Women staying in mini-skirts for longer: report

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - British women are happy nowadays to wear mini-skirts up until the age of 40, according to research by Debenhams department store.

Just 20 years ago, few women would dare to wear a mini-skirt after the age of 33, the store said.

"It shows that women now have an increasing confidence in their bodies and are happy to dress accordingly," it added in a statement.

"If this trend continues, there's no doubt that, within the next decade, women in their mid 40s and early 50s will rightly regard a mini-skirt as an essential part of their everyday wardrobe."

The figures emerged when the store examined the latest age profile of women buying short, 36-cm skirts over the past six months.

Their results show that it has jumped from an average age of 36-years-old at the start of millennium to 40 today.

Figures from 1980 showed that on average women stopped buying minis when they reached 33 years old -- a figure unchanged from the mid-1960s.

The store noted that experts believe that the popularity of intensive gym culture, providing women with well toned bodies for longer may be the reason.

The increasing number of British women living on their own may also be a factor.