Women's Pencil Skirt

Nothing widens between the hip and the hem. A pencil skirt follows the hip and continues down with no added room, ending at or just below the knee, and the hem measures close to the hip rather than flaring away from it. Contact the whole way down is what makes it read as tailored, and it is also the source of every problem the style has.

A hem narrower than your stride shortens your step, so the cut needs an opening. Most solve it with a vent at the center back, which means two edges that overlap so the gap stays covered while you walk, and a few use an open slit instead. Vent length decides whether stairs are possible at all, and four inches is about the minimum on a knee-length skirt. Two other things make it wearable: a lining, which stops wool and viscose gripping tights and hitching upward, and a few percent elastane. That gives the seat room to expand when you sit.

An A-line skirt widens from a flat waist, so the fabric leaves the body below the hip and no vent is required. Pleated skirts store their width in folds and release it as you move. Slip skirts are cut on the bias and follow you with no tailoring at all, which is the opposite route to the same closeness. A slit skirt names the opening rather than the shape, so a pencil skirt with a long side slit belongs to both pages.

Formal dress codes are where it belongs, and it takes a blazer better than any other skirt because both hold a line. Defined waists show well against a fitted band. Anyone who cycles, climbs stairs constantly or carries children will find the cut fighting them all day. Fuller hips are not the usual culprit when one rides up. A short back rise is, since the seat pulls length out of the hem.

Climb a full flight of stairs before buying rather than a single step, because that is where a short vent announces itself. Sit for a minute, stand, and count the tugs before it looks right, since more than one is a verdict rather than a habit. Compare the lining at the hem, which should finish about an inch above the shell. Hang it from the waistband with clips, and press the vent flat so the two edges stay closed instead of curling open.