I believe in the power of collaboration not competition. I believe that working in collaboration with authentic souls allows you to manifest the kind of world you want to create. In my dreams, this is an altruistic world. This guiding principle led me to partner up with Rachael Kertes, the young local entrepreneur behind the upcycled fashion business Applique Vintage (read the interview I completed with her here).
When we began our collaboration, Rachael was extremely busy with uni exams, selling at markets around Melbourne as well as getting her website organised. She finally came up with an item for the outfit post that she thought would be ideal. She explained that she had a pair of shorts in my size that “would suit [me] really well” and sent me an image of them. I took one look at the black and white tropical print, its ‘flowy’ form and thought: yup I could make this work. So I gave Rachael the go ahead to send it.
When I received her parcel in the post – complete with reusable Applique Vintage shoulder bag, a business card and some marketing paraphernalia – I was excited to find that the shorts were indeed shorts – but designed in a way that made them look like a skirt. High waisted with a wide elastic band and excess material near the waistband intended to be tied into a bow, and shorts that seem to flow out like an A-line mini skirt. I put them them on, paraded them in front of the fiance who looked up and asked if I was wearing a printed mini skirt. It was then I realised that the item was a skort.
What is a skort?
Here’s Google’s definition of what a skort is:
“skort”
noun
a pair of shorts with a flap across the front (and sometimes also the back) to give the appearance of a skirt.
Now the shorts don’t fit this exact description as it doesn’t have additional material across the front to disguise that they are shorts. But as the term ‘skort’ is a mash up of the words skirt and short and the item indeed looks like a skirt – I decided that this was the best term to describe it.
Form Follows Function
‘Skort’ may be one of the ugliest words in the English language – up there with ‘de facto’ in my opinion – but in itself, it’s not. It looks like a skirt, but with built in practicality. This skort in particular follows the rule ‘form follows function’ making it the perfect practical addition to my summer wardrobe. I can wear it and go about my business without worrying if anyone will see ‘what I’ve had for breakfast’ so to speak. In addition, the tropical print means I can wear it to the beach, to the pools, to a holiday resort – or just hanging out at home like I did for this photo shoot (yes, sometimes I wear a bikini top around the house, but only on really humid days).
Truth be told, I had never worn anything ‘skortish’. Really glad that Applique Vintage opened my eyes up to this world of skirt-shorts. This is what I love about upcycled and recycled fashion and in fact with the entire Applique Vintage collection – you just never know what you’re gonna get.
To browse their extensive range, visit the Applique Vintage website.
Now over to you guys: Have you ever worn a skort? Do you have any skorts? Have you ever heard of a skort before reading this? Feel free to share your views in the comments below.
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