The hemline index is a theory that suggests that skirt length (hemlines) rise or fall along with stock prices. The most common version of the theory is that skirt lengths get shorter in good economic times (1920s, 1960s) [1] and longer in bad, such as after the 1929 Wall Street Crash. However, the reverse has also been proposed with longer skirts signaling prosperity (1950s). [2]
The theory is often incorrectly attributed to economist George Taylor in 1926. [3] [4] Taylor's 1929 thesis Significant post-war changes in the full-fashioned hosiery industry, which identified skirt length as one factor that led to explosive growth in the hosiery industry during the 1920s, did not propose a hemline theory. [5]
Non-peer-reviewed research in 2010 supported the correlation, suggesting that "the economic cycle leads the hemline with about three years". [6]
Desmond Morris revisited the theory in his book Manwatching. [7]
Business cycles are intervals of expansion followed by recession in economic activity. A recession is sometimes technically defined as 2 quarters of negative GDP growth, but definitions vary; for example, in the United States, a recession is defined as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the market, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales." The changes in economic activity that characterize business cycles have implications for the welfare of the broad population as well as for private institutions. Typically business cycles are measured by examining trends in a broad economic indicator such as Real Gross Domestic Production.
Stockings are close-fitting, variously elastic garments covering the leg from the foot up to the knee or possibly part or all of the thigh. Stockings vary in color, design, and transparency. Today, stockings are primarily worn for fashion and aesthetics, usually in association with mid-length or short skirts.
Pantyhose, sometimes also called sheer tights, are close-fitting legwear covering the wearer's body from the waist to the toes. Pantyhose first appeared on store shelves in 1959 for the advertisement of new design panties as a convenient alternative to stockings and/or control panties which, in turn, replaced girdles.
Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes in public, driving automobiles, treating sex in a casual manner, and otherwise flouting social and sexual norms. As automobiles became more available, flappers gained freedom of movement and privacy.
A miniskirt is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than 10 cm (4 in) below the buttocks; and a dress with such a hemline is called a minidress or a miniskirt dress. A micro-miniskirt or microskirt is a miniskirt with its hemline at the upper thigh, at or just below crotch or underwear level.
A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards.
The causes of the Great Depression in the early 20th century in the United States have been extensively discussed by economists and remain a matter of active debate. They are part of the larger debate about economic crises and recessions. The specific economic events that took place during the Great Depression are well established.
A pencil skirt is a slim-fitting skirt with a straight, narrow cut. Generally the hem falls to, or is just below, the knee and is tailored for a close fit. It is named for its shape: long and slim like a pencil.
A cocktail dress is a dress suitable at semi-formal occasions, sometimes called cocktail parties, usually in the late afternoon, and usually with accessories.
An evening gown, evening dress or gown is a long dress usually worn at formal occasions. The drop ranges from ballerina, tea, to full-length. Such gowns are typically worn with evening gloves. Evening gowns are usually made of luxurious fabrics such as chiffon, velvet, satin, or organza. Silk is a popular fibre for many evening gowns. Although the terms are used interchangeably, ball gowns and evening gowns differ in that a ball gown will always have a full skirt and a fitted bodice, while an evening gown can be any silhouette—sheath, mermaid, fit and flare, A-line, or trumpet-shaped—and may have straps, halters or even sleeves.
The hemline is the line formed by the lower edge of a garment, such as a skirt, dress or coat, measured from the floor.
Knee highs are hosiery that cover the feet and legs up to the knee. A fashion accessory for casual and classic cool or warm weather apparel. Typically worn by women in many societies, they are sometimes worn with modern semi-formal attire. Unlike ordinary socks, they are generally made of nylon or other stocking materials. There were also different types and uses of knee highs for women.
The most characteristic North American fashion trend from the 1930s to 1945 was attention at the shoulder, with butterfly sleeves and banjo sleeves, and exaggerated shoulder pads for both men and women by the 1940s. The period also saw the first widespread use of man-made fibers, especially rayon for dresses and viscose for linings and lingerie, and synthetic nylon stockings. The zipper became widely used. These essentially U.S. developments were echoed, in varying degrees, in Britain and Europe. Suntans became fashionable in the early 1930s, along with travel to the resorts along the Mediterranean, in the Bahamas, and on the east coast of Florida where one can acquire a tan, leading to new categories of clothes: white dinner jackets for men and beach pajamas, halter tops, and bare midriffs for women.
Western fashion in the 1920s underwent a modernization. For women, fashion had continued to change away from the extravagant and restrictive styles of the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and towards looser clothing which revealed more of the arms and legs, that had begun at least a decade prior with the rising of hemlines to the ankle and the movement from the S-bend corset to the columnar silhouette of the 1910s. Men also began to wear less formal daily attire and athletic clothing or 'Sportswear' became a part of mainstream fashion for the first time. The 1920s are characterized by two distinct periods of fashion: in the early part of the decade, change was slower, and there was more reluctance to wear the new, revealing popular styles. From 1925, the public more passionately embraced the styles now typically associated with the Roaring Twenties. These styles continued to characterize fashion until the worldwide depression worsened in 1931.
A dress is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice. It consists of a top piece that covers the torso and hangs down over the legs. A dress can be any one-piece garment containing a skirt of any length, and can be formal or casual.
George W. Taylor was a professor of industrial relations at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and is credited with founding the academic field of study known as industrial relations. He served in several capacities in the federal government, most notably as a mediator and arbitrator. During his career, Taylor settled more than 2,000 strikes.
Russian boot is the name applied to a style of calf- or knee-length fashion boot for women that was popular in the early part of the 20th century. Russian boots fell out of favor in the 1930s, but were the inspiration for the high-leg fashion boots that returned to popularity in the 1950s and 60s. Today the term Russian boot is sometimes applied to the style of low-heeled boots worn by some folk dancers.
Eshkaft-e Salman is an archaeological site in the Khuzestan province of Iran.
Handkerchief skirts are skirts with asymmetric hems, created from fabric panels of different lengths sewn together, to create a hem with several corners that hang down as points. The hem resembles a handkerchief that is held by the centre so that its corners hang down as points.
Fashion activism is the practice of using fashion as a medium for social, political, and environmental change. The term has been used recurringly in the works of designers and scholars Lynda Grose, Kate Fletcher, Mathilda Tham, Kirsi Niinimäki, Anja-Lisa Hirscher, Zoe Romano, and Orsola de Castro, as they refer to systemic social and political change through the means of fashion. It is also a term used by some fashion designers, one being Stella Mccartney. The spectacle of fashion activism as street protest has also been a theme in Paris Catwalk shows, perhaps most noted in Chanel's spring/summer 2015 show, designed by Karl Lagerfeld. The term is also popularly used by Céline Semaan, co-founder of the Slow Factory Foundation.