Hemline Theory

[The Super Pope]

This is not spam. Honest.

Apparently there is a sociological theory that states that in times of national and social uncertainty the hemlines of womens' skirts and dresses get shorter.
Is that a reliable indicator? Looking at the sixties I guess it might be

[bubka]

Well I can say as a statistics student that if indeed such a correlation exists, it is spurious. No causality can exist. The most probable cause could be a third lurking factor, causing both.

[Earl of Rochester]

Well I can say as a statistics student that if indeed such a correlation exists, it is spurious. No causality can exist. The most probable cause could be a third lurking factor, causing both.

Hit the mark.

Statistically speaking there is a ice cream sales and murder rates are positively related. However, you have to be absolutely insane to think the ice cream sales actually are causing more murder.

[The Sundance Kid]

Well, i guess it's up to me to hatch a cunning plan to make the entire nation so uncertain womens' skirts pretty much become belts...mwahahaha...

[rathelios]

I've heard it's actually to do with economic factors. The more disposable income people had the shorter the skirts on average. I saw a graph to that effect in a book somewhere once. Something to do with competition for resource rich blokes? Not sure it applies in the 21st century although I might be prepared to do some 'research' if offered a reasonable stipend.

[Chlodwig I.]

This is not spam. Honest.

Apparently there is a sociological theory that states that in times of national and social uncertainty the hemlines of womens' skirts and dresses get shorter.
Is that a reliable indicator? Looking at the sixties I guess it might be

I heard it the other way round that in times when everything is fine the skirts get shorter and in times of problems the skirts get longer

[Sher Khan]

We already have skirts that are as short as physically possible without revealing their undergarments.

We then have skirts that reveal even that.



I guess we can't get into any more trouble than this.

[Captain Arrrgh!]

The Victorian era must have been a time of complete calm then.

[Medicus]

This is not spam. Honest.

Apparently there is a sociological theory that states that in times of national and social uncertainty the hemlines of womens' skirts and dresses get shorter.
Is that a reliable indicator? Looking at the sixties I guess it might be

Sorry, but it's complete BS.

[Tom Paine]

Actually logically it could well correlate: a) reduction in the amount of available cloth goods, so you sell as many skirts just each made of less cloth.
b) distraction from the crises by, well, attraction.

However, I dunno if it actually exists... I'll have to check up on where Pratchett sourced it

[The Super Pope]

Actually logically it could well correlate: a) reduction in the amount of available cloth goods, so you sell as many skirts just each made of less cloth.
b) distraction from the crises by, well, attraction.

However, I dunno if it actually exists... I'll have to check up on where Pratchett sourced it

You've read that then...

[rathelios]

I'll have to check up on where Pratchett sourced it

Fairly sure Terry Pratchett got it off Desmond Morris, or was taking the piss out of DM anyhow:
http://roamingpanda.wordpress.com/
Come to think of it that's where I read it sometime in the deep past.
DM's conclusions were rather different to the OP's though.

The relation is inversely proportional. The greater the economic prosperity of an era, the shorter were the skirts. During times of recession the skirt lengths went longer…

[Titus Terrasidius]

hahahahaha brilliant! well in all seriousness its not a bad point. women provide comfort to men with their sexual natures and when men (who generally are the leaders) are sad or unsure they need comfort. lol