My Favourite Noughties Skirt Trend Is Set for a Comeback

Thinking back to the early noughties, everything was about layers, no? To be 12-years-old in the 2000s, saying "layering" felt incredibly chic. One of my sharpest outfit memories is of going to school wearing four layers of lace-trimmed vest tops in various hues, knowing full well about three of them were completely unnecessary. Nothing felt cooler than knowing how to layer. The one item that embodied this was, as it was called then, the peasant skirt. At the peak of boho chic, was there anything better than a maxi skirt made from layers of tiers? No.

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(Image credit: Isabel Mundigo-Moore)

Me, as a teen in 2005, wearing a tiered miniskirt. (One of many.)

Between Sienna Miller, Kate Moss and Nicole Richie, the boho-chic queens were my absolute style icons during the noughties. This was to the point that I really struggled when Sienna Miller cut her hair and went mod. All this to say, there was something so wonderfully carefree about the boho-chic years, of which the tiered skirt played a central part. So it thrills me to report that one of my most cherished teen items is making a comeback.

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you look for the clues, the tiered-skirt comeback has been in the works for a while. The noughties generally have been sartorially swirling through various collections, while brands like Batsheva and The Vampire's Wife have been pulling inspiration from the 1970s—the original boho years—for some time. So when I saw the cow-print tiered skirt make its way down Maryam Nassir Zadeh's S/S 20 runway, the lightbulb clicked on: It's back.

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(Image credit: Maryam Nassir Zadeh)

It made sense to think that this was going to be the next big skirt trend for 2020, and I wasn't wrong. Looking through the spring/summer collections available now, I've seen so many tiered skirts from the high street through to designer and contemporary brands. And if you're anything like me (I bought a couple on Etsy), you'll know there will be lots of secondhand ones available too. 

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Like the pleated-skirt trend, these tiered ones come in so many patterns and shapes that can work for any style. As someone who leans more minimalist now than boho chic, I love the flowy black-and-white versions for spring and summer, which I've already started wearing with oversized tees and button-downs. They are the perfect thing for cooler midseason evenings, paired with a thin knit.

Not only is this a cherished teen item, but this skirt trend offers up a fun and fresh option for the spring/summer season. Keep scrolling to shop my edit of the best tiered skirts to try out this trend. 

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