I thought I posted this yesterday, but I can't find it. I like to wear skirts, skorts, and dresses in hot weather but read on another forum that skirts must go to the knee in Italy. Can this be true? Most of mine are mid-thigh.

Sandy

You can wear whatever length skirt you want in italy.

BUT - unless you skirt or skort or whatever fully reaches your kneee you will NOT be allowed in the Vatican and may not be allowed (or receive scathing comments) in other churches - since the locals consider such a display in church disrespectful.

Oh - and if you can;t find your previous posts - just click on your name and they'll appear.

Many women in Italy will be wearing skirts shorter than yours. <grin> But, as noted, probably not in churches.

best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

living & travelling in Italy:
www.beginningwithi.com

Skirts here go from shorter than they ever should be to ankle length. Whatever you want. Italians are very into fashion...

Hmm, last time I went to that great indicator of street fashion, the local market knee length skirts were nowhere to be seen its too hot in summer for anything but eyepopping (for men)lengths and a bit more modest (though not all) for the older ladies. I assume skorts is typo and not some new fashion I haven't heard about.

Skorts are a cross between a skirt and shorts (cross dressing??) -- kind of like what we used to call culottes. Only place I've seen them lately is in the Travelsmith catalog. They do however address "chafing" issues.

In any case, the length is the issue.

Last week, though, I saw an Italian woman and her daughter brazen their way into St. Marks Basilica in Venice despite bare arms on her daughter. The guard was quite upset but she went in anyway and was not apparently stopped.

sandyc- to find your other posts, or threads you have contributed to, you simply click on your "Authorquot; name underlined in blue and those posts will appear in a list to the left of the screen.

Hi Sandy,

I just returned from Italy yesterday and noticed some women in the churches wearing a wrap tied around their hips to hide shorts or short skirts! Sort of like a bathing suit wrap! Same for shoulders. It was very hot while we were there so it was understandable!

Thanks everyone. I like the wrap idea -- very easy to throw a shawl in my bag just in case.

Sandy

Post a picture and we'll tell you if mid thigh length is okay.

well, I don't like the idea of a beach wrap over shorts for seeing churches at all. Seems weird. Why can't you just wear nice linen capris or a reasonable length skirt those days?

hi, sandy,

my husband, who most definitely was not wearing a skirt at the time, was handed a cotton sarong to wrap around him to cover his offensive knees in a church in Florence. so you could wear your skirt and carry a sarong - you'd look a lot less funny than he did.

from then on, he insisted in 24 hours' notice of our intention to visit any church whatsoever - so he ended up drinking beer while we visited churches.



regards, ann

is the same true for paris? should i avoid short skirts and tank tops (spaghetti straps) if i want to go to notre dame?

The rules are not the same in Paris - as far as churches are concerned. As to what it's OK to wear - that depends on your age and your figure (but NO ONE should have a bare midriff, except at the beach).

It was either in Siena or Asissi that I saw blue paper smock-like things being handed out to women to cover their shoulders. I saw the shawls thrown over shoulders or tied around waists too - it looked better than the paper smocks!

If Notre Dame is the only church in Paris you want to visit, maybe you could wear a t-shirt that day.

Besides, if it is hot, a cotton t shirt would probably keep you cooler, due to the absorption and wicking factors.

Skorts: not at all like culottes, and they were for sale everywhere this spring. They are more like a pair of shorts, with a fabric panel across the front, hiding the shorts in front, but not in back. The effect from the front is short skirt; from the back, shorts.

oops, meant that to sound nicer. So sorry. It's the email thing.

Mid-thigh skirts? Do you sell makeup at a mall in Missoula, Montana?

How utterly dreadful. You probably band.

Sandy, sweetie darling, get yourself a personal shopper a Saks or Bloomingdale's.

I am picturing those cottage cheese thighs right now and I am about to lose a quart of gin.

The Great and Powerful Thingorjus

Skirts are fine if knee-length or mid-calf, preferably flowing. I love skirts. Mid-thigh does not sound travel-happy or particulary attractive for touring.