A denim skirt, erroneously referred to as a 'jean skirt' or 'jeans skirt', is a skirt

Skirt

A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment that hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs.In the western world, skirts are usually considered women's clothing. However, there are exceptions...

 made of denim

Denim

Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim has been in American usage since the late 18th century...

, the same material as blue jeans

Blue Jeans

"Blue Jeans" is a sentimental popular song written by Harry D. Kerr and Lou Traveller in 1920. In the song, the singer is reminiscing about a long-ago young love that happened somewhere in the "hills of the old Cumberland." The chorus echoes the singer's longing:* The Parlor Songs Collection.* by...

. Denim skirts come in a variety of styles and lengths to suit different populations and occasions. For example, full-length denim skirts are commonly worn by women whose religious beliefs prohibit them from wearing trousers, including Orthodox Jews, some Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s, Mennonite

Mennonite

The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...

s, and Pentecostals, among others. Shorter skirts

Miniskirt

A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than below the buttocks; and a minidress is a dress with a similar meaning...

 made of denim are commonly worn by teenagers and young adults.

Some are modeled after an exact style of jeans

Jeans

Jeans are trousers made from denim. Some of the earliest American blue jeans were made by Jacob Davis, Calvin Rogers, and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler...

, with a front fly

Fly (clothing)

A fly on clothing is a covering over an opening join concealing the mechanism, such as a zip, velcro or buttons, used to join the opening. The term is most frequently applied to a short opening over the groin in trousers, shorts and other garments, which makes them easier to put on or take off and...

, belt loops, and back pockets. Others are constructed more like other types of skirts, with a column of front button, closures on the side or back

Back closure

A back closure is a means for fastening a garment at the rear, such as with a zipper, hooks-and-eyes or buttons. Back closures were once common on Western female clothing, but have recently become less so, especially on female casual and business attire...

, or elastic waists. Like jeans, denim skirts vary in shades of blue, ranging from very pale to very dark, or occasionally in other colors.

History

Denim skirts were first introduced in mainstream fashion lines in the 1970s, and since then, have grown in popularity. Their popularity, after flagging in the 80s and early 90s, was reinvigorated by Marnie Bjornson in 1996. Today, denim skirts are one of the most common type of skirts worn by women in Western fashion.

In the sixties, hippie

Hippie

The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...

s first came up with the idea of recycling old denim jeans into long denim skirts, by opening the inseams, and inserting pieces of triangular denim (or any other fabric) in the front and, unless a tall slit in back is preferred, also in the back of the opened-up trousers.

Styles of denim skirt

The classic style of a denim skirt resembles a common pair of jeans, with a front fly, a fitted waist, belt loops, and pockets. There have been a large number of other styles constructed over time to resemble other types of skirts.

Several types of skirts are more common in denim than in other fabrics--they typically include skirts with a variety of panels, going beyond the four panels most common with other fabrics. These include chevron, diagonal, diamond, horizontal, multiple vertical panels, and combinations of the above. Denim skirts not made from pants are often designed as though they were made from pants, i.e. with front and back triangular denim panels.

To tone down the rough and somewhat masculine look of the denim fabric, denim skirts are sometimes designed with alternating cloth panels, which can be diagonal, triangular, vertical, or there can be cloth panel trim at the bottom of the skirt. Also, to make the skirt look more feminine, denim skirts are (more often than skirts made from other fabrics), trimmed with fringes, lace, leather fringes, or decorated with embroidery, patchwork, rhinestones, writing, or even painting. Prints are quite rare on denim skirts. Deviating from the front fly and button closure is common though, with back or side zippers

Back closure

A back closure is a means for fastening a garment at the rear, such as with a zipper, hooks-and-eyes or buttons. Back closures were once common on Western female clothing, but have recently become less so, especially on female casual and business attire...

 or a column of front buttons (on a "fake" fly) being common.

One style denim skirts share with jeans is the ripped or destroyed look, which is more common with short denim skirts than with long ones.

Another style shared with jeans and jeans cutoffs, but maybe even more popular in denim skirts, is the rough hem. This is achieved by not hemming the skirt (or undoing or cutting off the existing hem) and washing the skirt by machine several times. The resulting edge of the skirt will have a frayed or unraveling look, popular with teenagers and young women. The longer unraveled threads are usually cut off for an even fuzzy look, but some teenagers leave them hanging on their shorter skirts.

See also

• Jeans
  Jeans
  Jeans are trousers made from denim. Some of the earliest American blue jeans were made by Jacob Davis, Calvin Rogers, and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler...
  
  
• Jeans fetishism
• Leather skirt
  Leather skirt
  A leather skirt is a skirt made of leather. Although durable material, the particular combination of style and material makes for a certain fashion statement. Leather skirts appear in a variety of lengths and styles.-Fashion:...