A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than 10 cm (4 in) below the buttocks; and a minidress is a dress with a similar meaning. A micro-miniskirt or microskirt is a further abbreviation of the miniskirt and short shorts are the shortened versions of the shorts
The popularity of miniskirts peaked in the "Swinging London" of the 1960s, but its popularity is since still commonplace among many women, mostly teenagers, preteens, and young adults. Before that time, short skirts were only seen in sport clothing, such as skirts worn by female tennis players.
From the ancient Greek tunic until the military tunic of Roman times, the very short tunic was exclusively worn by slaves and fighters. In the Middle Ages they were worn under the armour.
During her theatre performances in the Folies Bergère in Paris in 1926, Joséphine Baker wore a sort of miniskirt made from bananas.
In the 1950s, they could be seen in the science fiction films Devil Girl from Mars and Forbidden Planet.
Mary Quant ran a popular clothes shop in Kings Road, Chelsea, London, called Bazaar, from which she sold her own designs. In the late 1950s she began experimenting with shorter skirts, culminating in the creation of the miniskirt in 1964—one of the defining fashions of the decade.Quant named the miniskirt after her favourite make of car, the Mini.
Owing to Quant's position in the heart of fashionable "Swinging London", the miniskirt was able to spread beyond a simple street fashion into a major international trend. The style came into prominence when Jean Shrimpton wore a short white shift dress, made by Colin Rolfe, on 30 October 1965 at Derby Day, first day of the annual Melbourne Cup Carnival in Australia, where it caused a sensation. According to Shrimpton, who claimed that the brevity of the skirt was due mainly to Rolfe's having insufficient material, the ensuing controversy was as much as anything to do with her having dispensed with a hat and gloves, seen as the essential accessories in such conservative society. The miniskirt was further popularized by André Courrèges who developed it separately and incorporated it into his Mod look, for spring/summer 1965. His miniskirts were less body-hugging, and worn with the white "Courrèges boots" that became a trademark. By introducing the miniskirt into the haute couture of the fashion industry, Courrèges gave it a greater degree of respectability than might otherwise have been expected of a street fashion.[citation needed]. An even more prominent French fashion designer, Yves St. Laurent, began to show shorter skirts in his fall/winter 1965 collection, including his famous "Mondrian" dress (inspired by the work of painter Piet Mondrian), a trend that he continued with throughout the 1960s, although he became more famous during this period for introducing the concept of the formal trouser suit for women into haute couture.
Fashion designer Rudi Gernreich was among the first U.S. designers to offer miniskirts.
Upper garments, such as rugby shirts, were sometimes adapted as mini-dresses. With the rise in hemlines, the wearing of tights or pantyhose, in place of stockings, became more common. Mary Quant cited this development in defence of the miniskirt:
"In European countries where they ban mini-skirts in the streets and say they're an invitation to rape, they don't understand about stocking tights underneath."
During the mid-1970s, the fashion industry largely returned to longer skirts such as the midi and the maxi. Journalist Christopher Booker gave two reasons for this reaction: firstly, that "there was almost nowhere else to go ... the mini-skirts could go no higher"; and secondly, in his view, "dressed up in mini-skirts and shiny PVC macs, given such impersonal names as 'dolly birds', girls had been transformed into throwaway plastic objects". Certainly this lengthening of hemlines coincided with the growth of the feminist movement. However, in the 1960s the mini had been regarded as a symbol of liberation, and it was worn by some, such as Germaine Greer and, in the following decade, Gloria Steinem, who became known for their promotion of women's issues. Greer herself wrote in 1969 that:
