1987 showed the introduction of the puffball skirt into the fashion world, with Christian LaCroix pushing it into the limelight. Resembling and named after a small mushroom, the puffball was popularised by eighties pop groups such as; Bananarama and Pepsi and Shirley.
The puffball skirt dates back to an earlier era of volume. Cristobal Balenciaga’s design of the “Balloon skirt” in 1957 mirrored his continuous love for volume and Dior’s “New Look” that occurred a few years before. His “Balloon” design showed the volume on the hips that was later displayed in LaCroix’s skirt. The under-turned hem of the puffball skirt creates a bubble affect, resembling a ripe mushroom around your hips, not a skirt for the pear-shaped. Even though the shape may not be the most flattering, teamed with long legs, the puffball creates a silhouette like no other.
While people throughout London were copying Pepsi and Shirley, teaming their puffball skirt with leggings and Doc Martins, Princess Diana brought it to life in France in 1987. Cannes Film Festival saw Diana teaming a Catherine Walker puffball skirt with a beige jacket, giving the item a more sophisticated visage and pushing it into the public eye. However, its popularity was short lived, shunned into the background, the puffball skirt took years to reappear on the catwalk.
It was more recently that the puffball skirt was reinvented by the likes of Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan and Betsey Johnson seen on the catwalks of New York and Paris. Spring/Summer shows of 2005 and 2007 both showed the puffball being re-mastered with extra ruffles, lighter fabrics and pastel colours giving an airy, fresh image. In contrast to the ostracized puffball of the late 1980’s, these skirts were much better received and worn by many. The puffball skirt is seen as more attainably stylish compared to it’s clichéd past. Targeted by many high street brands such as Topshop and Mango, the puffball skirt has become a popular item for not just those catwalk worshippers.
