I knew something was fishy when I spotted an article of clothing style nearly 6 or 7 months ago at a department store. This style happened to be the layering of a skirt over pants, or a dress over trousers (in my case it was all of the above). As an Asian, I can safely say this was very popular in the Far East (we love getting our layering on). Some of my favourite Asian pop stars sported this look – Sammi Cheng did with a lightweight dress over extra long trousers and Namie Amuro did it with a mini skirt over pants. If you stop to think about it, many countries and cultures include this layering technique in their way of dress, e.g. India, the Middle East. However, I'm not singling this out as cultural or Asian. Looking back at it now, it was just a 90's trend.

I'm not sure if fashion dictionaries ever came out with a word for this style, but if I remember correctly the hybrid of a skirt and shorts was a "skort". If we apply the same wordplay, we come up with "skant, drant, and slant". Whatever you call it, this style was my JAM. I wore this look like I invented it. Throughout high school (and well afterwards) I was doing the skirt over pants action in varying lengths. In honesty, I didn't think fashion trends recycled this quickly, so when I spotted the already sewn together skirt pants I couldn't believe my eyes. After a double take, I realized what I was seeing was real. A mental note was made.

There are some fashion trends that are so easily predictable you can practically smell it in the air. When that trend appears or resurfaces it's not surprising at all. As I was flipping through the May issue of British Vogue, what do I see in the 'In Vogue' section? Yup, that's right. I thought I needed to live a lot longer to see this comeback. Needless to say, I was little surprised to see it making it's way back at this time (even though I've witnessed and participated in the rise of flannel in the 90's and the rise of flannel in recent years). Seeing this style become a trend again slapped me with a reminder that I'm getting older (I can now relate to my mom when she tells me she remembers wearing some of the fashion and beauty trends she sees now). I remember it like it was yesterday, this one particular fashion magazine had a little section on the last page that questioned this skirt over pants fashion look as a "Do or Don't". It was always one of those styles that had people scratching their heads like "Huh? Why would you wear a skirt over your pants?" But, honestly, I've always LOVED it. It's the layering factor that I like (Note: During my skirt over pants heyday, I was living in a small town and had no knowledge of how the fashion mecca of New York was handling this). Currently, I still sport this style but in a sleek and modern way with different fabrics, cuts and overall quality of the pieces. Just when I was about to finally move on from my teenage years, I see it all coming back. I guess, I should just tell mom to go ahead and send up those pieces from back home in hopes that I can still fit into them – maybe even better than I use to.

Left to Right (Row 1): Chanel Couture F/W, Chanel Ready to Wear F/W, Balenciaga F/W
Left to Right (Row 2): Balenciaga F/W, Richard Chai Love F/W, Haider Ackermann F/W

image sources: style.com