When you hear the word skort, you are likely to visualize part of an outfit that a tennis or golf player might be wearing. Did you know that skorts have a much richer history than that? Did you know they were once considered rebellious fashion? If you want to find out more. Watch this video!
In my continuing series about rebellious fashion, today, we’re talking about the skort!
Before I get into the history, for anyone wondering what a skort is, let me explain.
A skort is a combination of shorts and a skirt. The current design has a flap of fabric that covers the entire front of your shorts. If you look at female tennis players, you will generally see them wearing this garment. The beginnings of skorts started long before modern times!
Beginning around the 1890s, women began cycling. A huge fad that women felt they should be able to be a part of. However, their heavy skirts did not allow for them to do this with ease. Being able to use a bicycle also allowed women even more freedom. You also need to remember that we also have the Suffrage movement happening at this time, so every little bit of independence was a huge win. It is rumoured that many of those leading the movement enjoyed being able to utilize a way of transportation that only men did.
The original skort was more like a very voluminous pair of trousers. This allowed freedom of movement for the female cyclist, as well as allowing them to safely use the bicycle. You can just imagine getting one of those long and bulky skirts caught in a bicycle chain. That would have led to some serious injuries.
How did these trousers fare? Not very well. At that time, women simply did not wear trousers. According to society, it took away from their femininity. Trousers were meant for men. After getting a taste of the freedom of cycling as well as trousers, many women didn’t want to go back. This had women rethinking the clothing they were currently wearing. Restrictive corsets, huge skirts, bustles, and sleeves. In addition to trousers being meant for men, the cycling trousers would do something shocking to society. It exposed women’s ankles. Women would still be wearing wool stockings with their cycling trousers, but… society still had issues with this.
Could there be a compromise?
French designers would have the answer.
Always innovators of fashion, French designers were the first to evolve the cycling trousers into skorts! The French creation would be the trouser skirts. This allowed the freedom of trousers while continuing to keep modesty in check. In 1911, Paul Poiret produced several designs that were a combination of skirts and trousers, which were known as jupe-culottes, or also known as harem pants.
In the 1930s, there was a fitness craze and the desire to have more athletic-looking bodies. Because of this, even more women were taking up sports, especially tennis and golf. The skort also became popular as everyday wear. Skorts were still fairly long at this time, and it wasn’t uncommon for a woman to wear wool stockings with them.
In 1931, enter one of our favourite rebellious fashion designers, Elsa Schiaparelli! Elsa designed a pair of skorts for Spanish tennis player Lili Alvarez. This version of the skort was a pair of culottes (which Elsa is well known for), with a piece of fabric draped across the front for modesty. It was the first time that skorts had been worn to Wimbledon. Some of the audience members were aghast and vocal with their thoughts on the skort. When it was worn at the French Open, the audience was much more relaxed about it.
In the 1930s, you would also see women in college adapting skorts as part of their athletic uniforms!
Then the skort lost popularity. They were still being used in sports, but not in everyday wear. At this point, it was no longer considered taboo for women to wear trousers, and the skort lost its edge.
Then, in 1959, the skort reappeared in a 1959 Spring/Summer Montgomery Ward catalogue. In this version of the skort, it was a pleated skirt with shorts underneath the skirt.
Welcome to the 1960s and short hemlines, skorts evolved again to fit with those styles and would remain short for the most part, up until today.
Today, skorts are fashionable in sports and everyday wear. As everyday wear, you get the best of both worlds, shorts and a skirt. Perfect for breezy summer days! However, their history is much more important than that. They were a very important part of feminism, allowing women to participate in the same luxuries as men, from cycling to sports. It was a rebellious statement, and we should always remember that.
At some point in the near future, I plan on self-drafting a skort and will have a tutorial for that.
Other links:
Rebellious Women of the 1920’s: https://youtu.be/rYlkmwHPNFU
Rebellious Fashion: Hatpins: https://youtu.be/fkw-5-PbAPc
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