Another fab ongoing trend: High waisted pencil skirts

We can't all be 5'11", and rail thin...but we can all at least give off that illusion. I have to say, I was really glad when waistlines found their way back up above the belly button. There was a decade or two there, when it was seen as being too 'irkle'. No, instead, girls wore their waistlines so low they were always in danger of showing crack or thong straps, and someone was given much reason to coin the phrase "muffin-top". Belts were worn low, at the very widest part of a womans body, and the legline was foreshortened. What were we thinking?

Now, I have always been a devotee of the 1940's, so even while low slung bootleg pants abounded, I would treat myself to a night dressed up as his girl friday. I'm not the curviest of gals, so I have always rather enjoyed a belt snug at my natural waistline (a good inch above my belly-button), to emphasize the difference in ratio between the tiniest part of my silhouette and the biggest (ribcage vs. derrier).

So thank god for the return of the high-waisted pencil skirt. A skirt with a tiny waist, a hip that curves out, length to just below the knee, hugging all the way down. All of a sudden, the longest portion of the body is the legs, and the silhouette is hourglass (really, for just about everyone). Just be sure to wear a nice high pair of pumps. The higher the better (best make use of all those platforms we have been seeing around), since you have elongated your thighs, you'll want to elongate the lower leg as well. And simply, a good heel will complete the look.

This look has many possible variations (as exemplified above), but I am partial to a tight skirt paired with a blouson top. I love to throw a strong shouldered jacket over top. Depending on my mood, I'll do a shrunken jacket if I want to be retro-sexy, or a boyfriend jacket of I want to go a smidge more casual and modern. But I have to reiterate that as much as I love my biker boots with everything, I will only wear sky high heels with a pencil skirt. It's really the only time I'm strict about footwear, actually.

Also, beware half-assed skirts. In a recent shopping trip for a client, I found that most skirts being sold on the high street these days are not high waisted enough. If the yolk of the skirt is wise and curved, then the waist line is not high enough. This is because all curvature happens at the belly button and below. If the waist of the skirt is truely high enough, it should go straight across, hugging the bottom of your ribcage, while the rest of the skirt curves out over the hips and bum.

Pictured above from NY Fashion Week Fall Winter 2010 (from left to right): Victoria Beckham, VPL, Shipley and Halmos, and Peter Som (all pulled from Style.com)