ABSTRACT

John Burr Fairchild publication began pushing the midi, beginning with careful attention to semantics. Although the term would eventually come to mean anything from below the knee to the ankle, it still meant mid-calf at the beginning of 1970. Accordingly, Fairchild coined the word 'Longuette' and, in an attempt to keep abreast of European fashion developments. American designers and retailers felt little recourse but to go along, and midis were hastily placed on the market place in January to the virtual exclusion of mini-fashions. Retailers, however, remained largely behind the midi bandwagon banking on the prospect that if hemlines went down far enough, women would have to buy complete new wardrobes: midi dresses, skirts, coats, belts and bags, higher-heeled shoes, and boots. Nevertheless, it was the mini-midi controversy which garnered the larger share of the headlines and this standoff helped engender the hot pants craze early the following year as a substitute for the vanquished mini.