I bought this skirt in Japan almost 24 years ago. It’s a Medium size. Medium Japanese size is a bit smaller (especially back then) than American Medium. At the time, I wore sizes 6, 7 or 8, depending on the cut (size 7 is a junior size, which means the hips are narrower).

My mother told me that since I had my son, my hips are too big to ever wear a size 6 again. It will never happen. It’s a pelvic size thing, she says.

Right now, I’m wearing 14s loosely, 12s snugly and 10s with pain.

I don’t know if she’s right, but the reason I’m keeping this skirt is that I want to see what will happen if I try. What size will I wear if I get down to my ideal weight? (And honestly, I don’t even know what that is.)

Can I ever get this skirt back on? Even if I don’t want to wear it (miniskirts are verboten for those over 40, so say Clinton and Stacy) and I probably never would, in public, I’d like to see if I could.

Stay tuned.