Thank you to Tanto audio and to NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook.

I really wasn't sure what to expect when I requested this book, but I found it really fascinating. It's exactly what it sounds like an history of skirts with some photos with examples of the skirts they are talking about sprinkled throughout the book.


I found this book pretty interesting, I also thought the narrator did a nice job.

Even as an audiobook, the content of this book was so interesting, and you can tell that it was well researched. I really hope I have the chance to see the illustrations/pictures so I can see what it is that the audiobook didn't include. This makes for a great audiobook for long car rides, but I did disagree with some of the organizational choices, and the topics which were the most detailed.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this audiobook ARC!

I started with the book of this but switched to audio, I mostly switched because I prefer non fiction on audio book.

Skirts was a very interesting non-fiction book about the history of skirts and some others women's fashion.

I'd definitely recommend the audio book of this one because there are some drier sections, but having access to a physical to see some of the graphics would be a good addition as well.

Be prepared to look up things as you read to be able to see more of what it meant by some of the text.

This was an interesting story of the history of skirts. I liked how much history we learned and just how much things changed over time!

I loved this one so much. We all need some non-fiction every now and then to ground us in reality and this was the perfect candidate for that need. I for one am an avid skirt-wearer and love to hear about the histories and origins of fashion statements across the decades and now even centuries.

I enjoyed the history and feminism aspects of this book very much. I am less interested in style trends, so the focus on designers was less interesting to me. I think those interested in all these topics would really find the intersection fascinating. I also think it’s a solid edition to the body of research material in women’s fashion.

Thank you to Netgalley for this copy for review.

This book was very informative about the history of the skirt through the 20th century. Noteworthy was the inclusion of the influence of sports on fashion and the effects of austerity on the skirt.

The narrator helped me to fall in the with this book. I feel like the ideal woman wore a skirt. The Pop-over skirt coming with a potholder was iconic!!! The feminist in me was freaking out that that really happened! Overall, this book was an above-average read for me.

Skirts is a shockingly regressive pop history book that lazily argues for the inherent superiority of Western European culture.

I put off writing this review because my early impressions were so negative that I knew any review would just sound like a rant. But the longer I've thought about this book, the worse I've realized it is. This isn't an otherwise-fine book with some old-fashioned biases poking through. This is a book explicitly making the case for European cultural superiority and gender essentialism.

I think I was lured in by the subtitle. "Fashioning feminity" suggests that the author is going to examine feminity as a constructed cultural project and look at the role of the skirt in that project.

I was giving this book way, way too much credit. There is zero engagement with the actual concerns of social and material history here. This is essentially a coffee-table book of famous 20th-century dressed glued together with wild, unsourced, sweeping statements about social history.

A quick tour of the opening chapters of this book reads like a greatest-hits list of all the biggest problems in the field of fashion history. Let's take a look:

The unspoken "Western"

This book is exclusively concerned with American and Western European fashion. There’s no issue with making Europe your chosen scope of research, but that's not the case here. Like many dress historians, the author is not only disinterested in non-Western history, but feels that Western history is synonymous with *all* history. The title, subtitle, and description do not make any mention that the work is limited in scope to the US and Western Europe; apparently, it goes without saying that there's nothing else worth talking about.

The introduction offers one of the only mentions that non-Western people exist in the whole book: "In Eastern History, the story of skirts--and pants--as expressions of gender identity is more nuanced. By the twentieth century, however, the dictates of Paris couturiers were understood and heeded around the world"

I mean… yikes. Two issues. One-- this is not fully true. Two--To the extent that what she's describing *did* happen... what a jaw-dropping way to describe the cultural effects of global imperialism.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the book supports and agrees with the colonialist outlook that the suppression of non-Western modes of dress in the twentieth century reflects positive progress and modernization. People outside Western Europe apparently spontaneously abandoned their individual cultures, and they were right to do so. The subsequent chapters back this up. To this author, the pinnacle of taste and beauty is a slick French sensibility rooted in ancient Greek silhouettes. It isn't simply what the author prefers, it is better. Superior. No evidence is needed; the superiority of European habits is self-evident by their popularity.


Always/Never

Here’s a good tip for reading pop history: Search the book for the words “always” and “never.” Even in a simplified description of history (especially when simplified, actually!) authors should be making sweeping statements like that with extreme rarity.

Every single chapter of this book contains at least one out-of-pocket claim of a universal truth of history. Here’s one, again from the first chapter:

“...the primal appeal of enormous skirts, which emphasized (or at least gave the illusion of) a narrow waist and wide hips, telegraph both virginity and fertility, two qualities that have historically been universally valued in women."

Universally? UNIVERSALLY? If that’s your claim, I would expect an entire book on the history of the world backing it up. And then I would expect that book to be torn to shreds by scholars.


Why do we need to hear about your body-image issues

"Over time, my starving student figure settled into a curvier silhouette, and skirts were undeniably more flattering than the low-rise and "skinny" trouser styles then in fashion. At some point, I realized that I need never again worry about how my butt looked in pants

"I wholeheartedly agree with Vogue's 1964 stance that pants are a great thing "on the proper figure" and "on the proper occasion." If I had a different body or lifestyle, I'd wear them more often."

I'm not criticizing the author for having body-image issues. It is clear that society's standards did a number on her and I'm not blaming her for internalizing the fear of fatness that she grew up around. But I didn't sign up to read her memoir, and having her fear and hatred of fat sprung on me in the middle of a paragraph about fashion history is uncalled for. More importantly, she presents her subjective experience as somehow factual. Skirts were "undeniably flattering." In pants, she would "need" to worry about how her butt looked. Not everyone has the "proper figure" for pants. There's no hint anywhere that she is thinking critically about her feelings about her own body or other's bodies. And when you say something like "I wholeheartedly agree with Vogue's 1964 stance," you need to bring your grown-up thinking to the table.


Also it is Bad

The book more than earned one star by being shoddy history work that seeks to promote colonialist and racist ideas of superior European taste and beauty. But as a bonus, it is also Just Bad. The writing is not good. The paragraphs leap around in time and topic with no apparent direction. The topics chosen are poorly curated and boringly presented. The pictures (which were not present in the ARC!) add little. You’d be better off pulling up the Wikipedia page for each of the famous dresses listed in the table of contents.

Skirts is a nonfiction history of skirt length and fashion which includes an interesting mix of pop culture and history, and their effects on each other. Sometimes skirts lengths influenced our future. For example, J Lo’s famous green Versace dress spurred Google to create and internet image search engine. Most of the time, skirt length was driven by events in history and the fashion industry’s reaction to these changes. I enjoyed listening to this composition of fashion history, and it kept my interest with the famous celebrity fashion and historical moments interspersed with the details.

Easy listening and interesting history. Not being a huge fashionista myself, I still found the info of interest. I assume someone who is more involved with fashion would enjoy the history a bit more. Lots of references to some of the big names of fashion.

This was a really great non-fiction read on the history of womens fashion. Skirts explores the relationship between women and fashion, and presents research on how the shifting role of women in the 20th century influenced a change in fashion -- when women went from wearing skirts to pants, how it happened, and why it matters for the womens liberation movement. I love feminist books like this, and learned a lot and would definitely recommend this book to anyone who consideres themselves a feminist or fashionista!

I often find myself drawn to non-fiction histories about women’s fashion and careers. I found this history of modern feminism through the changing of hemlines to be quite interesting!

From the ankles being shown post-WWI, Dior’s new look in WWII, the shoulder pads donned by career ladies in the 80s, and more, it was inspiring to see how fashion tells the story of female empowerment.

Sometimes I read non-fiction!

And Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell’s SKIRTS: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century completely blew me away on the role fashion has played in the women’s liberation movement and the ongoing effects on today’s gender fluid consciousness.

From the “Ford of Dresses” or the Little Black dress being created back in 1926(?!?!) and it’s use as a “uniform for women” to the history of the strapless dress and the Deb’s or debutants that created who initiated the term “celebutante” during the social season of the late 20’s in New York, this book is filled with fascinating stories, history and politics surrounding fashion.

My ARC copy is filled with gorgeous images of the styles depicted and the influential characters that made the world take note. I can’t wait to to find a copy of the finished book- I hear there are even more images!
I’m may not be a big fashionista, but I love a good skirt! I found this historical adventure of the politics of dress eye opening and it has given me a new outlook on the statement I make by choosing my own clothing and the struggle that has gotten us to this point where the boundaries are blurred and all clothing options are open to all people.

This was a fun history and if you can get your hands on the audiobook I also highly recommend it! Narrator Sarah Welborn delivers a captivating performance and delivers this history in a tongue-in-cheek fashion that feels like a friend telling you about her favourite topic. Easy to listen to and hard to step away from!

Many thanks to @stmartinspress for the ARC and @tantoraudio for the audiobook.

#SkirtsBook #KimberlyChrismanCampbell

What a treat this book was! Takes you on the historic tour of women's fashion! Such a great listen and I had the physical book for reference too which was nice because pictures!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance audiobook of this title. This book was an interesting history of the skirt as a fashion piece. The history of the skirt is explored for both utilitarian and adornment purposes. Other cultures, and their wearing of this piece of clothing are explored and explained. Does the skirt free or bind modern men and women? How is it a form of expression? Where does it fit in our fashion culture today? A very interesting book on a topic that doesn't often come to the front of the mind for exploration.

Loved this! I received the physical copy as well and I loved listening along with the book. Such a fascinating story of how the skirt came into the world

Fascinating topic, great little stories, but I wasn't able to finish this book because the narrative was so unappealing. It just doesn't work for a general audience.

First, I must say that yes, I realize that this is a documentary. Which typically means it is not also a thrilling reading experience. There are A LOT of dates and names discussed. It reads a little more like a timeline that an overall history of skirts. I was interested in the history of fashion in general, and particularly as a skirt-wearer, extremely interested in skirts. The book is pretty informative although I listened to the audiobook which lacked illustrations. I hope an actual book would have plenty of illustrations. I did find myself Googling names and skirt styles. While I am sure that fashion can influence some social changes, I feel that social changes influence fashion more so.