Should CLRG regulate skirt lengths?

My instinct is to respond "Yes! We should protect the children from indecently exposing themselves in public!"

However much I would like to contribute to the decency of what we wear when we dance, there is no possible way to enforce any rule on skirt lengths. These are my reasons.

Firstly, there is no way to accurately measure skirt lengths. Kneeling on the floor and measuring up to the bottom of the skirt (ie 4" above the knee) would be the only plausible way. However, mothers across the globe will cry out, "But my daughter has very short thighs and very long legs!" at the same time another mother will cry, "MY daughter has very long thighs but shorter legs! She would look terrible on stage if her dress were a centimeter shorter!" All in all, every single dancing parent agrees that his/her daughter looks way better in a skirt that barely covers her bloomers. This is almost a universal belief.

Many proponents of the short skirts will cite the fact that the girls are covered up more when dancing than they would be at the beach. Unfortunately, I don't think a feis ever happened on a beach. Also, does that make it OK to wear a bikini to school? To the mall?

There was talk on the boards of measuring from the "gluteal fold" to determine legal skirt lengths. I think we all know that is just silly.

So let's just all keep it decent. Don't have your bloomers showing when you're standing still. The judges can see you legs. Unless you are wearing a dress with a skirt down to you ankles, leg visibilty is never going to be a problem. We can only really control what we (or our daughers) wear, so let's just worry about that. If you want your child on stage in public with an obscenely short skirt doing high kicks and leaps, that is your decision. Now let's go practice our hornpipes :)

Tags: short, skirts

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8 Comments

Comment by BWolf on April 16, 2009 at 4:23am: Lately I've just been bothered by obscenely short skirts. Yes, the underside of a dress might be cute, but no, I have no desire to see your bloomers. I find that puffballs in particular are just way too short, if not in the front, than in the back. I think a lot of time people forget that the back needs to be longer to compensate or our eh....curves.

I'm also not a fan of the ridiculously dropped waists with the skirt that looks more like a belt. It kinda disfigures the dancer and shortens the legs, which is the opposite of what I expect the dress to do. All in all, it is a skirt. Not a ball gown, but not a belt. I think mid-thigh is short enough to see the crossing, but not too short to see what shouldn't be seen.

Comment by Magda on March 22, 2009 at 8:49pm: Last year we had our new school/performance dresses sewn. The skirts were appropriate to the ruling we heard of - 12 cm over the knee.

When our teachers saw the dresses, they immediately told us they were way too long :P

Comment by Luv2jig on March 22, 2009 at 2:23pm: Haha, I know, Heidi, I totally agree with you. It just seems that a large proportion Moms think their daughter looks better in a shorter skirt, regardless of the dancer's proportions.

Comment by Fi on March 22, 2009 at 10:47am: haha I agree with your last comment Heidi!

Comment by Heidi on March 20, 2009 at 3:04pm: I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with the comment about everyone thinking skirts look best when they barely cover the bloomers. To me, it makes it look like the dress is too small and is time to be traded in for a newer model. Sure, the dress should be short enough to not get in the way of the dancing, but if we're going to keep going shorter why not just put them in ballet tutus and be done with it? Just my opinion of course.

And gluteal fold? lmao Allowing someone to measure someone else from their gluteal fold sounds much more inappropriate than wearing a skirt that barely covers it.

Comment by Fi on March 19, 2009 at 11:07am: I must say the comment about wearing a bikini to the mall or school made me laugh out loud :)

Comment by Karin Falcone on March 18, 2009 at 7:13pm: When the girls do a high kick or jump, their leg (or wind resistance for that matter) forces the skirt up, so that often the bloomers and underside of the skirt are seen anyhow. The difference between 3,4 or 5 inches doesn't seem to matter much.

I say, do what look good & appropriate, and use common sense and decency as your guide.