'Negative hemlines'
This year’s hot pants are not for the shy or faint of heart
By Erin Loomis 04/08/2010
I admit it: I have always taken hemlines for granted. I have naively watched them ebb and flow like the tide. Sure, shorts get a bit shorter, skirts a little longer and so on and so forth. It’s OK with me. I know fashion needs to change to keep things interesting and, despite the fact that these changes are usually just new takes on old trends, I’ve enjoyed them — until now.
To put the current situation in perspective, we need to look back to a time when hemlines were essentially static. Fashionistas had to be pretty creative for a few hundred years when the only acceptable hemline for women was floor length. Sure, there were trains and bustles and other such nonsense, but from Shakespeare’s day until the early 1900s, skirts at least skimmed the ground; anything shorter was reserved for ballet dancers, circus folk and members of the oldest profession.
Then, suddenly, after so many years of stagnant hemlines, they began to creep up quickly. It seems to have started just before 1900, then bang! Like a fuse touching off a powder keg, women suddenly had ankles, calves and eventually thighs out in public for God and everyone to see.
There are many theories on the sudden rise of the hemline, my personal favorite being that women wanted liberation and those long skirts were just plain getting in the way of liberation and fun activities like tennis and bootlegging liquor. At any rate, by the 1920s, flappers had hitched their hemlines to just below the knee and it only got more scandalous from there.
From the Roaring ‘20s on, the hemline rose as high as it could go, then plummeted back down to the ground. From miniskirt to maxi-dress and back again, the fashion industry kept us guessing whether it would be up or down this year. Will we wear gaucho pants or short shorts? Pencil skirts, A-lines or both? We had seen it all, so it was a mere matter of guessing which pony was coming around the good old-fashioned merry-go-round.
Or so we thought.
Hindsight being 20-20, I knew this was coming. American Apparel has being priming the pump for the current hemline disaster for years with risqué leotard-wearing hipster girls on billboards. I thought it was a little trashy, but I never thought it would be considered street wear.
Ladies and gentleman, the fashion industry presents the hot pant. This is not your grand-mother’s ankle-bearing modesty buster. This is a short so short that I won’t call it a short. It’s basically a bathing suit bottom, a leotard, a tap panty, and it is designed to be worn in public. Holy missing pants, Batman!
It doesn’t seem real. I mean, sure, Lady Gaga and various other highfalutin’ celebs with a trainer and team of makeup artists might be able to pull off this look, but this trend has actually made its way from the avant-garde runways of New York and Paris to the J-Crew catalog on my Mom’s coffee table. DKNY, Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney all have hot pants for 2010; these tiny bottoms are also referred to as a boy short. More mainstream J-Crew calls it a romper, touting that the silhouette is “fashion forward,” and charges just over $100 for what appears to me to be a fancy silk bathing suit you can’t swim in.
The hot pant is intended to be an evening look, must be worn with heels and is not for the faint of heart. Confidence in one’s bum is not optional as this new hemline is called a “negative hemline,” as in no hemline, or less than a hem has ever been before. A proper-fitting hot pant should actually follow the curve of ones butt cheeks. Stylists who support the look suggest keeping it classy and tidy to avoid a relapse of last year’s oh-so-sloppy, leggings-instead-of-pants trend. (Though it has been suggested that one may wear tights underneath hot pants if it is chilly outside.)
Considering the new options, I think last year was definitely more of a “some pants” than “no pants” kind of year. The same stylists also implore you to take into consideration the fact that you must have a modelesque figure and excellent accessorizing skills to rock the hot pants trend.
Personally, I have chosen to skip out on this new look, as I prefer to reserve the negative hemlines in my wardrobe for the gym, beach and occasional pool party. Call me old-fashioned, but I really like to wear pants in public.
Contact Erin at madeupbyloomis@gmail.com.
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