My Kind of Skirt!

A full midi-length skirt worn with cozy tights and boots has frequently been a winter wardrobe staple for me. There have been handmade versions from Style 2323 (OOP) to my last retail version from Eddie Bauer. There has been so much joy swishing and swirling my skirts about (ever so slightly) with every step, the best was when taking the stairs and having to hold up the sides. It was the closest I'd ever get to being in one of my beloved costumed movie musicals.

Brigadoon, 1954.

While one of those wool skirts is not in my sewing plan for this winter, something just happened that reminded me of what I was missing: the Marvelous Ms. Markle* and her first official royal appearance:

Check out that gorgeous cotton twill skirt from Joseph, the shape is fairly sleek below the waist before it releases two stitched-down pleats at mid-thigh in front and back into fullness. It definitely has that sashay factor working for it!

Finding a somewhat similar pattern for this classic skirt shape and length is possible from the Big Four: Butterick 6249, Butterick 4136, Vogue 9154, McCall's 6993, Burda 6572, Burda 6880, Simplicity 1560, and Simplicity 2058.

Now, while I'm not a fan of the deconstructed loose threads on the Joseph version, the idea of adding some funkiness to the skirt is intriguing...

How about this out-of-print Vogue 9031 which added dynamic seam lines to the purposely unfinished hems of view C and can still be found on eBay and Etsy? Add some length to it and it'd be a stunner. So while there isn't a pattern out there (yet!)** that directly matches the skirt worn by the future Duchess of Sussex, a few of the ones above could be adapted with a little pattern hacking such as McCall's 6993, Burda 6880, Simplicity 1560, and Simplicity 2058.

Or look at what I just found online, the Trend Patterns Drape Hem Skirt:

Now that is super funky! While the abrupt changes in lengths may not be for everyone, adding a little here and there to the pattern pieces (but still keeping the asymmetry) would be a great compromise.

I also checked the indie pattern companies to see if they had anything even closer in style and there were some! I came up with these fairly good look-a-likes; both the Deer & Doe patterns, Fumeterre (view 2) and Azara could be adapted to resemble the Joseph, along with the Sewaholic Gabriola, which is probably the closest of them all!

Probably the best match of them all!

* Yes, I'm also alluding to the fab The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a new Amazon series. Check it out, it's incredible and new from Amy and Daniel Sherman-Palladino.

** I'm looking at you, Style Arc!