THEY caused a bit of a stir when they first hit the streets of Glasgow in 1964 and were even blamed for an increase in immorality.
But 50 years on, the miniskirt has been praised as a staple of women's clothing which brought with it a "feeling of freedom and liberation".
In 1968, just four years after the inception of the shorter hemline, Glasgow gynecologist Ian MacGillivray blamed the skirts for "Britain's immorality and population explosion".
A report from that time added: "Dr MacGillivray said the mini skirt is responsible for one in every three young brides being pregnant before marriage."
However, Mary Quant, the British designer widely credited with popularising the skirt, has said to her it "seemed to be obvious and so right".
She said: "I had myself in mind when I designed it.
"I liked my skirts short because I wanted to run and catch the bus to get to work. It was that feeling of freedom and liberation."
Quant began experimenting with shorter hemlines in the late 1950s, culminating in the creation of the mini skirt in 1964 and one of the defining fashions of the decade. She said: "It was the girls on (London's) King's Road who invented the mini.
"I was making clothes which would let you run and dance, and we would make them the length the customer wanted.
"I wore them very short and the customers would say, 'shorter, shorter'."
The skirts were and still are popular with celebrities, including Scots singer Lulu who was famed for her short hemlines and knee-high boots.
Film star Audrey Hepburn was also a fan and one her miniskirts, a design by Paco Rabanne dating back to the 1960s, can be seen on display at Glasgow's Riverside Museum.
Quant, 80, said she still most liked to see the skirt worn "short and leggy", and revealed the names of those she thought had worn it best over the years.
"Jean Shrimpton, of course, was unbeatable, and also Audrey Hepburn.
"Both of those were hard to beat."
And asked if she thought women were ever too old to wear a mini skirt, she said: "No, it depends on your legs.
"It's as simple as that."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article