Tibi The Slip Skirt

Acetate is an old fibre and an unfashionable one, which is a shame, because there is very little that drapes like it. Made from cellulose, it is smooth, fluid, and heavier in the hand than its weight suggests, so a twill woven from it falls in long liquid folds that a cotton or a polyester of the same weight simply will not produce. That is the entire reason to make a slip skirt from it. A slip skirt has no construction to speak of: no pleats, no darts doing work, nothing structural to look at. What it has is drape, and drape is a property of the cloth alone. This one is cut long with a slit up the back, so it moves when you walk instead of restricting the stride, and it is deliberately plain. Tibi calls it one of its Without Fail pieces, the term for what a wardrobe is built around as against the pieces that come and go, and the description fits: it can be the whole outfit or it can sit under something with far more going on and quietly do nothing.

Why we selected it

Plain garments are the hardest ones to buy well, because there is nowhere for a mistake to hide. This one is correct: the length, the drape, and the slit are the only three decisions in it and all three are right. It is also the piece we most often suggest to someone who has come in for something else entirely.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent acetate, in a lightweight twill. Made in China. Black. Midi length with a slit at the back.

Fit notes

Sits at the waist and falls straight without clinging, with the drape doing the shaping rather than the cut. Acetate has no stretch, so the waist is the decision. Sold as a matching set with the Slip Cami if you want the full column in one cloth.

Styling

With the Slip Cami, which is how the house intends it. Under the Washable Cashmere Oversize Easy T for the version that is easier to leave the house in. Under the Cavalier Twill Shrunken Blazer, where the cropped jacket against the long skirt is the whole proportion.

Care

Acetate is the fibre most easily ruined at home. It weakens when wet, it will not take heat, and acetone will dissolve it outright, which is worth knowing if nail polish remover lives anywhere near your wardrobe. Dry clean, and press cool through a cloth if at all. Our care guidance covers regenerated cellulosics like acetate.

Related pieces

The matching piece is the Slip Cami. For a plain layer above it, the Pebble Sable Square Neck Cross Back Tank or the Washable Cashmere Oversize Easy T, and to sharpen the line, the Cavalier Twill Shrunken Blazer. Layering With Tibi is the Library post that puts these together, and everything we currently hold from Tibi is listed together.