Skirts

Pencil, A-line, circle and wrap skirts, and the measurement each one depends on:

the cut decides how forgiving a skirt is. A pencil or tube skirt runs straight from hip to knee, so it has to match your waist and your hips at once. An A-line widens gently from the waist and a circle or skater skirt flares all the way out, so both only need to close at the waist and clear the hip. A wrap skirt overlaps and ties, which lets one skirt fit a spread of sizes, and an elastic or drawstring waist forgives more still. Length is the other half: a midi lands below the knee on a tall woman and near the ankle on a short one, so ask for the length from waistband to hem and hold a tape against yourself. Denim minis with a fly front fit like a pair of jeans.

Accordion pleats, box pleats and the skort:

the first are fine creases pressed into the cloth by machine, the second wider folds, stitched and pressed from the waistband, that open as you walk. The fibre decides how long either lasts. Polyester pleats are heat-set and survive the washing machine, while pleats in cotton, linen or viscose relax a little with every wash and have to be pressed back in. The skort is the practical one: shorts sewn under a skirt, or a skirt panel across the front of shorts, so it reads as a skirt from the front and behaves like shorts on a bus step or a beach. Sarongs and beach skirts sit with swimwear, and a matching skirt and top sold as one set reads better next to dresses.

Boutique skirts against mall labels:

Panama’s small online boutiques price most of their skirts at around $30 new, while international high-street labels in the malls ask $40 to $80, with satin, sequinned or heavily pleated pieces above that. That boutique price is the ceiling for an ordinary pre-owned skirt: nobody pays close to it for a worn one when a new one costs the same. What lifts a used skirt above it is construction a boutique piece rarely has: a full lining, a wool or heavy blend that holds its shape, pleats that are still sharp, and a label whose cut is still in the shops.

Pleats, slits and linings on a pre-owned skirt:

start with the pleats. Hold the skirt up by the waistband and let it hang: polyester pleats should fall in sharp, even lines, and a flattened patch usually means an iron that was too hot pressed them out, which no home iron will put back. On a pencil skirt, look at the top of the back slit, where the stitching takes the strain of every stride and tears first. Run the zip over the hip, where invisible zips split. Check that the lining hangs shorter than the skirt and has not twisted or pulled away at the hem. On an elastic waist, stretch it and listen: old rubber elastic crackles and stays stretched.

A skirt listed by waist, hip and length:

lay it flat and measure across the waistband, across the hip on a pencil or straight skirt, and from the waistband down to the hem at the centre back. Copy the fibre line from the care label, because anyone choosing a pleated skirt wants to know whether the pleats are polyester. Say whether it is lined, how high the slit runs and how it fastens: zip, buttons, elastic or ties. Photograph it hanging so the drape and pleats show, then laid flat, then the care label and any repair. A satin or accordion-pleated skirt folded into a bag arrives creased at any handover, in San Miguelito or in Changuinola, so bring it on its hanger and let the buyer take it home looking the way it did in your photos.