Here we go again! 
The NYT published an article, "Reborn in the U.S.A.," in yesterday's paper about the luxury denim industry currently thriving in Los Angeles. It reports that an estimated 100 companies making premium denim are based there, but the more interesting story is how a handful of these companies are producing the jeans right there in L.A. versus overseas.
I'm a week behind on this story but it's so crazily skirt-centric I had to comment!
Kyla Ebbert, a 23-year-old college student and Hooters employee, was nearly kicked off a Southwest airlines flight for wearing a white denim miniskirt a flight attendant deemed too short. She was removed from the plane, lectured in earshot of the passengers, advised to buy a less-revealing outfit from a gift shop, and then allowed to reboard anyway, as long as she tugged down her skirt and pulled up her scoop neckline. Shortly after that, another woman got the same humiliating lecture on a different SW flight, and was made to cover up with a blanket before takeoff.
Un-be-lieveable.
The women obtained legal counsel, natch, and appearances on the Today Show and Dr. Phil. But I think they need to rally the enthusiasm along the lines of Zoe Hinkle, the 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl who protested her school's Draconian dress code last year and marched in a blue denim miniskirt while waving a sign that read "Style is Freedom!"
No doubt this story will be passed off as a joke (the airline issued a mock press release on the subject in what must be an attempt to steer public opinion into thinking the two women are flakes), but I think it's a story worth watching.
Will Southwest Airlines start an official dress code? Can a flight attendant have absolute power to determine clothes appropriate for a "family airline" (the reason given for Kyla's reprimand) and not?
Crashing Down! (and up and down again).
In chapter 4 of The Long (and Short) of It, I write about the Skirt Length Theory, an outdated way to measure the economy based on the length of women's skirts. So I was surprised to see this clip on YouTube from a 2006 video called History's Hidden Engine about that very topic, even though today’s economists and historians pretty much agree that 21st-century styles, which see hemlines at every length, make the Skirt Length Theory entirely obsolete. I haven't seen the whole film, but there's some great footage in this clip: dancing flappers, early catwalks and decades-old fashion shoots.
Here's my take, from Chapter 4 of "The Long (and Short of It): the Madcap History of the Skirt":
Since the Depression and the subsequent finicky nature of hemlines through World War II, the height of hemlines has been used as a barometer to determine the outlook of the stock market. Though market analysts didn't pick up on the connection at the time, the Skirt Length Theory, an indicator of market value and consumer behavior, was born. The thinking behind the theory goes that shorter skirts tend to appear in times when general consumer confidence is high, and when hemlines fall and skirts are worn longer, the overall outlook is gloomy and fearful. (The same goes for lipstick sales, according to Leonard Lauder, the chairman of Estée Lauder.) In 1971, hot pants were the rage, and the advice at the Dow Jones was, "Don't sell until you see the heights of their thighs!" Now, in the 21st century, with hemlines all over the place, the Skirt Length Theory serves only as a cute colloquialism of the past.
It's been a while since I posted but The Long and Short has gotten a ton of great press lately: my hometown paper The News Journal, my college alma mater magazine, a bunch of other newpapers, and a number of terrific radio stations had me on as their guest.
Another cool thing: I'm seen on the History Channel's program, The States, that aired on May 28--just a tiny little segment but an appearance nonetheless. And this week I'm happy to report that American Profile Magazine picked The Long and Short as one of their "Our Picks" reading reviews. You can see it here
