V&A
Cream Cotton Gathered Midi Skirt with Floral Print
2020s · 1980s · British
Production
handmade
Material
printed cotton
Culture
British
Movement
New Romanticism · Cottagecore
Influences
1950s circle skirt silhouette · Victorian floral textile patterns
A gathered midi skirt featuring a high white waistband that extends into a full, voluminous silhouette. The cotton fabric displays a scattered floral print with red roses, green leaves, and black accent marks against a cream background. The waistband appears to be constructed from plain white cotton, creating a clean contrast to the busy print below. The skirt's fullness is achieved through dense gathering at the waist, creating soft pleats that fall to approximately mid-calf length. This piece exemplifies the New Romantic movement's embrace of romantic, feminine details and eclectic pattern mixing that characterized early 1980s alternative fashion.
skirta-linemidi
Connected To
Influences·1950s circle skirt silhouetteWorn with·petticoat
SHARED40 years · cross-culture
Both skirts are drunk on the same 1950s fantasy, but they've sobered up differently. The pink tulle number with its scattered polka dots is pure costume-party nostalgia—all froth and performance, demanding a crinoline and probably a photo shoot. The floral cotton midi, meanwhile, has internalized the lesson of that circle-skirt silhouette and made it livable, gathering the same volume at a sensible waist but letting it fall without the theatrical puff.
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