Kate Walsh Leather Skirt

Kate Walsh in a leather pencil skirt by the Olsen twins' new high-end designer line, The Row. ($2,050)

Neil Barrett

Neil Barrett's tailored leather skirt has a hidden side zip and will only cost you half a month's rent. ($591)

Nicole Miller

This skirt from Nicole Miller features black leather panels for a sexy, dangerous edge. It's the five o'clock shadow of leather skirts. ($519)

Bottega Venata

This Bottega Venata metallic leather skirt features sheer chiffon side panels and a chiffon hem. I LOVE this skirt. ($1015)

Hakaan

Tough goes luxe with this zipper-detailed leather pencil skirt from Hakaan, which sounds like a noise you make when you're coughing up a piece of steak that went down the wrong pipe. Still a nice skirt, though. ($538)

DKNY

DKNY's classic leather pencil skirt features contrast stitching at the seams. ($603)

Ralph Lauren Black Label

Ralph Lauren Black label's leather Shandy skirt is 100% lambskin in a polished pencil silhouette. ($1211)

Velvet

This Velvet Gayle Leather Ponti skirt's unusual texture is courtesy of waxed panel designs on the front -- not to mention it's a fabulous deal. ($110)

Vince

Vince's honey-hued leather skirt features front pleats and slant pockets. ($222)

Givenchy

This lambskin Givenchy skirt is leather in the front and stretch knit fabric in the back. ($1300)

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There is nothing more chic than a knee-length leather skirt. Case in point: Kate Walsh at the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style last month. It’s grownup glam and impossible to not look polished when you’re wearing one. The only problem is the price: real leather can be ridiculously expensive. And in spite of my Power Point presentation detailing how this $2,000 Versace skirt would be a fashion investment piece and the pie chart I made demonstrating how much of my personal happiness depended on the acquisition of said skirt (87.9%), my husband still thought a sump-pump for the basement was a better use of our money. See, this is why nobody’s asking him to write a fashion blog.

Fortunately, there are some pretty convincing imitation leathers out there for the budget-constrained, and if you want to hold out for the real deal, there are varying degrees of leather expensiveness. Now, if you were my husband, this might be the part where you’d say, “I don’t think ‘expensiveness’ is actually a word, honey.” And then, if you were my husband, this would be the part where I tell you to put your dictionary the same place I told you stick the sump-pump. A skirt like that is worth a lifetime of water damage and mold-related illnesses!

HIGH-END:

Givenchy leather-front skirt ($1300)

Ralph Lauren black leather Shandy skirt ($1211)

Bottega Veneta metallic leather second skin with chiffon details ($1015)

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD:

DKNY leather pencil skirt ($603)

Neil Barrett fitted leather skirt ($591)

Hakaan zip-front leather skirt ($817)

Nicole Miller leather panel stretch skirt ($519)

BUDGET-CONSCIOUS:

Vince’s leather skirt in Honey ($222)

Velvet’s Gayle Leather Ponti skirt ($110)