Cheryl Shops

Leather pants--the skinnier, the better--were all over the fall runways. And while I am all for leather pants (or even the more budget-friendly faux leather ones), I don't have a lot to say about them, other than they're awesome. In other words, if you've seen one pair of leather pants, you've kind of seen them all. The trouble, too, with leather pants, especially of the tight and skinny variety, is that they're not exactly work-friendly (well, unless you're a rock star). But there are many ways to wear leather, and I've found that skirts are a great alternative. It's not as difficult to find the perfect fit in a skirt, and as you'll see with the styles below, designers have found interesting ways to embellish them, from studs and zippers to pleats and tiers. Plus, with some careful layering and accessorizing, you can totally get away with wearing one to work.

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Seeing this Joseph petal skirt on Shopbop's excellent blog was what actually inspired me to write this post. For those who think leather skirts are too hard and edgy, I urge you to take a closer look at the soft, asymmetrical tiers of this one--looks pretty feminine to me!


Another unexpected source for a leather skirt is Oscar de La Renta, whose banded suede and leather skirt manages to be both elegant and edgy at the same time--the length is proper, but the texture definitely keeps things interesting.


In the more traditional leather-skirt vein, the zippers in this Elise Overland skirt are not at all excessive, but they're just enough to give it a punk-rock feel. The asymmetricality and the off-side seams give it an ultra-flattering fit too.


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The asymmetrical zippers in this Rebecca Minkoff skirt remind me of the Elise Overland look above, but with the more overt early-'90s edge that Rebecca has been pursuing lately with her clothing line.


I was pleasantly surprised to discover the amusingly-named I'm No Angel skirt from Nanette Lepore, a designer not exactly known for edgy designs, proving perhaps that even girly girls can pull off a leather skirt. Again, this one has an exposed front zipper, but the metal belt buckles really give it a standout look.


Helmut Lang purists tend to turn up their noses at what Nicole and Michael Colovos design for the line, but with a bandage skirt this hot, you won't hear me complaining. The great thing about this one is that it's leather and jersey, so aside from being very formfitting, it also lets you breathe a bit.


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You probably won't be doing much breathing in this Arden B skirt, since it's pleather, but with a pretty tiered look reminiscent of the Joseph look above--and a price tag of $40--I think you can stand the heat. An added bonus: I've found pleather to be quite warm (in a good way) in the winter.


Thankfully, this ByCorpus faux leather skirt is short enough to let the air circulate. With the exception of the exposed back zipper, the design is pretty simplistic, but that also makes this skirt a good basic.


This studded pleather skirt is just fun, as is the price: a mere $22.50. It might not be fun peeling it from your sweaty body at the end of the night, but at this rate, you can almost afford to cut it off, then go buy yourself a new one.