From 1997 to 2002, the previously prim skirt suit worn by straitlaced politicians and pert ladies who lunch received a rush of youth, associated with a frenetic flirtation and off-kilter sex appeal, and it was all thanks to Ally McBeal. Now, courtesy of Netflix, some 20 years later McBeal is available to binge-watch, and those who do will find that somewhat improbably, the fashion is still fun to look at. The selection of thigh-skimming and nipped-in office looks were worn by the series’ protagonist, Ally McBeal (played by Calista Flockhart), a 27-year-old lawyer who worked at a Boston firm brimming with sexual tension, unisex bathrooms, and an ex-boyfriend turned colleague.
The miniskirt suit was a perfect fit for McBeal’s jumpy, adorably neurotic personality. Like McBeal, that ever-shortening hem was just a little out of place in the office, and no one ever let her forget it. In one episode, an elderly male client referred to McBeal as “no pants,” while in another, a female lawyer from the opposition remarks that McBeal’s skirt may be a little short for the courtroom. The skirt length made waves off screen, as well. A 1998 article in the Baltimore Sun asked, “When is a skirt not a skirt? When Ally McBeal wears it,” and later that same year, Flockhart was on the cover of Time’s June 29 issue, right next to Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, and Susan B. Anthony. Only it was Flockhart, as McBeal, who had “Is Feminism Dead?” written under her portrait. The character’s wardrobe was a collaboration between Flockhart, the show’s producers, and the costume department. According to Ally McBeal’s set costumer Juliet Hyde-White, the decision was simple: “Don’t you know the real reason, to show off Ally’s great legs? There was nothing like that show ever, first of its kind, so it had to catch the audience’s attention, that’s my opinion.”
Hiked-up hemlines, à la McBeal, have raised eyebrows on the runway, too. For Spring 1998, Alexander McQueen gave the skirt suit an injection of sex appeal, attaching long fringe to a mini that didn’t quite cover much, while a sculpted blazer was pinched at the waist with a décolletage that dipped toward the navel. Fast-forward to Fall 2016, and Alexander Wang showed a series of punk-tinged miniskirt suits with jackets snugly cinched at the waist in the same season that Balenciaga gave a gray knee-length skirt a thigh-baring slit. Kooky? Why not.