women\'s dresses in western culture varied more widely than in any other century. Waistlines started just below the bust (the Empire silhouette) and gradually sank to the natural waist. Skirts started fairly narrow and increased dramatically to the hoopskirt and crinoline-supported styles of the 1860s; then fullness was draped and drawn to the back by means of bustles.
Beginning around 1915, hemlines for daytime dresses left the floor for good. For the next fifty years, fashionable skirts became short (1920s), then long (1930s), then shorter (the War Years with their restrictions on fabric), then long (the New Look), then shortest of all during the 1960s, when skirts became as short as possible while avoiding exposure of underwear, which was considered taboo.
Since the 1970s and the rise of pants as an option for all but the most formal of occasions, no one skirt length has dominated fashion for long, with short and ankle-length styles often appearing side-by-side in fashion magazines and catalogs.
Circle skirt
T-skirt
In Europe and America, skirts are worn by females of all ages as an alternative to Trousers. Outside the U.S., however, higher-status women (judges, cabinet ministers, physicians, corporate executives et al.) generally avoid wearing trousers in public.
A skirt may be worn as part of a suit. Skirts are the garments of choice for many women in formal situations. In cold climates, girls and women may wear trousers, hosiery, or long underwear for warmth and/or modesty, with a skirt on top to mark their femininity or other reasons (for instance, since they happen to be "in-fashion" at the time). In traditional societies, such as in many countries in Africa, the Middle East and Central and South America, it is considered inappropriate for girls and women to wear trousers rather than a skirt or a dress.
 Model Dani 2.jpg/58px-Minirock (Lack) Model Dani 2.jpg)
A woman modelling a miniskirt
Potential disadvantages of skirts and dresses include them being either too long or cumbersome for the performance of some physical activities such as climbing ladders, and that their use can run contrary to the individual or wider public sense of modesty and decency, especially given their potential to intentionally or accidentally expose the wearer\'s underwear.
Skirts and dresses are, like other outer clothing, usually worn with underwear. A wearer of a skirt is likely to wear a form of panties as innerwear, though depending on the occasion, type of material, and type of skirt for modesty one may wear a slip over the panties. From the Dark Ages to the Renaissance it was uncommon for a western woman to wear anything at all under her skirt, believing it could lead to infections. Skirts are sometimes worn with tights.
There are a number of male garments which fall under the catergory of "skirt" or "dress." These go by a variety of names and form part of the traditional dress for men from various cultures. Usage varies - the dhoti is part of everyday dress on the Indian subcontinent while the kilt is more usually restricted to occasional wear and the foustanella is used almost exclusively as costume. Robes, which are a type of dress for men, have existed in many cultures, including the Japanese kimono, the Chinese cheongsam, and the Arabic thobe. Robes are also used in some religious orders, such as the cassock in Christianity and various robes and cloaks that may be used in pagan rituals. Examples of men\'s skirts and skirt-like garments from various cultures include:
Outside of ethnic communities, skirts, dresses and similar garments are still considered primarily women\'s clothing in the Western world and the wearing of them by men in these areas is generally seen as cross-dressing although some fashion designers such as Jean-Paul Gaultier have produced skirts for men and there is a niche market for skirts for outdoor activity wear. There was a brief vogue for male skirts during the late 1990s,[citation needed] with Tom Cruise and David Beckham attracting some comment for wearing them, and Samuel L. Jackson has notably worn a kilt for many public appearances. New forms of kilts, such as Utilikilts, are gaining popularity, though they remain a niche market. Sarongs are gaining popularity in beach environments.
In various subcultures, such as the gothic and punk subcultures, the use of skirts by men is not necessarily seen as cross-dressing and is much more likely to be accepted. Fledgling movements under the names "Men In Skirts" (MIS) and "Male Fashion Freedom" (MFF) also exist to support the wearing of skirts by men.
Many males in western society use skirt-like garments without much thought, however, such as when they wrap towels around their waist to create a basic wrap skirt, or when they put on a dressing gown or robe, which is essentially a type of dress.
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