Styling Winter Skirts

Is This Mutton celebrates the skirt following the #7dayskirtchallenge. Gail Hanlon in navy corduroy skirt with silver top and red short tie wrap, worn with long navy boots

Dear friends. My #7DaySkirtChallenge has just ended on Instagram, a week-long celebration of the skirt. Several IG and blogging friends took part, and I'm sharing their favourite looks below, as well as my own skirt pics. You should find plenty of skirt inspo!

Trends-wise, it looks as if skirts are getting shorter. If you search on Asos, the majority of new arrivals are mini length. If you have the legs for it, go ahead! Lucy (below) shows that older women can definitely rock a shorter skirt!

There are still plenty of midi-length skirts around on sites like Boden and John Lewis. My sweet spot is the knee-length skirt, but there are precious few of those around.

Skirts: Stylish and Comfortable!

One thing I'd forgotten was how comfortable skirts can be for normal daytime wear. Quite a few of mine are pull-on, with an elasticated waist, and when they're in soft fabrics like velvet/velour, they're extremely warm and easy to wear with opaque tights.

Indeed, Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper is enjoying her skirts so much she is ontinuing the skirt challenge over on IG. She's making a conscious effort to wear all her skirts rather than jeans every day. I've ordered some opaque tights in fuchsia, purple and dark green so that I can wear my skirts at home more often. I love co-ordinating tights with skirts and shoes - it helps to elongate your legs.

Skirts are more forgiving than dresses. A waist can be created on the straightest of figures by wearing a top over a skirt and using a wide belt. I know it sounds scary to belt your waist if you don't think you've got one, but as Gok Wan, and Trinny and Susannah, both showed a few years ago, it works.

Gail Hanlon from Is This Mutton with four of the skirts she shared in the #7DaySkirtChallenge

I shared my first two skirt challenge entries last week. Top of the page is one of my favourite looks: a navy knee-length skirt from Boden (sold out) worn with long navy boots and a cherry red short tie wrap and ice blue square neckled top, both from Kettlewell. This is a good work wear outfit, and what brings it together, to my mind, is the necklace from My Season Jewellery. Mine is in the Winter colourway, and the necklace(or bracelet) is also good for remembering your colours when you go shopping!

In the collage above, you can see how I use interesting footwear to jazz up my outfits. I've got a big selection of boots and a few pairs of brightly coloured brogues, and when I was new at my company, four years ago, they made me stand out. Someone put in my appraisal that they liked seeing my different footwear each day!

1st left: Wearing "Very Peri," the Pantone Color of the Year 2022. It's the short tie wrap, which is in Kettlewell's Heliotrope, the nearest equivalent to Very Peri. I'm wearing it with sparkly purple dance shoes, which I saw in the window of a shop and couldn't resist: I had to get them re-soled for outdoor wear because dance shoes have corduroy soles. The velvet skirt and white roll neck are both from Kettlewell. I can't remember buying the necklace, it's pretty old.

2nd from left: Another way of styling the Boden skirt, this time with a cobalt blue Molly square necked top from Kettlewell over their fuchsia silky roll neck, and raspberry leopard belt. The pink boots, from FSJ (old) always get compliments!

3rd from left: Giving pops of color to a monochrome outfit. The velvet skirt, old, from Hope UK, has an elasticated waist and is very soft, ideal to wear at work during the day. I added a cashmere cropped cardigan from Boden and knee-length boots, over 15 years old, in the same colour. Pops of colour came from my Kurt Geiger rainbow bag and one of my favourite Kettlewell blues, an infinity scarf in aquarius.

Far right: I haven't worn this Oasis ruffled skirt very much: I thought it would go with many things, but the colour, olive green, isn't very complementary to my winter colours. However, I thought it would go with mole, which is a very cool brown / grey. I added some red, in the form of boots and a Kettlewell True Red top.

Making Skirts Look Very Special

Some of the more stunning skirt outfits featured in the challenge had hats of all descriptions. It made me think that a skirt, with a hat and maybe a lovely coatigan, would make a good choice for any weddings that you're attending this year. It would help avoid the "mother of the bride" look with those dresses in pastel colors.

Let's have a look at some of the hat and skirt combos.

Jill from Grownup Glamour is an expert at creating dramatic outfits. This black and white skirt, which is a drama in itself, is paired with an on-trend tank top (or vest), pops of red and funky accessories - the hat, earrings and sunglasses.

Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper says this is how she aspires to look, and I'm sure you'll agree it's a funky, edgy outfit, with a stunning skirt by Nathalie Vleeschouwer from the Bias Cut. The sunglasses and hat add a lot of sass!

Charlotte, @theshoestringshopper, has elevated her gorgeous black leopard tulle skirt, if that's possible, by adding a hat - a cute beret. Tulle skirts look great with ankle boots and knitwear as it toughens up the look.

Mireille from Chez Mireille has a bit of a cow girl (or should I say, cow person?) vibe going on with her wide brimmed hat. Her asymmetric hemmed skirt is winter-ready worn with long boots. The shacket provides some warmth.

Leslie from Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After lives in Texas so she also has a fabulous cow girl look going on with her fringed jacket and denim skirt. Those boots!

Most of us chose to wear a different skirt each day for the challenge but two opted to style the same skirt 7 times. Very brave. Here's Sherri, @fabfits365, with her favorite outfit. She's wearing a Lane Bryant pencil skirt with a denim jacket and high heels. Relaxed chic.

Marsha from Marsha in the Middle also chose to style 7 ways her patterned blue and white skirt, by April Cornell. This time she is wearing it with a cabled cashmere turtleneck and a necklace from J Jill that picks up the tones of the skirt. I described this as a very serene and relaxed oufit.

Leather Mini Over 60? Why Not?

Finally here's Lucy Bertoldi from Montreal, Canada, looking stunning in a pleather mini skirt, abstract print top, textured patterned tights and ankle boots / booties. Wearing opaque tights is a great way to keep wearing mini skirts, it makes them easier to wear.