First we wore skinny jeans too tight to walk in. Then we ditched jeans for leggings, and now we're so liberated we hardly feel like pulling on a pair of tights at all. Yes, the incentive to wear less has been riding up legs for the past 100 years. And in 1920, you could have caused a Model T pile-up walking down the street in the short-shorts you can flaunt now. So, with pop stars and celebrities barely bothering to cover their assets, it's hard to believe the world was once modest to a fault! Below we have a look at the history of hemlines, and how we went from pristine New Look to Ga Ga bottomless.
Opener image: Poiret illustration; Taylor Momsen photo by Eddie Newton/mrnewton.net. 1910s image: Poiret illustration. 1920s image: flapper photo via My Vintage Vogue. 1930s image: Illustration via Glamour Daze. 1940s image: Fashion illustration via Covert Candy. 1950s image: McCall pattern. 1960s image: Twiggy photo via Sixties City. 1970s image: ABBA photo via Idolator. 1980s image: Madonna photo via Hollywood Rag. 1990s image: Cindy Crawford for Versace photo via I Scream Fashion. Now images: Sienna Miller photo via Publisher's Weekly; Daisy Lowe photo via Zimbio; Lady Gaga photo via The Insider.