Dictionary Definition
hemline n : the line formed by the lower edge of
a skirt or coat
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Noun
Derived terms
Extensive Definition
The hemline of a garment is its lower edge. The
term most often refers to the lower edge of a skirt or dress.
The hemline is perhaps the most variable style line in
fashion, changing shape
and ranging in height from hip-high to floor-length. What is a
fashionable style and height of hemline has varied considerably
throughout the years, and has also depended on a number of factors
such as the age of the wearer, the occasion for which the garment
is worn and the choice of the individual.
Types of hemlines
- floor-length hemlines
- ankle hemlines
- midcalf hemlines
- below-knee hemlines
- above-knee hemlines
- mid-thigh hemlines
- hip-high hemlines
- handkerchief hemlines
- diagonal hemlines
- other hemlines
History
In the
history of Western fashion, the ordinary public clothes of
upper- and middle-class women varied only between floor-length and
slightly above ankle-length for many centuries before World War I.
Skirts of lower-calf or mid-calf length were associated with the
practical working garments of lower-class or pioneer women, while
even shorter skirt lengths were seen only in certain specialized
and restricted contexts (e.g. sea-bathing costumes, or outfits worn
by ballerinas on stage). It was not until the mid-1910s that
hemlines began to rise significantly (with many variations in
height thereafter). Skirts rose all the way from floor-length to
near knee-length in only about fifteen years (from late in the
decade of the 1900s to the mid-1920s). From WW1 to roughly 1970, a
woman had to wear skirts near their currently-fashionable length or
be considered almost hopelessly unstylish, but since the 1970s,
women's options have widened, and there is no longer really only
one single fashionable skirt-length at a time.