Hey, I have two! (I’m not providing links but you can find the black one by searching for “Sugoi black mini skirt.” My other one is grey, not pictured, and made of smart wool.)
And just the other day a friend posted that she had seen ads for them in her newsfeed and thought “what the hell even is this?” If you’re cold, she wrote, why a mini-skirt? Winter mini-skirts? What’s with that? Friends chimed in, some equally puzzled, others admitting that they owned one and liked them.
I’ve written about them before in a post about my mixed feelings about sports dresses. ” Like these skirts, which I also like and even tried on several times over the winter, I can’t decide if they are about warmth and function or butt modesty. And if the former, I’m all in, and if the latter, I’m a bit uncomfortable. “
But thing is, who knows what your motive is?
I wear them over leggings. And yes they keep your butt warm.
But they also side with the “leggings aren’t pants” crew.
Once you make a move into a certain kind of modest dressing, it’s hard to go back. I decided against a swim dress for that reason. Getting comfortable wearing a bikini was a hard won body positive victory. I worry about going back.
Back to the mini-skirts–one in grey wool and one in black, like above–life is short. They’re cute. They expand the range of places and times I can wear leggings. There’s clothes I wear to the gym that I wouldn’t wear in other environments. Throw on the skirt and I’m good to go. Ditto over cycling tights.
Given that I bought them in winter, to wear in winter, I’m sticking with my butt warmth story. And they’re cute.
I have found my insulated skirt to be essential on those frosty days when it seems to take forever for the car seat heater to warm up!
And, it’s cute!
I 100% hear this post. But….then there is a part of me that feels like if we question the pressure to be “modest”, but then feel the need to justify our clothing, we’re doing the same thing on the opposite end of the scale. We should wear what we like, we don’t need to explain it, even to ourselves. Now that I’m older and fatter, I feel like people see me in my lots of coverage swimsuit and think those are the reasons I cover up. Nope. I have a picture of me in swim shorts that cover my my butt when I was a young and vigorous 20 year old. I am a modest person, I just don’t like showing a lot of skin. But I have gotten feedback from girlfriends with the whole love yourself , you don’t have to cover up thing, and I’m like….no. being comfortable for me is my main concern. And like you mentioned, sometimes it isn’t modesty, but, just my desire to not look like I’m at a gym when I’m somewhere else. So I would probably totally rock these for that reason. Except of course, I live in So. CA. So I’m usually trying to find something cool and with some coverage.
I’m getting that way about sun coverage as more and more friends are having skin cancers removed. That was my initial attraction to the more coverage bathing suits. Maybe you’re right. I just shouldn’t care what others think in any direction!
Hi Ms G– I have similar views about comfort, skin showing, etc. I admit for me that part of this is about body image, but I also just like the feel of close-fitting clothing (leggings, lycra cycling wear, etc.) Also, like Sam mentions, keeping skin protected from sun is a primary goal. Sam– I love the quilted skirt with leggings fashion idea! In my 30s, I had a pair of purple fleece shorts– a frivolous fashion item, but I love love loved them. I wore them over leggings for hiking in cool weather, or even for knocking around, and they felt super fun. I remember them fondly.
And yes, sun protection! One of my other reasons I even added a long sleeve swim shirt to my wardrobe. I’m sure some of my modesty is cultural/societal ingrained behavior, because, do we ever really get to escape that no matter how hard we try?