Economic legend asserts that skirts get shorter when the economy gets tighter. Flirty fashions brighten a dismal economic landscape, clothing makers save on fabric costs, and looking upon more leg makes folks happier, the theory goes.

Another economic legend, also sometimes called "hemline theory," asserts the opposite -- that falling hemlines finger a sinking economy, while bare knees bring rising stocks. Short skirts in the 1920s and 1960s correlated with boom times, while longer dresses in the 1930s and 1940s matched a bear market, according to Barron's Finance & Investment Handbook.

Though the Barron's handbook acknowledges and defines hemline theory, it also mocks it: "Despite its sometimes uncanny way of being prophetic, the hemline theory has remained more in the area of wishful thinking than serious market analysis."

Over the years, media outlets -- including this one -- have propagated the theory, which seems to get caught in a cause and effect loop: Which comes first, extra thigh or an S&P high? In 2004, a survey by Taubman Centers Inc., a Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based real estate investment trust that builds shopping centers, called the hemline indicator a "quirky -- yet historically accurate -- forecasting tool." The survey results, republished in numerous outlets, likened an "ankle duster" to uncertain times, and "cheesecake" to good times ahead.

But in reality, the theory has no legs. The overall economy does influence fashion but not in a predictive sense, experts said.

"I've always heard that hemlines go up during tougher economic times. Do I think it's true? I see no correlation," said Janine Blain, a contemporary market analyst at The Doneger Group's Los Angeles office, which has acquired and taken the name of Directives West. "It's maybe something from the past."

Shoppers this season want versatile clothes for multiple occasions. This season's dresses are shorter because people want to look sexier and more sophisticated in general, Blain said, adding that the pencil skirt is in right now.

"Even on the West Coast, we're dressing up," Blain said. "Skirts are really emerging again to be important. Everything is getting tucked in again."

Clothing on today's rack was designed up to eight months ago, said Vivian Chesterley, academic director of fashion marketing and fashion design at the Art Institute of Seattle. The Art Institute teaches economic concepts in its classes -- including hemline theory -- to help designers create clothes that people will buy, she said.

"The change in the economy has been perhaps more sudden this time around than it has in the past," Chesterley said. "Fashion is not responding or forecasting quite as quickly, simply because at the time the designers designed the lines for spring, the economy was good."

An economic slowdown pushes women toward nostalgic, conservative looks, said Erica Easley, head buyer for The Red Light in Portland. "I've observed styles always get more inventive and playful during successful economic times -- lots of color, daring and unusual pairings," she said.

That the economy is slowing while short skirts, cocktail shorts and flirty dresses are in style is a coincidence, said Karan Dannenberg, who owns her namesake clothier in Belltown. She is selling lots of "short, cute, kicky little skirts." But, "I have not seen in my experience that the economy fluctuates with hemlines."

Stylish Capitol Hill resident Pam Johnson, who sits on the board of Cornish College of the Arts, the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Pratt Fine Arts Center, said she's not about to don a miniskirt -- no matter what the Dow.

"I think it's age related -- you don't see a lot of women over 50 wearing short skirts," said Johnson, 61, speaking fresh from a shopping outing in Paris, where she is on vacation.

"The flippy skirts go with the flippy stock market," she mused, thinking over her observations. "Although, I'm not so sure that the girls with their flippy skirts are investing in the stock market."