We asked 1,000 Marines how they feel about women's skirts. Here's what they said

Higher-waisted pencil skirts, tapered below the thigh, ranked are the most popular in an informal and unscientific survey of more than 1,100 Marine Corps Times readers who were asked for feedback on the service's effort to update women's service and dress uniforms of three options that are under consideration for service and dress uniforms, while some Marines feel the skirt should be eliminated as the Corps pushes unisex uniforms and gender-neutral standards.

The survey, That is the result of an informal poll by Marine Corps Times. The poll, which generated 1,122 votes over two weeks, was conducted online launched on March 28 after Marine Corps headquarters service officials announced its their own survey on March 28. Specifically, oOfficials want to know whether Marines prefer an A-line, straight, or pencil-style skirt. The service's uniform board also is examining weighing whether to relocate the skirts' move the zippers on female Marines' skirts from the back to the side, and whether . Marines are also given the option to move the ID-card pocket for identification cards from the inside the garment to of their skirts to the outside.

Nearly half of those who responded to The Marine Corps Times' reader survey said they prefer pencil skirts. About found that roughly one-in-four Marines wants to keep the A-line skirts female Marines wear now currently worn by female Marines. Fewer than one-in-five likes the straight skirts, while half of respondents prefer the pencil skirt.

A smaller but not insignificant number of respondents — 101, or nine percent — of respondents said skirts should be replaced with trousers. Many called such garments. The skirts were called "outdated," and said to "serves no purpose." And while some respondents voters bemoaned any further another round of uniform changes, most who opposed to updating the a new skirt said that doing so contradicts is contrary to the effort, pushed by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, to create such attire skirts has have no place in the current drive push for unisex uniforms.

The Marine Corps’ official survey had 498 participants as of April 13, — 304 had completed the dress skirt surveys and 194 completed the service skirt surveys, according to Barb Hamby, a SYSCOM spokeswoman for Marine Corps Systems Command at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. Of those, 304 had completed the dress skirt survey while 194 had completed the service skirt survey. Officials won't The Corps will not have a response breakdown of how Marines voted until the survey concludes on May 27, Hamby said.

The official survey is online and requires can be completed [https://usmcsurveys.natick.army.mil/] with a common access card to complete. 

Additionally, Marines will see prototype uniforms and can take complete the survey in person — and see uniform prototypes — during a roadshow going on throughout to be held in May. Stops will include:

Last summer, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus last summer said his goal is a collection of uniforms that "don’t divide us as male or female, but rather unite us as sailors or Marines."

Female Marines switched to a universal dress blue cover for their dress blue uniforms last year, and the new female dress blue coat was adopted in January on Jan. 8 after more than two years of research and testing and experiments.

Women won’t see those coats for two to three years, officials said. Final tweaks must be made, then contracting and production timelines must be determined factored in.

Female recruits on April 4 became the first to be issue "Dixie cups" in place of bucket covers. All other women females have until Oct. 31 get theirs to make the change.

A new women's dress blue uniform female service dress blues, which sailors call "crackerjacks," will be issued at boot camp beginning Oct. 1 and become mandatory by Jan. 1, 2020. Female officers and chief petty officers and officers also saw updates to the Navy's service dress white uniforms that now have the same high collar common to men's the male uniforms, but they lack chest pockets and have smaller buttons that are smaller yet proportional.