Stylish New Yorkers Are Wearing This Perfectly Weird '90s Skirt Trend Everywhere This Fall

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I've been really into anything shiny recently, and Sandy Liang is to blame. Often, Liang is at the scene of the crime when it comes to my credit card balance but especially right now. While popping into the designer's shop on Orchard the other week, I spotted the Pinkie, a light-pink metallic pleated skirt, hanging on a rack. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since.

Sandy Liang Pinkie Metallic Skirt

The Sandy Liang Pinkie skirt

(Image credit: Courtesy of Sandy Liang)

Metallic is not normally a thing I think about when it comes to my fall wardrobe. Instead I'm focused on faux fur or pony hair—textures that feel cozy. But the way Liang had the skirt styled really changed my perspective. The model was wearing open-toed sandals, which I have retired for the season, but also the perfect pink sweater layered over a collared shirt. From the knee up, this was a look I wanted to live in for the rest of the season.

It made me realize the value of adding a bit of shimmer to a standard fall look. The contrasting elements and textures play so nicely off one another without feeling like something picked out of a holiday catalog. The metallic can help bring something unexpected to a look while also making a standard sweater-and-shirt combo, which is literally a bit stuffy, quite fun.

It's also a look that's been done on many a '90s Miu Miu runway. A metallic, shimmery skirt just adds an effortlessly cool essence instantly that feels like it's from decades past. I've been seeing it a lot all over New York, too. People are out and about wearing metallic pleated skirts like Liang's or similar glitter or sequined options and layering them with chunky sweaters and scarves or leather jackets. And it's certainly about to become my fall uniform from here on out.

Shop the metallic skirt trend below:

Tara Gonzalez
Tara Gonzalez
Senior Fashion & Social Editor

Tara Gonzalez is a senior fashion and social editor at WhoWhatWear. where she is interested in exploring the intersection of fashion and culture and why we are drawn to wearing the things we wear and what that says about the world we live in. Previously she worked as a senior fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar. When she isn't writing trend deep dives for WWW, she's working on her newsletter on Substack, Cult Classic, which explores the very best fashion in film and television. She has a degree in creative writing from The University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Brooklyn with her boyfriend and pug Bjork, the later of which has a very extensive collection of dog-sized Sandy Liang sweaters.