In last night’s QI, Stephen Fry offered us as fact George Taylor’s hemline theory - the claim that women’s skirts get shorter in good economic times.
However, new research (pdf) shows that this is not quite true.
Marjolein van Baardwijk and Philip Hans Franses of Erasmus School of Economics measured the hemlines of skirts appearing in French fashion magazines every month since 1921. And they found that there is a link between hemlines and the state of the US economy, as measured by NBER’s chronology of recessions. But there’s a lag of three years: recessions lead to skirts to getting longer in three years’ time.
By contrast, skirt lengths have no predictive ability for the state of the economy.
Of course, Taylor’s theory was based upon American’s hemlines, not French ones. But it is unlikely that there is a lag of three years from the former to the latter. If anything - with France having been the fashion capital of the world for many years - there’d be a lag from French hemlines to American ones, which is undermines Taylor‘s theory even more.
So, Mr Fry is plain wrong. Bankers have no reason - other than those shared by all men - to like short skirts, and no reason to fear the apparent lengthening of them.
I can only hope the show was recorded several months ago - before this research was published - because it would otherwise betoken an appalling lapse of standards from the BBC.
Victoria Coren would never have made such a mistake.
However, new research (pdf) shows that this is not quite true.
Marjolein van Baardwijk and Philip Hans Franses of Erasmus School of Economics measured the hemlines of skirts appearing in French fashion magazines every month since 1921. And they found that there is a link between hemlines and the state of the US economy, as measured by NBER’s chronology of recessions. But there’s a lag of three years: recessions lead to skirts to getting longer in three years’ time.
By contrast, skirt lengths have no predictive ability for the state of the economy.
Of course, Taylor’s theory was based upon American’s hemlines, not French ones. But it is unlikely that there is a lag of three years from the former to the latter. If anything - with France having been the fashion capital of the world for many years - there’d be a lag from French hemlines to American ones, which is undermines Taylor‘s theory even more.
So, Mr Fry is plain wrong. Bankers have no reason - other than those shared by all men - to like short skirts, and no reason to fear the apparent lengthening of them.
I can only hope the show was recorded several months ago - before this research was published - because it would otherwise betoken an appalling lapse of standards from the BBC.
Victoria Coren would never have made such a mistake.
I note the careful choice of a rare photo of Girls Aloud in which they are wearing long skirts (for them).
Posted by: Richard | September 18, 2010 at 10:38 AM
I think that given the numbers of said bankers taking their nieces to lunch in expensive restaurants, they are to be commended for their dedication to research?
Posted by: Chuckles | September 18, 2010 at 11:25 AM
That conclusion is totally gratuitous - you just wanted to get Victoria Coren and short skirts into the same post. And I for one thank you.
Posted by: Phil | September 18, 2010 at 12:37 PM
"Bankers have no reason - other than those shared by all men - to like short skirts," with this comment you reveal the deep-seated homophobia of this blog. Unless you buy me beer, I will denounce you in the liberal press as worse than the Pope.
Posted by: Nick Cohen | September 19, 2010 at 10:05 AM
Mm! I'm sure concealment is the key to allurement. The imagination will always outdo reality in things sensual.
Posted by: Cliff Tolputt | September 19, 2010 at 03:50 PM
Girl's can wear short/skirt but not too short or mini. And be careful of those boys who are rude!! They don't respect girls.
Posted by: candelarion | September 21, 2010 at 11:43 AM