She invented it in 60s and soon London started to swing like never before. It was Mary Quant, the mother of miniskirt, along with model Jean Shrimpton, who turned this fancy garment into a global wardrobe staple – changing the face of fashion – making it more liberating and sexy yet so graceful to rule the runways even after five decades.
The British Fashion Designer lately revealed in an interview to The Week, her moment of inspiration, taking to the invention of miniskirt – owing it to an old fashioned ballet class leading to one of the world’s sexiest garments.
It was an old tap dancer at her ballet studio, dressed beautifully in short skirt, black tights and white socks who inspired her to design fashion, imbuing her to create some iconic pieces like tights and suspender belts, apart from miniskirt, later in her career.
Speaking to The Week, Mary said, “During one ballet class, I could hear exciting music coming from next door, and when I peeked through the glass I saw a tap-dancing class take place, and in the middle of the room, a girl a couple of years older than me who was the vision of everything I wanted to be.
She was wearing a short pleated skirt about 10 inches long, with a skinny black sweater, black tights and a bob haircut. What struck me was how the whole outfit focused on what she had on her feet: a pair of white ankle socks and a pair of patent tap shoes with ankle straps.”
It was the day when Mary developed her own vision of fashion, pushing the set boundaries to explore the unseen territories of fashion. She furthers, “The image of that girl stayed with me, I started trying to make my own clothes, cutting up bed-spreads. I used to start re-arranging my school uniform, hitching up my skirt to be more exciting-looking.”
