Ruffle your hem for (our favourite) Club Tropicana vibes, peplum your waist to exaggerate your hourglass or make it straight up for Joan Holloway chic, the Charlotte Skirt is back in business. Not only was she one of our first ever patterns in the whole wide world but Charlotte is our tried and tested wardrobe staple appealing to the lazy sewist hidden below our ambitious exteriors, plus, if you make it a mini (which, let’s face it, I always do) it’s an excellent stashbuster.

Don’t believe me? WELL I’LL PROVE IT.

Looking like some kind of mismatched girl band pleading with Simon Cowell that “we really want this” and “this is what we’ve worked our whole entire lives for’ we show you how versatile this little lady can be...

Charlotte took a trip down nostalgia highway for her namesake. After a rummage in the old stash she uncovered some residual wool which was used for our first ever sewalong. Paired with black peep toes, this tweed pencil skirt nods to 40’s sexy secretary, but true to her style Charlotte brings that baby straight back to the 80’s with a flouncy hem ruffle and a Baywatch worthy white vest.

Freshly back from Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Elisalex made her Charlotte skirt fit to hit the summer party circuit. Full length with a back split (tutorial to follow shortly!) and worn with a brilliantly lurid cropped tee, not only is this tropical number super stylish, but it’s practical too - made from 100% cotton to keep her cool and just enough stretch to aid all that money maker shaking.

 
Pretending I’m a preteen and that I don’t live in an isle where the standard temperature is ‘drizzle’, I made my Charlotte mini skirt in the ilk of my favourite style era: the 1990’s. Putting aside my usual burning hatred for pastel pink I whipped up this guy out of 1.5m of leftover 100% wool I had hidden in the darkest depths of my fabric naughty corner. Channelling my inner Cher Horowitz (everyone has one) I wore my Charlotte with a black racer back vest, my favourite goth stripper heels and a lace choker which, on reflection, only highlights an unusually wide neck.

TOLD YOU.