How to buy a pencil skirt

I love a good pencil skirt. If you have never slipped a skinny hobble skirt over your assets you don’t know what you’re missing! Contrary to popular misconception they are not difficult to wear and can hide a multitude of sins. If you are worried about a belly which doesn’t match up the the stomach of a Miss Moss then don’t be, if you find the right pencil skirt in any size then it will work to maximize your hips and waist and disguise the bits your not so proud of. However there are some problems you must look out for; I recently felt satisfied spending £40 in River Island on a high-waisted pencil skirt with slit in the back and kooky mismatching buttons, it was just beautiful… that is until I wore it for the first time and the back hem gave way. Uh-oh! I have overcome this disaster by stitching and re-stitching the seam at the back so that I might be confident to wear the piece again without fear of exposure on Whitechapel High Street. I love my skirt now it is fixed but feel slightly more concerned about wearing it now I know it’s faults. It occurs to me that many women may not have the sewing skills which previous generations passed on to me so as a pre-empive measure I thought I’d give you a few tips to success when finding the perfect pencil skirt.

• Choose Strong Fabrics. Many high-street suppliers make pencil skirts of same basic fabrics as the rest of their collection, such as thin cotton. Often this is too weak to last where pressure is applied to the garment and usually leads to the seam in the back of the skirt splitting as you walk. Try to choose your skirt in a thick  fabric like Drill or Tweed.
• Watch out for cottons. Even if a manufacturer has chosen a good strong fabric your skirt may still fail you at a bad moment if the cotton holding it together is not up to scratch. Check the cotton is strong by pulling gently on the end of a seam, if the thread looks strained then it probably won’t last five minutes.
• Look for lining. It’s a good idea to buy a pencil skirt which is fully lined or least wear an underskirt with it. The reason for this is to stop the skirt from rucking up as you walk, or worst still snagging your tights. Ignore any ideas you might be having about underskirts belonging in your grandmothers drawers, honestly, you will thank me.

If you have any comments or stories about pencil skirt wearing I’d love to hear them.