Cut The Hem (Up To There) — A lot of cute skirts and dresses tend to hit me just above the knee — which is unacceptable because, these days, I’m mostly interested in a calf-skimming midi length or an obscenely short hem. Since you can’t magically lengthen things, this means I’m hacking my skirts into minis. I try it on and make a little snip with a pair of scissors about an inch lower than I think I’ll want to go (I can always cut it shorter later). To figure out if I need to bother hemming it with a sewing machine, I do a test snip on an inside seam. Does it look like the fabric will fray? Many silks, knits, and poly-blends won’t, which means I can carefully trim away a few inches without touching my sewing machine.

Chayalan Step Cutout Woven Mini Skirt, $480, available at Net-a-Porter.