Dress lengths just keep getting longer and longer.

[NaturalScone]

I thought about splashing out on a new dress for summer, as only have the one, but I am discouraged by the growing lengths since the past year or so.
I do recall midi used to actually mean midi (looking at you, M&S!), but now they have definitely grown. I wonder why, if the average woman is 5'4?
Why not offer 2 lengths or just opt for the middle ground?
And seeing as every damn ting is 'tiered' it isn't even easy to shorten them.

I am 5'5 and struggle so god knows how people shorter are getting on.
And yes, I know tall people will be thankful, but it is definitely at the exclusion of all others now, which is typical of the high street I know

Here are just 2 samples from Hush. I just picked them at random. If they are that long on a model, I give up! it's bordering on ludicrous..

Anyone else had enough of dresses and their lurid patterns? I was so happy when they first came back, but they bury or defy the lines of my shape and look like giant curtains now.

l think they will be in for a while yet. They dip in a recession, and we’re in for the mother of all recessions l feel.

I'm 5ft 3 and skinny with long legs. A doctor once described my frame as akin to a racehorse. All limbs, no torso. This means that dresses that fit my torso are too short on my legs and dresses which fit my legs have the waist somewhere around my bum.

By far the best dresses I have found are the cheap as chips basic maxi dresses from Boo-Hoo. They have no structure built in them and are stretchy so they fit my body rather than assuming a body shape to fit into them. If that makes any sense?

Unfortunately I can't comment on midi dresses as they don't suit me at all as I have stick legs so it's either ankle or above the knee for me.

I actually don't mind the ditsy prints (within reason) but don't like puff sleeves / tiers / ruffles, they make things start to look like a tent.

As for length, I'm 5' 5 too OP, tbh I hate ordinary midi length so the even longer stuff is a bit of a disaster for me! Just on/above the knee works best on me, which is nigh on impossible to find at the moment!

I’ve had a couple of maxi dresses shortened to midi length recently, and I get so much more use out of them. I don’t mind the idea of them, but in practice it’s too much like hard work not tripping over them.

l think they will be in for a while yet. They dip in a recession, and we’re in for the mother of all recessions l feel.

I remember reading about skirt lengths & recessions. So do longer lengths go with bad times?

I wish more brands offered different length options. It's obvious two customers inches apart in height are not going to want the same length, and something like the dresses in OPs photos would be easy to design in shorter and longer options with say 4-5 inches difference between them without otherwise making making them into a petite fit. M&S does occasionally do this for their skirts and that's really helpful.

That said I think the average woman is no longer 5ft4 - teenagers and younger women seem a lot taller these days!

DH niece is 5'11 or 6ft and like a model. She bought a bridesmaid dress recently and even she had to have it shortened!
I am less than 5ft. I read years ago that the average height for a woman is 5'4" but I feel sure it's much taller. DD is 5ft 1, her next shortest friend is 5'6" and the tallest friend from primary is now 5'10, and she doesn't stand out as being "tall" at secondary (they are year 11)

younger people are taller now but I live near a secondary school & at 5ft 10 I'm taller than most of the pupils.

5 feet nothing here! I hear you .Got a lovely dress just the right length from SB .Not much in their petite range though .Little trick just underpin shoulders with gold safety pins (underside) only works though if a little too long

Not just dresses either - the M&S short length is no longer short enough for those of use 5,2 and under. They have to do an extra short length which is always sold out. Rubbish

They'd both be too short for me - I'm 5' 10" and used to have to make my own skirts when a teen (70s-80s) as there were no shops for tall women (don't even get me started trying to find size 8 shoes back then). My petite friends didn't seem to have a problem. I guess more variety is needed both ends of the height charts!

Although average height is still only about 5ft5 this is heavily influenced by elderly women being small and there being a lot of them (babyboomers). However they aren't the target market for these dresses, the target market is younger and younger women's average height is taller.

Bridal wear is always very long because it can be shortened but not lengthened and the shops like this because they make extra money on alterations. If a dress is too short it can't normally be lengthened without altering the look so either the sale is lost or the designer is unhappy because the style is changed.

The benefit of all this is that children's ranges in shoes now go up to a five or six which means cheap trainers!

I’m 5’3 and have never owned a maxi dress because I’ve never found one which wasn’t too long. But I wear extra long trousers because my height is all in my legs! Another thing that puts me off maxi dresses is that the prints tend to be too overpowering on me as I have quite delicate features.

Yes, I'm 5ft 3 and completely agree. Want something midi, to fit my proportions and something that doesn't look like it's made out of my granny's curtains. Hard to find!

I'm 5ft 1 and I have literally had to get long dresses shortened by 6 inches or more to make them wearable! There are shorter dresses as well but these days there seems to be length inflation on maxi dresses; I definitely used to be able to get long dresses off the shelf that weren't trailing on the ground if I wore them. And I find 'petite' sections don't seem to do maxi dresses that often for some reason.

I can see why many people keep going back to jeans.

I went out the other week and a lot of the girls ( late teens/early 20s) were wearing dresses so short they looked like they'd forgotten to dress their lower halves.
So it's more like the fashion world wants to make us dress in extremes

I totally get this OP. I'm 5'8" so considered fairly tall but all the dresses are so long nowadays that I've started ordering short lengths!

For a special occasion, you can have dresses shortened. I'm a short arse but I fell in love with a Phase Eight maxi dress a few years ago. I had it professionally shortened and I LOVE IT. It is the dress of my life and worth every penny.

Obviously not practical for all dresses but don't walk away from a stunner because it goes past your toes.

Ok so for me the new longer lengths are a good thing, I hate midi and love maxi and as I’m 5’3 this means I now have more maxi options.

BUT I totally agree with you on the patterns and shapelessness and looking like curtains!

I keep trying on these floaty patterned dresses wanting to love them, but they just drown me and make me look pregnant. They only look good on the 6’ and willowy, who probably look good in anything.

Shops: can we please have some fitted dresses back? And I don’t mean with a drawstring waist, I mean actually woman shaped rather than tent like. And can we have something other than floral or leopard? And natural fibres please?

5ft 9 Babyboomer here. I r always struggled to find stuff long enough.

Would agree with @MorrisZapp about alterations. I bought a dress in the sale from a high street shop knowing it would be too long, but knowing that the material and style lent themselves to taking up. I did, and I love it!

Yes. The worse the state of the economy, the longer skirts get. We’ll all be sweeping the streets with our hems soon.

For a special occasion, you can have dresses shortened.

it doesn’t need to be a special occasion. I alter everyday and work clothes to fit me better.

A too long hemline problem is easy to resolve.