The Going-Out Top Is Dead. Long Live The Going-Out Skirt.

Spring sprung her silly little way into the city, and on a gray Wednesday full of blooms, I meandered around Midtown killing time before an appointment. Realizing I was a block away from Dover Street Market, I decided to do “market research” (browse their shoes in case I felt like being compulsive) and see what was hitting on the racks. The general consensus, not only on the floors of designer clothing but in the streets, is that the top half of your look almost doesn’t matter anymore. It’s all about the big-bang skirt in 2026.

One of the first big moments I knew the statement skirt was here was, of course, the Chanel show last October. Matthieu Blazy’s final look of his debut Spring/Summer 2026 show was a simple white silk shirt paired with a cacophony of camellias on a maxi skirt. It was the most joyous look to end a whirlwind Fashion Month, and a handful of designers were also aboard the wow-factor skirt train for the season. Prada’s sliced-and-diced housewife midi skirts were paired with gray bra tops; Area showed bodycon turtlenecks with whispers of skirts made out of piles of crystals.

Shortly after the season wrapped, the rat race for wearing fresh-off-the-runway pieces started. Anya Taylor-Joy’s press tour for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was decidedly low-key, but her one head-turning piece was a Balmain fringed leopard skirt that she offset with a black crop top. Dua Lipa, ever one to turn tides when it comes to trends, stepped out in New York recently in a bossy look with a skirt from The Attico that did all the heavy lifting. And of course, our number one and two best-dressed stars of awards season, Elle Fanning and Teyana Taylor, gave the bottom half its due shine with looks by August Barron and Chanel, respectively.

After years of the going-out top reigning supreme, it’s clear that the long sleeves, crop tops, and T-shirts for this spring and summer should be an afterthought, a clean slate for the skirts of little girls’ dreams to get their shine on. It’s also a bit less pressure to find that stunner of a party top and an excuse to stop wearing the same pair of jeans you might always lean on for a night out. Take cues from the runways of Diotima and The Attico for styling; a simple peep-toe sandal in addition to a no-nonsense top is really all you need to let the shimmying and sparkling skirt do the talking while you strut, twirl, and otherwise turn it out. Shop our picks below.