Help me find a skirt – back to the office edition!

August 20, 2022 9:04 AM

I’m being forced to return to the office after teleworking since the start of the pandemic. That means I need to dress in something besides sweatpants. Comfy skirts are what I need, skirts with pockets and elastic waists. Challenges inside.

I am a 63 year old woman, who stands 5’ 11” tall and weighs 225 pounds. I wear size 2x or 22 women’s clothing. I really need clothes in tall sizes as I have most of my height in my legs. I must have pockets in my clothes, because really, where would I put my Kleenex and other necessities?
I like cotton, denim, or a nice Tencel over gauzy fabrics that cling. I’d like elastic waistbands, although anything adjustable would be fine. Am I getting too picky here? Basically, I’m wanting to replicate sweatpants in something that my boss will be tricked into thinking is close to casual professional wear when I add a nice blouse on top.

posted by furtheryet to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (9 answers total)

Best answer: Decent Exposures. I've ordered a bunch of skirts from them. They make them to order, so you choose fabric (cotton and cotton blends), length, and whether you want pockets. They are comfy like sweatpants and have elastic waistbands.
posted by FencingGal at 9:21 AM on August 20, 2022 [3 favorites]

Might be too casual, but my wife really likes the skirts from Svaha. I believe most if not all of their skirts have pockets.
posted by Alterscape at 9:38 AM on August 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

Decent Exposures is my go to for this, too.

If you’d like to mess around with prints, you might keep an eye on Maya Kern. Her store does a big batch of preorders a few times a year, and some of the more sedate prints read as professional enough for work for me. (Mostly the ones that are plain colored with just a print band around the hem.)

Occasionally I also track down this variety of skirt at JJill, though that’s more hit or miss.
posted by Stacey at 9:50 AM on August 20, 2022

Best answer: Always like an opportunity to plug MACABI Skirts. They have elastic waists, a drawstring, and belt-loops. I have 10 (ten) of these skirts. I'm 6'4 and the long length drapes to my ankles. They have incredible pockets. The fabric lasts forever (my first skirt, over a decade old, is still going strong). They look great and I get complements on them all the time. And then eyes bug out when I drop my hands into the pockets past my wrists.
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:45 AM on August 20, 2022 [10 favorites]

Best answer: I think you could find things that fit your parameters at eShakti--additionally, eShakti allows for custom sizing, so you can get something tailored to your measurements.
posted by foxfirefey at 12:53 PM on August 20, 2022 [4 favorites]

One quick tip on comfy elastic waistband skirts- I tend to put my phone in one pocket, and clip a walkie-talkie (for work) on the other pocket, and few if any stretch waistband skirts will stay up with that weight. So dresses are great, or skirts or pants with belt loops, if you are an xtreme pocket user like me (I put in rocks, notebooks, random pencils, trash I pick up… there’s always something I’m transporting from one place to another)
posted by Secretariat at 1:03 PM on August 20, 2022 [3 favorites]

Costco.
posted by Oyéah at 1:59 PM on August 20, 2022

I have a couple of Duluth Trading Company's NoGA skorts that are super comfortable and have deep pockets.
posted by neushoorn at 2:07 PM on August 20, 2022

Response by poster: Wow. Great suggestions...my credit card is on fire! This should make my return to the land of cubicles less traumatic for me. Thank you all for your great ideas. This list will be referred to again and again.
posted by furtheryet at 3:00 PM on August 20, 2022 [2 favorites]