Proportional Response

Annoyed!  Annoyed by something on the internet.  In this case, a formula for determining the ideal length of skirts.  The idea is, your upper and lower leg are of different lengths, right, but they ought to be of equal length, so we can correct the natural flaws of the body using a skirt length that creates the appearance of an evenly balanced upper and lower leg.  So that part is already objectionable, as it cheerfully acknowledges an impossible ideal while encouraging women to bend themselves towards it.  That's just regular, though.  That's everywhere.

No, what's really annoyed me is the math.  The formula for determining your ideal skirt length--which is to say the length that visibly bisects the lower half of your body, creating two visibly equal sections, is as follows:
( length of longer leg section - length of shorter leg section ) / 2.  That's your magic number.  If your upper leg is longer, you go that far above your knee in whatever units you measured, while if your lower leg is longer, you go down from that point.  It's so simple!  What simpler way could there be of determining half of something!

Anyway, my curiosity got the better of me and I mocked up some straight skirt lengths from this paper doll I made of myself a few years ago.  It's all from the high hip, and at some point when it's not after 1 AM I should really do the same with A-lines and high waists.  edit: have done this, below

10", 17", and 33" have all been recommended for me as lengths, while 12", 25", and 29" have been direly warned against as leg-thickening.  Presumably each number would shift depending on the apparent length of my leg (skin-colored shoes being quite in style) and height of my heel--I've noticed that wearing heels with flares makes my lower legs look freakishly elongated, for example.  I think I'll be sticking to the rubric of "buying things I like to look at and wear."