Chalk Line · Ellen Tracy 1990s Ink Black Pinstripe Mini Skirt
Ink black pinstripe polyester suiting · straight mini silhouette · front vent at hem · back zip · fully lined · Ellen Tracy · 1990s · 53cm long, 36cm waist flat · tagged a vintage 10
Every stripe on her runs the same distance from its neighbour, an obsessive kind of regularity that only shows up close, and at the hip the fabric softens just slightly, draped rather than seamed flat, before the whole thing snaps straight again down to a single vent at the hem, set right of centre rather than in the middle where a vent usually hides.
The stripe is woven in, not printed on, fine white against the darkest, inkiest black, a shade that edges toward blue without ever quite arriving, the way proper suiting has always done it. The whole skirt is built with a tailor's instinct for movement: draped ease at the hip rather than a stiff seam, and a vent at the lower hem placed slightly off centre so the leg has somewhere to go without the line ever looking accidental. Ellen Tracy built a career on precisely this kind of American workwear, tailored pieces meant to survive a decade of Mondays, and this one carries the label from the 1990s, when a pinstripe this fine on a hem this short was its own kind of office rebellion.
She closes at centre back with a lapped zip alone, and the fabric is fully lined so the pinstripe never has to do the work of hiding anything underneath. The hem narrows slightly from hip to knee, 50cm at the hip easing to 48cm at the hem, a straight rather than pencil-tight cut that still reads sharp on the body.
Material
Polyester suiting, polyester lining
Care
Dry cleaning recommended, though the original tag allows a warm hand wash if needed. Do not soak, bleach or tumble dry. Drip dry in shade and use a warm iron only.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: Measured flat, she runs 53cm long with a 36cm waist, a 50cm hip and a 48cm hem. Tagged a vintage 10, and true to that read, she fits a modern AU 10. Shown unpinned on an AU 10 mannequin for true fit. International size S.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
Excellent. No pulls, snags or fading to the pinstripe, the lining sits flat with no separation, and the back zip functions cleanly. Exhibition condition.
Our condition lexicon explains the grades we use.
Before it reaches you
Someone loved this before you did, and I try to honour that properly. Each piece is hand washed, or cleaned in the way that the fabric permits, then steamed until it softens and straightens and feels newly attended to. Wherever a button was missing, it has been replaced with a vintage one from my long-kept collection. Wherever a hem had given way, I fix it by hand. By the time it leaves this room it is genuinely clean, pressed, whole, and looked over one final time before I let myself believe it is ready. Not restored. Not made new. Just returned to a state where it can be loved again, by someone who was not there the first time.
She has memorised the rules well enough to know exactly where to break one. Every stripe marches in perfect order until it reaches the hip, where the fabric softens into a drape instead of holding the line, and again at the hem, where a single vent opens slightly off centre rather than where a vent is supposed to go. She spent the 1990s convincing rooms full of people she was the most serious woman in it, right up until the hem gave the joke away. Some rules exist purely so someone interesting can bend exactly one of them.