Rah-rah skirt
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates
The rah-rah (or ra-ra) skirt is a short flounced, layered skirt that originated in cheerleading and became a popular fashion trend among teenage girls in the early 1980s. It marked, as the Oxford Dictionary noted, the first successful attempt to revive the miniskirt that had been introduced in the mid-1960s.[1]
Gifi Fields claimed that he co-created the rah-rah skirt with designer Angela Stone,[2] but there are also claims that the skirt was created by Norma Kamali.[3][4] Later in the 1980s, it was often worn with leather, denim or lace.[5]
In the 1990s, the miniskirt regained popularity on its own, largely eschewing the frills of the rah-rah. The latter made a comeback in Britain in 2008, with a headline in London Lite proclaiming: "Eighties look is all the ra-rave."[6]
Examples of the rah-rah could be seen on the covers of music albums such as Since Yesterday by Strawberry Switchblade (1984).
Etymology
Template:Sister project Rah-rah is a reduplication[7] of an abbreviation for "hurrah",[8] which is used as a synonym for "cheering".
History
While the rah-rah skirt originated in cheerleading, it was introduced to mainstream fashion in 1982.[9] It was popular in the 1980s until the mini skirt regained popularity, but the rah-rah experienced a resurgence in 2008.[10]
Notes
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ The Oxford Dictionary of New Words, 1991
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ See, for example, Daily Telegraph, 19 March 1991
- ↑ London Lite, 12 June 2008
- ↑ Merriam-Webster: Rah-rah
- ↑ Merriam-Webster: Rah
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Script error: No such module "Navbox".