The miniskirt made fashion history for three distinct reasons: It showed more leg on a woman than ever noted in fashion history before, it represented the democratization of fashion as the influential grips of Parisian couture lessened and it helped to fuel a movement for female social and sexual liberation that began in the 1960s.
Defined as a skirt with a hemline averaging halfway up the knee (and falling approximately four inches below the butt!), the miniskirt was popularized by Mary Quant, who introduced her own version of the skirt at her London boutique Bazaar in 1964.
While not its true inventor, we can thank Quant’s boutique for first spreading viral word of the mini (which she amusingly named after her favorite car) to the trendy teens of London’s mod fashion culture whom shopped there.
While these Swingin’ London teens wore the flirtatious styles in rebellion against fashion’s old guard, it was only once designers like André Courrèges, Yves Saint Laurent and Rudi Gernreich introduced their own versions of the miniskirt to the runways that fashion media and the general public began to take notice and want a version of their own, no matter their age.
The history of the miniskirt is worth more than just a shorter hemline. The mini is perhaps the most revolutionary of styles because it surpassed the idea of “trend” and has proven itself worthy of another “T” category … that of timeless.
