Lemaire Balloon Skirt

A balloon skirt is a shape with a closed bottom, and that is what separates it from every other full skirt. An A-line or a circle skirt releases fabric outward and lets it fall open at the hem; a balloon gathers the fabric at the waist, lets it billow, and then draws it back in at the bottom, so the volume is contained on both sides and the skirt holds a rounded, suspended form rather than a cone. It only works if the cloth is right. Too stiff and the shape becomes a lantern; too limp and it collapses into the leg. Silk crepe de Chine is close to ideal for it. Crepe de Chine is woven with highly twisted yarns in the weft, which gives the finished cloth a fine, dry, faintly pebbled surface with almost no shine and a great deal of movement, so it is light enough to lift into the volume and fluid enough to fall back out of it with every step. The waistband is deliberately thin, which is the detail that makes the whole thing work: a narrow band means the transition from body to volume happens abruptly, at a single line, so the skirt reads as a shape sitting on the waist rather than as fabric gradually widening. A side zip keeps that line unbroken. Vanilla powder is a pale warm off-white, which shows the shape in shadow rather than in colour.

Why we selected it

The balloon shape is very easy to get wrong and it depends entirely on the cloth. Crepe de Chine at this weight is the correct answer, and a thin waistband on a full skirt is a decision most makers do not have the nerve for.

Lemaire’s volumes are usually engineered by how the cloth is gathered rather than by anything underneath, and this is a clear example of it.

Materials and construction

100% silk in a crepe de Chine, midi length, with a thin waistband and a side zipper. Made in Portugal, in vanilla powder.

Fit notes

Fitted only at the waist, since a balloon skirt takes its shape from the waistband and the hem and is loose everywhere between them, so the fit question is the waist and nothing else. Midi length, which means it falls between the knee and the ankle. We do not hold measurements, and there is no Lemaire size chart on this site.

Styling

Volume below wants restraint above, so a close top, tucked or short, and a shoe that shows the ankle below the hem. In a pale warm off-white this is a daylight garment first, and it will go with the browns and the creams in the collection rather than fighting them.

Care

Silk is best handled by a cleaner who is told it is silk, and it should be kept out of direct sun, which degrades the fibre and yellows a pale colour. Do not spot-treat crepe de Chine at home; water marks silk and the mark is often larger than the original. Store it hanging so the volume is not crushed. Our fabric care guide has a section on silk.

Related pieces

The Twisted Hem Skirt is the shorter, harder skirt. In silk, the Light Plastron Top, and the Balloon Pouch carries the same volume in a bag. Everything we carry from Lemaire is listed together.