Dresses and skirts: The long and the short of it

Chanel once said that the knees were the ugliest part of a woman’s anatomy, perhaps this is why she was the first modern female designer to put women into trousers.

What she would make of this season’s focus on retro glamour, groomed femininity and the revival of the skirt as a stylish key piece is uncertain, but she would certainly approve of the wearability of the season’s new longer skirt lengths.

Skirts have played a crucial and central role in fashion history as a barometer of not only social change and financial markets, but also how women perceive their role in wider society.