A Short History of the Gypsy Skirt

The Gypsy skirt has many names, broomstick skirt, peasant skirt, hippie skirt, Indian skirt and crinkled skirt and boho skirt. For the purposes of this blog I will stick to Gypsy skirt.

The first people to wear a long, flowing circle skirt, similar to what we now call the Gypsy skirt, are the Rom or Roma ‘Gypsies’. Rom society believed in wuzho (purity) and marime (impurity) and women wore long skirts to cover their lower half which was considered impure because of its associations with menstruation and pregnancy.

It is thought that Rom society emerged in India and then spread out across Europe and later, America.  Early records of Indian history mention the bhairnivasni, a skirt that developed from a tube like piece of clothing called an antariya. The antariya  was sewn on one side only and held in place by a girdle.  This garment was originally an underskirt but eventually developed a drawstring, changed its name to ghaghri and became an outer garment. The ghaghri was made from five and a half metres of fabric and its flare was celebrated in poetry and art, although as in Rom society, the ghaghri was intended to preserve a woman’s purity and modesty.

As the Roma migrated, they joined other communities and the Gypsy skirt diversified in length, colour and pattern. Eventually, the comfort and ease of movement inherent in the Gypsy skirt captivated women outside Roma society. I found it difficult to track the history of the skirt during this time as not much appears to have been written about it, but then the 1960s arrived and with it, a revival of the Gypsy skirt.

The 1960s hippie movement began as a youth movement but eventually, it was recognised as a cultural revolution.  It changed the face of fashion forever. Hippies broke the conventions of the time and embraced alternatives ways of thinking and living. They embraced the Gypsy skirt for three reasons.

• As part of a rebellion against big corporations and capitalism, hippies chose natural, comfortable clothing that they could find in second hand shops or make themselves. Gypsy skirts fit the bill perfectly.
• Hippies wanted fashion that was unique and allowed them to express their personalities. The fabric used to make Gypsy skirts was easy to tie-dye so women could create one-off designs and use a multitude of colours and patterns to suit their unique style.
• Hippies held anti-war views and promoted peace and love.  They expressed these views by wearing flowers and other symbols of peace in their hair, on their clothes and painted on their faces. Gypsy skirts made an ideal canvas.

The hippie movement ended in the early-mid 1970s when punk and disco began to emerge and the Gypsy skirt’s popularity waned until 2005 when a retro-hippie revival began. This revival was very different to the original hippie movement though as the Gypsy skirts of 2005 were not purchased from second hand shops or handmade, they were being sold by high end designers to career women looking for something feminine and colourful to offset their corporate suits and dresses.

This revival has continued and the Gypsy skirt is now a staple item in wardrobes around the world. It is available in different lengths and in a seemingly unlimited array of patterns and colours and has become more affordable. Indeed, as the global recession continues, women are even going back to hand-making them, as women throughout the ages have always done.

It definitely looks like the Gypsy skirt is here to stay.

Referenced websites:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hippy-clothes-19602-hippy-clothing.html

http://womens-fashion.lovetoknow.com/1960s_Women_Fashion - Danielle Jennings – Guide to 1960s Women’s Fashions

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-boho-chic.htm

http://www.calameo.com

http://www.goodmagic.com/carny/gypsies.htm - Wayne N. Keyser 

Do you have any more information to add to this blog. Please leave your comments below.