Friday, 15 May 2026

Skirting The Issue

Two cotton skirts, one navy and white fishes,  the other  a pretty leafy print on a golden background. Except this is the same skirt, it is reversible!

I bought this in a CS recently. I thought it was a yellow skirt and the blue was the lining, and didn't realise it was reversible. If you look at the zip, you can see the 'pull' can flip over to the other side. And between the two layers, you can find a "White Stuff" label. The CS price tag said "large" and it was within my "Cup of Coffee" budget [£3.50 or less] I am afraid I was in a hurry and did not try it on. I figured the fabric was lovely and I could remake it if it didn't fit.
I was pleased when I got home to find it was two-for-one, and being White Stuff, very well made. However it is definitely not Large - the tag has been cut out, but I think it is a 10. Certainly too tight for my waistline. 
At the moment it is just hanging in the wardrobe waiting for some sort of alteration.
Along with this one - a very pretty vintage Orvis brand ankle length skirt. This too is beautifully made, but rather too long for me. The waistband is elasticated, and again a bit tight. I shall probably undo the seam in the elastic and simply turn it to the inside. A quick and easy fix.
When you were at school, did you ever turn over the waistband of your school skirt to turn from prim uniform knee length, to a miniskirt?  I notice the teenagers round here still seem to do that!


24 comments:

  1. I like the idea of a reversible skirt! My school uniform was a dress; there was no way to turn the waist band over, even if I had wanted to. I didn't like mini skirts and cried when my mother sewed me a dress with a mini skirt and refused to wear it!

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    1. We had skirts in winter and dresses in summer. I liked minus, because I thought they made my legs look longer.

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  2. I hated minis, because I thought they made made my thighs look too chubby... but we all turned our skirts over, some more than others. My mother called the the very short turned over skirts 'pelmets'.

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  3. I really like White Stuff 's reversible skirts. I have 2 of them (second hand) and bought one for my neighbour too.
    Shame the size is wrong.
    The Orvis skirt is really pretty.
    I didn't turn over my skirt until I was in Year 12 and that was only for the last couple of months as I had these old long kilts of my Godsister's and they were very granny! Didn't bother before that!

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    1. You are very creative in repurposing garments acquired second hand

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  4. I turned over my school skirt but that was only in winter as we wore ghastly gingham dresses in summer. Our headmistress was always lecturing us on not showing too much leg! It was an all girls school and I was always getting into trouble for adapting the uniform in some way. Happy days. I love the skirts and I am sure you will come up with an alteration so that you can wear the reversible one. Regards Sue H

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    1. I think many of us had the same experiences

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  5. Love the reversible skirt. White stuff make good clothes in lovely patterns but very expensive. I bought a tunic half price from their sake and wore it for several years so it paid off. We used to turn our skirts up too, and then go for a wander around the market after school! My dad called my skirts a pelmet too.

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    1. But does anybody [apart from the National Trust] have pelmets anymore???

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  6. I love the reversible skirt, both patterns are so attractive. Would either of your girls wear it?
    JanF

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    1. They might, but I'm going to try and make it fit me first!!

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  7. RannedomThoughts15 May 2026 at 15:51

    At my school we , the girls, had to wear a pinafore for the first two years . But...if you grew out of it you could cut the top off and wear it as a skirt. I don't think anyone wore an intact pinafore after year 1.

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    1. We were not allowed skirts till year 3

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  8. You scored "3" lovely skirts! I remember the grammar school I went to required a tailored tunic, and we had to be measured kneeling, so that the skirt would end exactly at the knee! No chance to roll it up either, but it was a reasonable length for those days.

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    1. I hated that kneeling on the floor thing

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  9. Oh yes, then frantically unrolling the waistband when the Senior Mistress decided on measuring the length of our skirts, fine if you were at the back of the hall as you had time. Otherwise it was a lot of line writing! Your charity shop skirt was well worth the money, I bought a lovely Weird Fish dress from the £1 rail, deep pink, coral and white and it fits me perfectly. Xx

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  10. Sounds like a bargain (I like Weird Fish too 🐠

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  11. With your wonderful creative sewing mind, hopefully you can make something special with the reversable skirt.

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  12. I'm sure you can easily alter both skirts to fit you. 😀 Yes, the length of the skirt I wore setting off for secondary school bore little resemblance to the length it was when I arrived home. 😄

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  13. Those are some great bargains.
    I can't sew, but I watch sewing videos, and I regularly re-watch the 'zero waste adjustable skirt' that apparently fits everyone, needs only a couple of yards of material and looks like even I could make it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xHOnS4fK2c&t=779s
    I'm holding off until I get a little further down my yarn stash.

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  14. I must check that out, thanks

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