Legs For Days

All hail the welcome return of the minidress. Grace O’Neill charts how our love for super-short hemlines never truly went away

SHARON STONE in Basic Instinct; Angelina Jolie in Versace at the Oscars; Kylie Minogue lying across a bar in hotpants in the video for Spinning Around; Marilyn Monroe standing over a New York City subway grate in a billowing white dress. For as long as women have been in pop culture, there have been legs. Heidi Klum’s legs have been insured for more than $1 million each, Rihanna’s are said to be worth $1.3 million, and Taylor Swift’s reportedly clock in at a staggering $54 million. A photograph from 1937 recently resurfaced and went viral, of two girlfriends in white short shorts strolling hand in hand in front of a pack of ogling men, one of whom has driven into a lamp post. A caption posted with the pic reads: “In 1937, two women caused a car accident by wearing shorts in public for the first time.” The story has been disproven, but the internet bought it. Why? Because no matter how much time passes, we are still entranced and tantalised by women’s legs.

Yet, strangely, legs haven’t been in fashion for a while. For several years, runways have been dominated by notably unsexy silhouettes — utilitarian, often androgynous styles that shun sex appeal in favour of an understated elegance. Call it the Era of Man Repelling: cargo pants, low heels and puffer jackets reign supreme, and hemlines are unequivocally below the knee. At first it felt modern, a reaction to the late-2000s look typified by Paris Hilton in her camo miniskirt/Von Dutch trucker hat combos and the pleated minis favoured by the mean girls of Mean Girls. But for the past two seasons, legs have again been on display on the major runways.