Out and About -- In the World at Large

[Sinned]

Daryl, I bought some women's vests from Matalan and went further in buying some tops with very thin shoulder straps, what I call strappy tops for lack of anything else. I wore a couple on holiday and there were no comments even from MOH. Vests and strappies are comfortable although until you get the straps adjusted right the slipping down off the shoulders can be a bit iterating.

[Daryl]

Daryl, I bought some women's vests from Matalan and went further in buying some tops with very thin shoulder straps, what I call strappy tops for lack of anything else. I wore a couple on holiday and there were no comments even from MOH. Vests and strappies are comfortable although until you get the straps adjusted right the slipping down off the shoulders can be a bit iterating.

Heh, some kind of synchronicity must be happening. In addition to the cotton "wifebeater" tank tops, they had a lot of strappy tops of the same kind of material and I tried one and liked it so much I now have six, five different colours in all. Yeah, the strap falling off shoulder thing can be a bit "iterating" (heh), but only a bit. Otherwise, it's a new world of comfort. I guess they could be called "knit camisoles"? They had a whole island of things on sale for 5 bucks so now I have a lifetime supply of wifebeaters and knit camis, I am sure.

When I returned to the store to raid that $5 island, I wore my purple A-line skirt, a purple women's shirt (aka blouse) my wife gave me (and which I love because it has two pockets) and a lilac "knit cami" under the shirt. This allowed me to leave the shirt wide open so the knit cami showed, but button up if I got too cool. With the shirt over it the shoulder straps didn't show so the whole look was about as non-girly as an all-women's-clothes outfit could appear. The sales woman dealing with me commented on how comfy she found the same things I was buying, and under what circumstances. She was wearing a lot of purple too that day (including painted nails). I feel almost like any other customer shopping there now (though I do notice other customers and/or their husbands-in-tow catching extra glances).

Having bare collarbones and upper chest made me rethink jewellery a bit, I must say, just because that new space seems to present an opportunity for it, but a little experimentation quickly showed that leaving that extra skin unadorned is quite okay, in fact better, so that potential inconvenience is no longer a factor.

Now I just kind of wonder where the adventure will end.

[Sinned]

Daryl, I pay between 2 and 3 pounds for my tops. Since I have some I wait for a sale before buying any more. I feel that with them there's a lot of flexibility with sizing as well and can wear anything from a 12 to an 18. My chest size is 42 inches of course. Yeah I often wear a top under a shirt or T-shirt and especially under my work top. The gals have the right idea about using layering.

[Daryl]

Daryl, I pay between 2 and 3 pounds for my tops. Since I have some I wait for a sale before buying any more. I feel that with them there's a lot of flexibility with sizing as well and can wear anything from a 12 to an 18. My chest size is 42 inches of course. Yeah I often wear a top under a shirt or T-shirt and especially under my work top. The gals have the right idea about using layering.

My chest size is 51 inches (yay for inches!). That puts me in a whole different store.

Totally right about layering. Now what else have they kept secret from us?

[Sinned]

Just follow my favourite hobby and observe them. Of course as far as MOH is concerned I am looking for the fashion pearls among the clothing dross that women seem to be following now.

[Daryl]

Just follow my favourite hobby and observe them. Of course as far as MOH is concerned I am looking for the fashion pearls among the clothing dross that women seem to be following now.

More and more while I am ogling women on TV these days I am also assessing their outfits and commenting on them with MOH like a peer not an outsider looking in. "I like that dress" now often also means "even though I could never wear it" or "and I'd like to have one like it." A little weird feeling the old brain train roll over new tracks like that, but fun.

[6ft3Aussie]

Good morning all, well I had an interesting weekend just gone.
Went camping with friends, and I wore my utility kilt some of the time, and on Friday morning myself and my wife went to our friends place first in the morning, where we gave them a hand to pack up. My friend's wife saw me and said "I like your skirt" and my friend looked at me and said "I like that" followed by "Gee, I like those pockets, where did you get that, and I might get one" after a short discussion about the merits/comfort/coolness etc of the utility kilt.

Apparently his wife and my wife (both from the same city in the Philippines, although completely unrelated) were talking about it, and so I'm told, he likes it and might get one.

His older daughter (about 15) asked me why I was wearing a skirt? I simply said that it was very cool and comfortable and you had good freedom of movement. She went "yep".. his younger daughter (10 years) looked at me once and never said anything, and just accepted me as me, and no different.

Maybe I have another utility kilt convert......he was looking at them on Ebay when they were on the way to the beach where we were camping.

Time will tell.

[jmiller842]

Daryl, shopping for skirts etc. while wearing a skirt is a fun! You get all kinds of attention, wonderful service, and a wonderful confidence boost. It really is a blast!

Jeff

[Daryl]

Daryl, shopping for skirts etc. while wearing a skirt is a fun! You get all kinds of attention, wonderful service, and a wonderful confidence boost. It really is a blast!
Jeff

Yeah, just realising that took some nerve though!

On the one hand I felt like I might be perceived as invading a female space...the "creep factor" you might say. So far I've only been welcomed.

On the other hand I did not want to be seen in a trans light. Fortunately I still got called "sir", so I know I probably won't have to make anyone feel bad by correcting them.

Sadly, most things in my size are way more femme (in either shape or style) than I can stomach, so it's not going to be a frequent kind of shopping trip for me, but whenever my wife goes I will probably be there too, inspecting the sale racks, and always in a skirt.

[moonshadow]

Tonight I went grocery shopping at my usual place in Abingdon (Food Lion). I wore my knee length grey skirt over black leggings and black ankle socks. My top was a grey little number with floral like imprints on it, a grey hoody (dirty on the edges) was also worn. In addition I was sporting 3 day stubble on my face, and frazzled hair after working all day.

Trans? I thinketh not... American grunge? Perhaps... But there really wasn't enough black to go there.

Strange looks? I really wasn't paying attention.

[r.m.anderson]

One of dem people of Food Lion who have not graduated to status at Wal*Mart ?
LOL & then maybe that is too much comic relief !

I don't get fashionably dressed to go grocery shopping but then when in the produce
section I don't linger around giving the impression I am anointing the fruits and the
veggies with the black plague.

I generally am in and out in 20 minutes with my two bags ($40) of groceries just
long enough to idle the broomstick at the curb.

Now I suppose you want to know how I navigate the stick shift with two bags of groceries ! LOL !

[Fred in Skirts]

Today I had to pay the tax man so off to the government building I went. I was wearing a black knee length skirt, a ladies button down blouse, and black knee high nylon stockings. I of course ran into many people, some young and some older. The only looks I got were smiles and nods of approval. Not one bad remark nor sneer. I wonder if the people of my town are really more accepting than in other places or do I have the luck to only meet the good ones?

It felt really good to be me today.
Fred

[greenboots]

Having taken an earlier flight than usual Wednesday for a series of meetings Thursday, I had an evening free. I donned a navy suede mini skirt and tights with my normal black shoes and a grey/green jumper (I don’t have a good match for navy blue) and took a walk in South London, ending up at the East Dulwich Picturehouse. I sat in the café for almost an hour, eating and composing a blog post, before entering Screen 3 to watch Kenneth Branagh in Murder on the Orient Express. Then a half hour walk back to my accommodation. No comments at all, and it felt very liberating.

I considered changing for my flight back, but in the end the timeline was so tight I stayed in trousers, and gazed in envy at the number of ladies in skirts and tights

[Caultron]

Fred in Skirts and greenboots, congratulations to you both for a successful outing!

And as to whether the lack of negative reaction you received is typical, in my experience yes, it resoundingly is. Just wear a nice outfit, project a confident, friendly, matter-of-fact attitude, and everything will go fine.

[skirtyscot]

Out on Thursday at my choir practice, skirted as ever. We were not in our usual rehearsal venue, so the après-skising was in a different bar from the usual (where my skirts barely raise an eyebrow). My above-the-knee skirt, plum tights and black ankle boots did appear to catch the attention of a few folk as I made my way to the toilet.

So far, so normal. But it was only when I left to walk a few blocks to my car that I realised that the street was busy with drunken young people queuing up to get into clubs, or generally milling about. By this time I had my long dark coat on, and I was glad of it because I was feeling just a tad nervous. It was too mild to do my coat up, so my outfit was clearly visible to anyone in front of me. Logically, I know that I am much more likely to get a thumbs-up or a comment behind my back than anything unpleasant, but I had a certain frisson anyway. After all, this is Glasgow I'm talking about!