long black skirts - where?!

[CloudsAway]

Having recently rejoined a choir, I am in need of a long - floor length! - black skirt for concerts. It needs to be formal looking - i.e. not those beach kind of skirts that are sort of gathered all round, which seems to be all that I can find in the summer!

Worse, I'm now size 16/18, reducing availability further (and making me look ridiculous with much in the way of gathers or pleats or anything fussy like that).

Is it hopeless?

(I'm a bit short, like 5'4" ish, so things that are 3/4 length on tall people might do).

Have you tried looking in the Wedding / Prom departments of stores? You might get one that's designed to be worn as the bottom half of a bridemaids outfit?

like this

Should have added - the skirt on this link is what I was meaning! YOu may have to find a dressmaker to shorten (or invest in some f* off high heels!)

goodness, that's quite a dress! I think I just need the skirt part... (and hopefully a little cheaper!).

But I'll try the prom section and see - it sounds like it should be a sort of 'classic' thing, specially in larger sizes. Thanks

Saw a long (not maxi) black linen one in Sainsbury this morning. Bit too informal, perhaps? Had lots of panels, went out a bit at the bottom.

What about that website that makes to order? I forget the name of it now, I'll have a google.

Haven't linked but there seem to be one or two in Dorothy Perkins.

Here is is, Styleshake

Maybe I could get away with informal linen-like maxi skirt for summer and then get a more formal one in the autumn, surely by winter they'd be more in season...?! Not sure when long black suit-like skirts are really ever in season, but it sounds more a winter thing than summer, anyway.

will check S'burys tomorrow though

And Dorothy Ps.

Thanks for website link - never heard of that one before! Was thinking of talking my mum who sews into trying to make me one, but she's not very near

my favourite choir skirt is jersey so you can screw it up in a bag on the way to a concert and jsut fling it on - this kind of thing

evening skirts look nice but you ahve to tote hangers etc about

cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350360561042&ih=022&category=63863&ssPageName=W DVW&rd=1

couple of hours to go on this one.

cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350360561042&ih=022&category=63863&ssPageName=WDVW&rd= 1

thank you all for the suggestions! Lots of good things for me to look in to.

skirt.?