10 Women 10 Skirts

 And #WowOnWednesday

Dear friends. My annual #7dayskirtchallenge has just finished on Instagram and today I'm sharing today what I and 9 of the participants wore. 

I'm sure you'll agree that seeing 10 women aged from 39 to 77 in skirts of all descriptions shows how universal fashion and style really are. 

THE SKIRTS I WORE 

When I started the challenge this time, I felt I'd lost my mojo. I used to wear skirts to work but now that I'm retired, I wear them less often.

Fortunately the challenge re-ignited my interest in skirts.  I found that a cord skirt with opaque tights is a great recipe for colder days.  A statement skirt - I saved one for the last day - can hold its own against dresses any day. 

Day 1:  The Purple One

The velvet violet dazzle Kettlewell skirt is 5 years old but always looks, good particularly at this time of year. Boots, old, from Amazon. Wearing a long jumper and belting it creates length and makes me look in proportion in a longer skirt. I prefer skirts to be shorter, knee-length, but I can get by in longer skirts if I take steps to avoid looking short waisted. 

Day 2:  A Brown "Dress" with Yellow

I created a dress by combining a Kettlewell ruched skirt and Pippa top in chocolate, and added a yellow short tie wrap.  I used to love this look but now feel it's a bit outdated. The boots, which you can't see, are my new yellow gold ankle boots from Oliver Bonas.

Day 3:  Brights

As you may know, I tend to wear colours that reflect my seasonal analysis of spring.  Within spring, there are sub categories.  As a light spring, I'm best in the lightest colours, without too much contrast. Occasionally I go "the whole hog" and combine three bright colours, but I think here I look a little washed out, and the circles under my eyes are exacerbated.  The coral skirt I found in a charity shop. I didn't photograph it full length because it was a frumpy length  (two cms below knee) and needed taking up. But this look attracted the most attention - see below.

Day 4: Brown, cream and peach

This is a better use of brown, to my mind:  it's not one of my best colours but it works if used on the bottom half. This is my Cotton Traders cord pull-on skirt (current), with new peach echo silky roll neck (Kettlewell, current) and long cream boots (Asos).  It's a good length on me.

Day 5: Red and cream

Wearing a pre-loved Kettlewell ponte skirt with a cream satin collar blouse, M&S, current, and Kettlewell short tie wrap in scarlet.  The stars of this outfit, to me, are the lurex tights and gold t-bars (old. Boden).

Day 6: Green and blue

Everything shopped in my wardrobe for this except the recently acquired Kettlewell jumper which was  pre-loved.  Cord skirt by Boden and bomber jacket, old, Asos. More lurex tights, this time in dark blue. I think they add a fun touch to shorter skirts at this festive time of year.

Day 7:  The gold skirt!

I saved the best till last.  This is my only new skirt, the Jaspre from Never Fully Dressed.  I'd been looking for a gold skirt for a while.  They are tricky. There are not many around that are pure yellow gold:  most are "champagne".  And they are often faux leather. which is quite rigid.  This one is indeed faux leather, but the fact it has belt ties means I was able to pull it in tight so it created a waist. I love it, but strangely the hubster hates it! 

This year it's trendy to add a low key jumper/sweater to a glitzy skirt  (and then to top it with an unexpected coat or jacket like a Barbour!).  I was pleased to find the pink in my cashmere jumper matched exactly with the tights from Snag.  Rose gold boots, old. 

Which was Most Popular on Instagram?

The result is a bit of a surprise - it was day 3, the brights! It got nearly 50% more likes than the second placed skirt, the gold one.

Which was your favourite?

Highlights from other Participants

There was a wide variety of skirts. Firstly, it's summer for Judith, Aimee and Jill in Australia - but also in lengths, colours and patterns.  Looking at Asos, my barometer as to what's trendy right now, anything goes.  There are minis, midis and maxis, and no one length dominates over the others. 

Some of the women who took part have shared their favourite look from the week. 

Red Tulle for Mireille 

Mireille from Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom, a regular participant in the #WowOnWednesday link-up, says she loves the yearly skirt challenge in the fall.  Mireille, in her 40s, says: "It helps me get creative with my skirts! This new tulle one has quickly become a favorite and I want another one! I will be wearing it casually most of the time, but I am looking forward to dressing it up for Christmas!"

Mireille on IG (Instagram): @chezmireillefashiontravelmom

And Red Satin for Robin! 

More proof of the show stopper qualities of a red skirt from Robin @agelessplaytime.  Robin says she has earned 74 years in her journey around the sun. "My goals are to share my fun with fashion and encourage women of all ages to do the same. 

"I love mixing thrifted items with either current or vintage (from my closet) pieces. You are never too old to play dress-up. If it brings you joy, then do it. Participating in Instagram fashion challenges has opened a whole new world of ideas for me to try and given me connections with creative women around the globe."

Elle Halon, 39, has thrilled me for ages with her Instagram account @funky_fearless_fashionista. Elle, from Brooklyn, New York, USA, is a merchandiser at Paul Stuart, a luxury menswear store in New York City.  

Her favourite look in the challenge features an A line skirt with oversized pockets in yellow, which she describes as the happiest of colours. I love the boots - old, Marc Fisher via Nordstrom. 

@vintage_aimee is wearing her favourite polka dot skirt.  She lives in Queensland, Australia and her clothing collection is made up of almost 100% second hand and vintage clothes. She says she's addicted to thrift shopping! 

Aimee loves wearing as many colours and prints as possible - and usually all at the same time. She also  loves sewing and crafting and using these skills to prolong the life of her clothes to make her wardrobe even more sustainable. 

Australian blogger Jill from Grownup Glamour is a well known face to most of you, via the link-up.  Jill, from Tasmania, has the most fantastic wardrobe of designer skirts collected over the decades, and she wears them with stunning accessories, often in her garden filled with roses and lupins. I had the pleasure of recently meeting Jill, 70, when she visited London with her husband during their recent tour of Europe. 

Here Jill is wearing a Rundholz coffee coloured tulle skirt paired with a fitted Rundholz denim jacket.

Her IG:  @grownupglamour

Liz Klebba from Closet Play Image, is an internationally certified Image, Wardrobe & Color Consultant. She is a wife of 31 years, mother of 3, mother-in-law of 2 and grandma to 3.95. (.95 is due any day now!) 

Her Closet Play Style Studio, based in Georgia, USA, is a virtual style subscription group working with women to find, love, and live their style.  

I love the creativity and playfulness of her outfit, with pattern mixing and an amazing pair of silver boots.

Liz on IG: @closetplayimage

Charlotte Garbutt is also a colour consultant, having retrained recently at London College of Style after working in education for 30 years.

Charlotte, based in the north of England, recently set up transformEd styling by Charlotte to work as a personal stylist and colour consultant. She has a passion for sustainable fashion and her brand values of empathy, diversity and sustainability are central to all she does.  Charlotte lives and work in East Yorkshire but spends as much time as she can on the North Yorkshire coast.

She's wearing a preloved skirt, the same skirt as my purple one from day 1, the Zandra from Kettlewell. Charlotte is noted for her colourful outfits, berets and bags. 

Charlotte's website

Her IG:  @transformedstyling

Judith Long, @Judith_notjudy, is married with three grown-up children and three grandchildren. She is a retired Occupational Therapist and lives on Djadjawarrung land in Australia.  

Judith bought her pre-loved tulle skirt very recently, and is weaing it with old animal print boots and a black silky shirt over a black singlet top. The grey silk beads are from Cambodia.  

Finally Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper, another regular in the link-up.  This skirt  is from Nathalie Vleeschouwer so was expensive to buy, but she wears it often and so the cost per wear has become reasonable.  Penny, 77, is a great ambassador for skirts, she carried on with the skirt challenge back in January. I love her edgy style- the biker jackets, tulle skirts and hats. 

I hope you enjoyed the parade of skirts and maybe found some inspiration! If you have, do let us know in the comments. Scroll down to find the comments box, below the link-up.

Sharing my blog posts here. 

Now it's time for #WowOnWednesday, the weekly link-up where bloggers, YouTubers and IG'ers showcase their posts from around the world.

Last Week's Favourites

Weekly Sale Finds from Alli of Simply Small Town

Nesting by Nicolle of Our Tiny Nest 

Absurdity- The Thrifty 6 with Nancy from Nancy's Fashion Style

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