Fashion loves nothing more than an extreme trend, one difficult to imagine transferring to most people’s everyday lives. See naked dressing, where stars on the red carpet wear transparent and sometimes barely there gowns.
This party season, however, there appears to be a real-life friendly compromise. Enter the sheer skirt.
Sheer skirts have appeared on the catwalk at brands including Simone Rocha and Chanel, and have been worn by celebrities. This week, Jacqueline Bisset wore one with a blazer to the Torino film festival, while Victoria Beckham wore one to a hen party in the summer. But they are also now on the high street – including at Cos and Marks & Spencer. At Depop, searches for sheer skirts are up 99% since January.
These designs often come with a strategically placed opaque panel to preserve the wearer’s modesty. This fact alone may mean that a more respectable version of naked dressing will be spotted this party season. But even the more risque skirts – without the panel – are workable when worn with a jumper or blazer to cover the bottom. Of course, should the wearer be keen to combine extreme trends, they work with the “day knicker” as loved by the likes of Emma Corrin this summer.
Gaëlle Drevet, the founder of The Frankie Shop, says the peri skirt has been a bestseller since it launched last year. She believes the sheer texture hits a sweet spot. “It strikes a balance that feels very modern,” she says. “It’s sexy and a little daring, but never too much.”
Karin Gustafsson, the creative director of COS, says sheer skirts have been popular at the brand too. She puts it down to the “underwear as outerwear” trend, and also the effect of layering. “When colour is in transparent layers, it becomes beautiful and radiant.”
Content creator Camille Charriere is an expert in wearing sheer – her wedding dress was made from upcycled sheer lace. She suggests there is more to the trend than pretty fabrics. “I don’t think society is any less misogynistic – just look at the comments under pictures of anyone wearing anything see-through – but I do think women are caring less and less about what others have to say and that is really great.” She references the Trad Wife aesthetic, “this idea of the perfect stay-at-home woman, who has Little House on the Prairie type outfits”. For her, wearing sheer sits in contrast. “I find the naked trend a lot more irreverent, which is why I like it more.”
Part of the appeal of a skirt specifically is that “you can cover the rest”, says Charriere. “You can wear a really nice turtleneck on top, and then you have something a bit more sheer underneath. As it’s winter, you could even do sheer with a tight and a boot.”
Charriere avoids the designs with panels because “it can look a bit clunky”. Instead, she advises wearing a longer jumper, or a blazer, like Bisset. Gustafsson agrees this is a good combo. “It’s nice to have something smarter, tailored, with a menswear reference, and then have this super-feminine, delicate chiffon to pare it back with.”
Drevet goes further, suggesting sheer would work over leather “bermuda [shorts], or full-length trousers, because the delicacy of the sheer fabric plays against the boldness of leather, creating a modern balance of softness and edge,” she says.
Even without a panel, a sheer skirt wins because it is not actually showing skin. “I think for a lot of women, it’s a nice way of almost showing your legs but not quite showing your legs. It’s still that feeling of something really delicate,” says Gustafsson. She believes the transparency provides an “alternative” to more tried and tested details like sequins or a bright colour this party season. “It’s another way of making a statement,” she says. “It’s strong in another way.”
