Product Review: American Apparel California Fleece Tulip Skirt

Product Overview/Story:

I love tulip skirts, they're my favorite style so when I saw these I already had a bias towards them. I like that they're casual and light enough to wear in hot weather and I can wear these out in the same manner I would just throw on a pair of jeans. 

As a reference for the picture above, my waist is 26" and my hips are 36"

All three of the skirts I bought were medium. They all measure differently. The following measurements were taken unstretched and lying flat. All measurements are in inches, multiply by 2.54 for cm. All of these skirts have been washed once and dried at high heat because I wanted to shrink them. They did decrease in size after the washing and some nonessential seaming came loose from the waistband as a result. 

Slate: Waist - 10" Width of the hem: 18"

Evergreen: Waist - 10.5" Width of hem: 17"

Purple: Waist - 10" Width of hem: 19"

The variation between the evergreen and the purple creates a different visual. I had originally made assumptions about the skirts based off of the information I gleaned off the internet and eBay trying to find more about the measurements. I now realize it was kind of a moot cause as all of the measurements varied among my skirts. 

For these skirts to maintain the tulip shape generally the bottom should be a little more narrow than the gathered part, as a result even if the hem width is narrower than your hips because of the gathering, the skirt can still accommodate without being too tight. My favorite fit happened to be the evergreen. While my least favorite was the purple due to the extra space. 

My recommendation:

- I think a good hip range for the medium skirt would be 36"-38" remember that because of the range of widths, the fit might look a little different from what you expect.

- The best way to assess fit is to try it on if you have the chance especially because of the variance within the same size. 

- If you don't know whether to size up or down, consider the waistband - it's tight thick elastic. I went with medium because of complaints of the small being really tight and my being unsure of my hips. I knew I could maybe shrink it down some with the washing machine. That alternative offered more options rather than buying a skirt too tight and small. Medium is in the 10" range. Large goes about 11"-12" These are just generalizations though.

- Don't try to overestimate the range of what the skirt can accommodate or else you might look like this

and the lines should tell you your skirt is too tight and it will ride up as you walk. 

Lastly, wait around until they go on sale again for $5

*Update: American Apparel's eBay outlet is selling the skirts for $4.00. Ships only within the US.