My wife needs advice...please.

[Tomak]

My wife is making a skirt from her family's tartan. She prefers a shorter length than hostess length, but worries that a shorter length would not be proper. She would like to know if any other length would be appropriate for daytime events?

[Father Bill]

http://www.lindaclifford.com/LadiesSkirts.html Have a look - stock photos; a lot of our sponsors will have the same products.

[CDNSushi]

What is "proper" is in the eye of the beholder. Some like long skirts and some like miniskirts. That is up to your wife, and her alone. How anyone else perceives it is their own problem. The only guideline (in my mind) would be: what is the intended use? Who is the intended audience? Adjust as necessary.

[Elizabeth]

Not knowing your wife's age or where she intends to wear the skirt it is hard to say. Me being in my mid fifties prefer a few inches above my knees, which I feel is short enough to be nice looking on someone my age but not what I consider "doughty or frumpy". Plus that length I feel decently covered and not having to worry about my every move. I feel this length is fine for out and about and to festivals. If I was going to have a skirt for more "formal events" I would tend to go a little longer to the top of the knee or sightly below the knee cap. But as I said that is my age and stage and what I am comfortable with.

[Tomak]

Thank you all for your input. She found some VERY inexpensive plaid material she is going to use for a practice run before she takes on the tartan.

[The Wizard of BC]

My personal advice would be to ask the exact same question but remove four little words from your original question.

If you had reworded you question like this, would the answer be easier, or would the answer be more self evident?

"My wife is making a skirt. She prefers a shorter length than hostess length, but worries that a shorter length would not be proper. She would like to know if any other length would be appropriate for daytime events?"

I find that a lot of people seem to feel that because the fabric is Tartan that there is some special requirement envolved.
Actually you would look at Tartan fabric just as you would any other skirt fabric. Some skirt fabrics lend themselves to one style of skirt over another due to how well they drape. Others, like any plaid, lend themselves to pleats.

Then you take into account the event and the intended use. A skirt made for wear to the office or your job could be different than one made to wear during an evening out dancing or one made to wear going to the grocery store.

[Tomak]

While I understand your point Steve, the fact that it was tartan was entirely why she asked for advice. She did not want to offend anyone, nor have someone scream SACRELIDGE and throw haggis at her.

[Father Bill]

Ooo. Haggis could hurt!

[MacLowlife]

a quick trip to tartansauthority.com and a few minutes of watching the variety of women's outfits is, er EDUCATIONAL, yeah,... as to just how different women's tartan / highland outfits can be.

And then there is THIS thread...http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-thread-71603/

[The Wizard of BC]

Then perhaps I did not understand the implication behind your use of 'improper'. I assumed you meant the length of the skirt. Tartan skirts come in every length imaginable so improper depends on what your wife considers an improper length.

But I still don't see how anyone can treat Tartan as something that must be worn in a particular way. It's not a uniform or something sacred. Just look at the web a little and you can see many, many ways that Tartan can be worn well.

There is no rule that says a ladies Tartan skirt must be hostess length. Tea length, just below the knee, just above, mini and micro are all done and offered by most of the vendors selling Tartan. Heck go look at the site by one the largest weavers and sellers of Tartan fabric in the world, Lochcarron.

It is not the fabric you wear or the length of your skirt. It is how you wear it. Do you treat your family Tartan with respect? Do you wear it in a way that makes you proud to walk out the door?
I have seen Tartan skirts worn well and I've seen Tartan skirts worn poorly. The difference was not the fabric the skirt was made from, as much as how the skirt was worn. Clothes worn poorly, even expensive designer fashions, make the wearer look bad.

Tartan is about Pride. It tells the world instantly, This is who I am, where I come from, and how I got here. Wear it with pride and regardless of the length of your skirt you will do your self well.

Everything else like "proper" and "sacrilegious" is just some myth, or worse yet, a marketing thing by the skirt makers. If they make you think that Hostess length is the "only" proper way to wear Tartan they don't have to design, make, and stock but one style of skirt.
It is much like kilt jackets. It is far easier, and cheaper, to standardize them down to two designs.