If we'd tried to sell skirts on these pages six months ago, we would have been laughed out of our jobs. Er, nobody wants a skirt, the fashion pack would have sneered, it's all dresses, dresses, dresses. But fashion is a fickle beast and what was last season's best friend is now the metaphorical dog's dinner. Put bluntly, dresses are O.U.T. and full skirts are firmly back around our hips - or, to be more precise, hanging from our waists, but more of that later.

The return of the skirt might sound less than exciting, but with it comes a new way of dressing. Before it was a simple combination of dress + tights = ready to go. Now though, flouncy tops are ripe for the picking, because a skirt is just one piece in a complex puzzle called “separates”. We know, that sounds like a department even John Lewis would put on the fifth floor, but separates need not mean yellow cable-knit cardigans and elasticated trousers that you can't wear too close to an open fire. And, yes, we are bored of Carla Bruni too, but that doesn't invalidate that when she stepped on to British soil, she did so in a skirt.

The Osbourne/Geldof/Cheung set is also hooked. As is Luella and frankly, anything that she decrees as happening, we aren't arguing with. So there is the evidence, but how is one meant to wear the darn thing?

Choose a length that flatters. A full skirt that hovers around the knee will look fresh, but if this feels too short (or long), adapt to suit. Whatever you choose, make sure it falls from the waist. The last time the skirt and the waist met, Boy George was a fashion reference and women spent their wages on enormous shoulder pads. Happily, things aren't as extreme this time around, but the skirts are no less bouncy.

Rule two is to tuck-in. There is no point rediscovering your waist, if you promptly hide it under a sloppy shirt. So search out delicate blouses and fun stripey tops that can be pushed beneath the skirt's waistband to reveal your shape.

After what feels like decades hiding behind the smock, this new shape might take some getting used to. A good halfway house is a tailored blazer that funks everything up a bit.

Shoe-wise, there are two ways you can go when wearing a full skirt. The first, and most informal, is a pair of flats, then you can upgrade to sandals come the summer. Alternatively, look for skyscraper heels. The shops are bursting with extremely high and architecturally engineered heels, which, when worn with a high-waisted skirt, have the amazing effect of making you look extremely tall and thin. Now who's going to argue with that?

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