W hy did we stop wearing skirts? Because midi dresses offered even quicker one-step instead of two-step mornings perhaps, or because the work-from-home shift got us so used to trousers that the sight of a bare calf feels alien. Because jeans are so easy and require so much less laundering and pressing. Whatever the reason, shopping for a skirt online now means selecting “bottoms” from the drop-down menu and hunting for one amid trousers, shorts and jumpsuits.

And shopping for a skirt I am. A second skirt, actually, to join the first that has me hooked after years of trousers and jeans. My gateway skirt is from Me+Em, wool mix, pleated to just above the ankle, with a slit to just above the knee on the left side (but enough fabric in the pleats that this is only visible when I’m walking).

.