Bubble Skirts: The Polarizing Trend That Just Won't Quit

It’s official, bubble skirts are back. The 80s skirt style has been circulating the high-fashion world for a couple of years with brands like Dauphinette and Khaite bringing it to the forefront during NYFW ss/23. Only recently has the rest of the world climbed on board. 

That is not to say that this trend has been welcomed with open arms. 
Some love them.

can’t wait to style a bubble skirt

— chai 🎀🧸 (@pinkesteddy) April 25, 2024

Some hate them. 

I just saw a bubble skirt on shein 😭 oh lorddd

— DThang 💋 (@DejaNyjae) April 23, 2024

Nevertheless, they’re constantly popping up on mood boards. Retailers like ASOS and Zara can't get enough.

French designer Pierre Cardin is credited with creating the bubble hem during the mid-1950s where women waltzed around ballrooms in these Cinderella-esque dresses.

Flashforward to the 1980s, when the bubble hem made a bold return. They were re-invented by Christian Lacroix after he designed a striped bubble dress for bond girl Jane Seymour.

Shortened and casualized, in the 2000s the bubble hem evolved into a sought-after It Girl item. The likes of Paris Hilton and Zooey Deschanel walked red carpets in puffy mini-dresses. Influenced by celebrities, mini bubble skirts became a must-have item in every girl's wardrobe.

Twenty years later, with a 2000s revival in full swing, it’s no surprise that the love-it or hate-it hemline has re-appeared. In today's fashion climate, the bubble skirt is being combined with two other controversial Y2K trends – tube tops and ballet flats. Bubble-hem mini dresses are seemingly becoming a summer staple, it’s starting to become impossible to browse retail sites or enter a shop without spotting a version of the latest trend. 

Judging by the previous timeline, the bubble hem is predicted to make its next comeback during the 2040’s. Maybe by then, they will actually float. 

Up next, The Talented Mr. Ripley: Style That Holds Up In Court.