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Pencil Skirts....

eclark1894

Visionary
So I've recently signed up for CBS Streaming service and one of the shows I get now is Perry Mason.. Now I've always been a big fan of Perry Mason, but now as I look back at it I happen to notice that many of the women in the 50's and 60's wore pencil skirts. I don't see them that much these days, so I was wondering would a pencil skirt do better as a conformer or dynamic clothing item?
 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
I'm no expert as far as that sort of decision, but I can tell you I beta tested Doug Hunter's (Hunter 3D) Steampunk outfits for Dawn and Pauline 2, and they are very narrow, long skirts, though they're longer than the pencil skirts worn back in the '50s and '60s, and they do have a long slit up one side of the skirt. Doug set them up to be dynamic, and I found, with some experimenting as I usually do in the Cloth Room, that they were easy to work with.

That said, I would vote for dynamic, but since I have no experience in creating conforming clothing as far as fitting, rigging and weight-mapping them, so my opinion is a bit skewed.
 

English Bob

Adventurous
I made the Della skirt many years ago, inspired by Della Street of course. Originally it was pure conforming, but knee-length skirts don't ever conform well. Version 2 included morphs which were made in the cloth room, and I think it looks quite good in the matching poses, but it can be tricky to adjust if they don't suit. These days I'd just head straight for dynamic.

Della Skirt

 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
I haven't watched a Perry Mason show in a long time, so I don't recall from memory exactly how long they are, but I would think an inch or two below the knees would work. Check out the link English Bob posted on his site, as there's a thumbnail of a gal standing, so you can get an idea of how long it might be.
 

Rae134

Renowned
CV-BEE
Contributing Artist
not sure how long they were in the 50/60s as I wasn't around then but if you do a google search the modern ones are mostly just below knees or a tad longer with some being just above the knees and I've seen some even lower to just above mid calf. (I prefer the look of the below knee or longer, I don't think it looks as nice above the knee)
 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
Well I was around then, but I didn't start working until I graduated high school, and I wasn't into the pencil skirts back then, so didn't really notice if any of the gals I worked with wore them. My tastes were a bit different, and my mom made all my clothes until I graduated college, and got a better paying job.
 

eclark1894

Visionary
Well, for sample purposes only, here's a shot of Barbara Hale, who played Mason's secretary, Della Street in a knee length pencil skirt. An inch or two shorter and I'd say conform it. But then again, one of the things I used to hate about conformer's was when the figure tried to sit down. 9mbi clothes used to drive me nuts over that. They were beautiful clothes, I just couldn't get them to conform right when sitting.

upload_2019-1-27_8-8-22.png
 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
Yes, that's a very good example of a common length for a pencil skirt.

Oh, and I know what you mean about sitting poses with slim conforming skirts. It's something I always hated beta testing years ago.
 

sapat

Brilliant
QAV-BEE
Yes, I was going to post that they're a couple inches below the knee and usually have a kick pleat in the back so they can walk due to the straight fit of the skirt.
 

eclark1894

Visionary
Yes, I was going to post that they're a couple inches below the knee and usually have a kick pleat in the back so they can walk due to the straight fit of the skirt.
Glad you mentioned that. I never would have put one in otherwise. Now I've got to watch some more Perry mason and see if I can spot them.
 

parkdalegardener

Adventurous
Rig as a conformer. In the cloth room everything other than the hip group make a dynamic group. The skirt would function as both dynamic or conforming for those afraid of the cloth room. Hip morphs work as expected and skirt drapes appropriately when seated using the cloth room. No pokethrough though there may be a crease that takes a quick pass with the morph brush. I would seam an edge of polys along the slit to be a bit stiffer than the rest of the cloth to keep the slit from opening up too much in such a position. If the cloth is all the same weight the slit would get quite revealing; even with a stiff cotton or drapery setting on the cloth.
 

Rae134

Renowned
CV-BEE
Contributing Artist
I think most of the time the pleats were in the back and quite hidden and other times featured




Sometimes they were at the front (one or both sides)


and modern ones (don't know about vintage, I would expect it might have been considered too risqué) they have slits instead of pleats (front or back)

 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
Yes, I like the pleats in the back, rather than in the front where they're more prominent.
 

Rae134

Renowned
CV-BEE
Contributing Artist
Yes, can be a simple pleat like the first 2 images or more complicated like the next couple. But like I said, modern ones do have the split like the last 2 photos :D
 

sapat

Brilliant
QAV-BEE
Glad you mentioned that. I never would have put one in otherwise. Now I've got to watch some more Perry mason and see if I can spot them.
During the 1940's and 50's my mom had a lot of those 'straight skirts' as they were called back then. Hers just had a slit in the back about 6" long. It had no pleats or anything, just an opening on the back that allowed her to walk.
kick pleat skirt.JPG
 
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