Trend Alert: The Shkirt

It was about 1985 when my sister’s friend Robin wore a yellow/green fluorescent sweatshirt to the bus stop and I said, “Wow! That is one bright shirt!” Then a couple of weeks later I started seeing everyone wearing fluorescent. I told my sister, “I think Robin started that trend.” My sister disagreed and said something like, “Robin wasn’t the first person to wear fluorescent! It was Sam on Who’s the Boss? Duh.”

Well, I still thought Robin was a really cool trend-setter. And I’ve observed other regular people launching fads, too:

My friend Misty started parachute pants. Well, at least the pink ones.

My friend Amber was the first person I saw wearing Z Cavariccis.

Several of my sorority sisters were responsible for the scarf.

This girl Jenny in college was the first person I saw use a cell phone for non-emergencies.

The intern at my office in Austin wore a man’s tie around the waist.

And I’m pretty sure Liz brought back those cute, A-line skirts.

Until now I had never been a fashion leader, just a follower.

That’s right. I said, “until now.”

I present to you a creation I’m calling, the shkirt.

What is it? It’s a combination shirt and skirt. Sort of like the skort but flattering.

Here’s how I discovered it:

I was shopping at JC Penney (where all the trend-setters go) and I saw this rack of clothes that said “75% off.” And if that weren’t enough the clothes were already marked down to like, fifty-two cents. So 75% off was like, well, a dime and a couple of pennies or something.

So I found this white skirt I liked for like a few quarters. I didn’t try it on because, well, I was at JC Penney. I just wanted to get my nickel-skirt and get out of there. I also picked up a couple of shirts. When I checked out the cashier said, “Wow. You got three shirts for the price of one!” I thought to myself, “Well, one is a skirt but what does she know? She works at a store that sells pants that are cheaper than pant hangers at other stores.” So I ignored it.

When I got home I tried on the skirt. But wait, there was something peculiar about it…it had a shelf bra. Ohmygosh! This skirt doubled as a tube top!

I couldn’t believe my luck. I had bought this skirt with change I found in the JC Penney parking lot and I got myself a shirt, too. Plus, I started a whole new trend!

So I can wear it as a top, like this:




Or, I can wear it as a skirt, like this:



Now that’s not me wearing the skirt. I would wear a top with it. And I’m not that tan. You see, it doesn’t exactly fit me as a skirt but I believe with a few adjustments, it will.

And I also believe that if more people raid their own closets, looking for skirts that can be shirts and vice versa, then my trend will really take off. Or if you find some spare change behind your toaster, you can just go to JC Penney.

What I really need is someone super cool to wear it—like Robin from the bus stop. Good thing she’s probably still wearing fluorescent—she’ll be easy to track down.