You’ve probably noticed by now how ladylike much of the fall styles are: ruffled blouses and brooches and nipped-in-the-waist tweed jackets.
When Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, proclaimed that bare is passe, that was the final nail the coffin.
If you care about fashion, no more exposed midriffs and fanny-baring pants and miniskirts you can’t sit in without constantly readjusting. Instead of minis, pencil skirts are everywhere this fall. Pencil skirts are longer–at about the knee–and slim, although they almost always have a slit so you can stride in them. They’re not as confining as the old versions because most of the current skirts have a touch of spandex in them.
Big-name designers love them, which means they have infiltrated the mass manufacturers as well. The Limited has two styles of a basic black pencil skirt–one slit in the front for $49.50 that hits just above the knee, and a slightly longer version with a back slit for $58.
Coldwater Creek has two faux suede camel pencil skirts, one for $69 and the other in a lined, perforated suede at $89. Another look is a below-the-calf paisley skirt that is actually a wrap skirt but pencil slim at $69.
Trendy Banana Republic has the most pencil skirts. Combining newly popular tweed with pencil styling is a pink or gray skirt in a blend of wool, cotton and nylon for $84. They also have several versions of pinstripe pencil skirts. A black skirt with a faint pink pinstripe ($98) has matching jacket ($218). A gray flannel pinstripe skirt ($84) looks very businesslike, as does a pencil skirt made of men’s beige suiting material ($79).
Banana Republic has more casual looks, too, such as a pull-on boldly striped plum and black pencil skirt for $78, and even a denim skirt that falls straight to the knee ($68).
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