A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment which hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs. Unlike trousers, a skirt is "unbifurcated" — that is, not divided into separate legs. A dress (also frock, gown) is a garment consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice or with a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment.
In Western culture, skirts and dresses are usually considered women's clothing. However, there are exceptions. The kilt is considered a traditional men's garment in Scotland. Some fashion designers, such as Jean-Paul Gaultier, have shown men's skirts; there are several online companies selling men's skirts and kilts and several societies promoting male skirt-wearing. There has even been a museum exhibition, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, of historical and contemporary male skirt styles.[1] Proponents of male skirt-wearing often refer to men's skirts as MUGs, or Male Unbifurcated Garments, thus avoiding the pejorative connations of "skirt" for males.
At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of material (such as sarongs or pareos), but most skirts are fitted to the body at the waist and fuller below, with the fullness introduced by means of darts, gores, pleats, or panels. Modern skirts and dresses are usually made of light to mid-weight fabrics, such as denim, jersey, worsted, or poplin. Skirts and dresses of thin or clingy fabrics are worn with slips to make the material of the skirt drape better and for modesty.
The hemline of skirts and dresses can be as high as the upper thigh or as low as the ground, depending on the whims of fashion and the modesty or personal taste of the wearer.
Some medieval upper-class women wore skirts over 3 metres in diameter at the bottom. At the other extreme, the miniskirts of the 1960s were minimal garments that may barely cover the underwear when seated.
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