What makes a skirt manly v feminine

General discussion of skirt and kilt-based fashion for men, and stuff that goes with skirts and kilts.
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sl893
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What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by sl893 »

Hey All

I'm new on here and am interested to know.

What makes a skirt masculine/manly v feminine?

Is it the shape (A-line, flared, layered, mermaid, skater, tutu, etc)
Style (Pleated, frilled, etc)
Colours (Plain, bright, flower patterned, neutral patterned, etc)
Or other (belt-looped, pockets, etc)

Interested to hear all your thoughts


Scott
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Judah14
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by Judah14 »

IMHO things like these are mostly subjective and depend on one's personal tastes.
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Sinned
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by Sinned »

I've often thought about this and have mentally drawn up a list of feminine skirt characteristics, thinking that I was definitely onto something only to find a skirtonian wearing a skirt with exactly those characteristics on my list For example I thought a tiered skirt was feminine only to find one of our members here wearing not just one but many of them and totally blasting me out of the water. I used to think that florals were no-no but lately I have thought back to my teens when I used to wear flowered shirts and ties and my current thinking is that they are NOT out of the question - I just haven't found one that I would be comfortable wearing. Even pink is not forbidden - I have a pink T-shirt that teams up very well with a dark pink monochrome skirt. I even thought that dresses were only for women but there are members who rock dresses. Admittedly I still think that some dresses ARE feminine but only because they are DESIGNED, cut and shaped for the female torso, not because any characteristic on its own is feminine. So what's the answer - I think Judah is right, it's entirely subjective and depends more upon you confidence, taste and the size of your b*lls.
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Caultron
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by Caultron »

sl893 wrote:Hey All

I'm new on here and am interested to know.

What makes a skirt masculine/manly v feminine?

Is it the shape (A-line, flared, layered, mermaid, skater, tutu, etc)
Style (Pleated, frilled, etc)
Colours (Plain, bright, flower patterned, neutral patterned, etc)
Or other (belt-looped, pockets, etc)

Interested to hear all your thoughts


Scott
To me, very light fabrics and floral patterns are more feminine, whereas thicker fabrics, darker colors, and solids are more masculine.

But each person you ask is going to have a different answer. So wear whatever you want, and whatever gives you confidence.

Another viewpoint is that a skirt, like any other garment, is just a piece of cloth and should have no gender association.

And another is that 99.9% of the people you encounter will see any skirt as feminine, but so what? Perhaps you can expand their world view.

Why do you ask?
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

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crfriend
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by crfriend »

Caultron wrote:To me, very light fabrics and floral patterns are more feminine, whereas thicker fabrics, darker colors, and solids are more masculine.
This is an interesting observation, because once one gets over the initial frisson of shoving both legs down one pipe one tends to discover that the world is vastly more than khaki and denim. The tactile sense starts getting engaged and that's when the possibilities really open up. If one has never worn silk, velvet, or satin before, I'd advise giving it a go before you kick off this rock. Life is too short to spend in scratchy (yet not all that "tough") clothing.
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by moonshadow »

sl893 wrote:What makes a skirt masculine/manly v feminine?
That's a loaded question, so I'll give you the bottom line answer straight up:

3,000 years of arbitrary human customs and cultural trends.

Why are bad ass cars always called by female pronouns? "My God look at that Corvette... she's a beaut..."

Why do most people refer to dogs by male pronouns by default? "Here boy! Come on boy... catch the ball... goood boy!"

Some people look at the moon as feminine and the sun as masculine, then again, some people believe there are such things as Lunar Gods...

Clothes are just clothes... we assign gender to them.
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by moonshadow »

crfriend wrote:
Caultron wrote:To me, very light fabrics and floral patterns are more feminine, whereas thicker fabrics, darker colors, and solids are more masculine.
This is an interesting observation, because once one gets over the initial frisson of shoving both legs down one pipe one tends to discover that the world is vastly more than khaki and denim. The tactile sense starts getting engaged and that's when the possibilities really open up. If one has never worn silk, velvet, or satin before, I'd advise giving it a go before you kick off this rock. Life is too short to spend in scratchy (yet not all that "tough") clothing.
It's almost as though men aren't supposed to enjoy the finer things in life like being pampered or soft fabrics. We're conditioned to cherish rough callused hands, busted knuckles, and scars.
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by moonshadow »

Sinned wrote:Admittedly I still think that some dresses ARE feminine but only because they are DESIGNED, cut and shaped for the female torso, not because any characteristic on its own is feminine.
But you see, that's the key word there, "designed" those clothes may or may not be "feminine" but they are cut for the female body frame. It's no different than a shirt being cut for a human male with broad shoulders, or trousers with a little more room in the crotch area. They are not designed "masculine" or "feminine" per se, but rather designed for certain body shapes, in this case, that happen to be either of a style common to males or females. Of course, there's nothing stopping a woman from wearing men's baggy trousers or broad cut shirts, not a man from wearing a big busted blouse or dress... they''ll just be a lot of extra fabric flopping around.

Sorry for the three consecutive post. For some reason I didn't feel like editing today... :wink:
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The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by Yuki »

I think it's personal preference mostly. For instance, I only like the more loose skirts like skater skirts or pleated. I'm not a fan of tight skirts, stiff fabric, or jean skirts. to me it's not about what's masculine it's about if you like wearing it or not.

But then some arguments about colours of designs I can understand. I personally wouldn't wear a pink skirts but if someone else did I wouldn't call them girly for it I would just accept that that's what they like. Or if something is floral print, then no one should wear it. At all. Kidding of course, I wouldn't wear floral because I don't like it, or paisley... but if someone else thinks that's what they want to wear then it's okay.

It's not about manly or feminine, it's personal preference in my opinion.
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by Kilted_John »

With respect to "manly vs feminine" when it comes to the cut of the garment, there are guys with feminine bodies. I'm one of them. I suspect that, even once I get to whatever target weight I have planned, I'm still going to have a bit of a rear end, moreso than most guys. So, I may wind up having a bit of an hourglass shape to my body.

There are also women who you'd have to look twice to see if they were female or not. Body shape is masculine, yet, they are female. So, whereas a female friend of mine wears men's shirts and jeans, etc, and has the stuff fit her body perfectly, I tend to have better fit wearing stuff that comes from her side of the store. She's one who you don't have to look twice to tell that she's a woman (upper torso area, facial structure, legs and feet, etc), but, her hip-to-waist ratio is almost 1:1. Whereas mine is probably closer to 1.25:1 or so. Even with the gut.

When it comes to colors and patterns, etc, I have no qualms wearing something floral print and brightly colored (case in point, my current avatar image). Most people who I've talked with either in person or online have thought stuff like that looks good on me.

So, I just consider skirts, dresses, kilts, tops, shirts, the dreaded trousers, etc, to be pieces of cloth to cover people's bodies when desired.

-J
Skirted since 2/2002, kilted 8/2002-8/2011, and dressed since 9/2013...
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by denimini »

It is a fair question. I agree with many here that logically clothing styles are genderless. Assuming you, like myself, live in a society with cultural and fashion conventions and wish to navigate that while exercising some individuality or freedom; then I offer the following:

Masculine skirts -
Belt loops (a nice sense of security)
Large pockets (great)
Dull colours and unpatterned except for tartan or camo. (Duh)
Long pleats are OK
frayed hem is OK
Heavy fabric
Not too much flare
Front fly zipper (what for?)
Length just above knee to just below knee
Kilt or kilt style

Feminine:
Bright and cheerful
Light and floaty material (yay what fun)
Small or fake pockets (damn)
No belt loops (assuming a small waist and large hips)
Frills, ruffles and kick pleats
Flared hem
Side or rear fastening
Length just below crotch to just above floor

For bravery you get 20% for wearing a skirt in the first place and an extra 10% for each of the items in the second list
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by oldsalt1 »

A lot of my skirts have front fly zippers. They are much easier to work when you are putting the skirts on. But other than that I don't understand why you would need a fly in the first place..
I do have to say one thing when you have to use the facilities, for whatever, just pulling up is a lot easier and cleaner than pulling pants down.
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by crfriend »

oldsalt1 wrote:A lot of my skirts have front fly zippers. They are much easier to work when you are putting the skirts on. But other than that I don't understand why you would need a fly in the first place..
One gets used to either side or rear zips pretty quickly, and if worst comes to worst and you don't have the flexibility or dexterity to work the zip in situ one can always do the zip in front and then rotate the skirt to position the thing where it expects to be. Try that with trousers. Once in the skirt, it's always a matter of a lift -- and most of mine are long and loose enough so I'm not showing anything off from astern when standing.
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by r.m.anderson »

crfriend wrote:
oldsalt1 wrote:A lot of my skirts have front fly zippers. They are much easier to work when you are putting the skirts on. But other than that I don't understand why you would need a fly in the first place..
One gets used to either side or rear zips pretty quickly, and if worst comes to worst and you don't have the flexibility or dexterity to work the zip in situ one can always do the zip in front and then rotate the skirt to position the thing where it expects to be. Try that with trousers. Once in the skirt, it's always a matter of a lift -- and most of mine are long and loose enough so I'm not showing anything off from astern when standing.
Zippers or other ways of closing the skirt around the waist are necessary unless one is subscribing to London britches/skirts falling down.
Something fitting at the waist needs to pass over the hips to fit at the waist otherwise like the above London factor.
So with the zipper at its bottom position the opening expands over the hips and then zipping up reduces to secure a fit at the waist.
It is all subtle as the angle of the zipper placket looks straight but gradually reduces to close the fabric on an angle.
An elastic waist does this without the need of fastenings like zippers.
Zipping at the side and rear (center seam) makes for a smoother (sometimes hidden) closing at the waist - more feminine shapely.
With the zipper at the front it can be in the form of the FLY a more masculine rugged effect; exposed for fashion show and tell and like the above
also can be in the form of hidden. The FLY form hides the male plumbing more effectively than the latter two and leaves what the tailors describe
as EASE (leaving room for the obvious) !
The color of the materials used in skirt or pants can be more or less revealing as well as the thinness or thickness of the weave.

As for the matter of the LIFT I have not read or heard of that term - but it would be the opposite of RISE used in bifurcated stovepipe wear.
LIFT opening at the bottom - RISE opening at the top.
RISE is the distance from the crotch bottom of bifurcated garment to the top front waist of that garment. Not enough RISE and something is going to be
popping out at the top or pinched in the waist. Rise is more of a factor in LOW-RISE wear by females having nothing to pinch or displace - zippers in this
area are 3-7 inches almost non existent.
Getting back to the LIFT - if there is not enough material in hem length then the situation would be just like wearing mini-skirts or ultra mini-skirts with less
than 12 inch hem lines - the skirt if worn at the navel needs a definite supporting clause of underwear to avoid over exposure and that too can cause ex"CITING" attention.
When mini-skirts are worn at low waist the underlining features can be still be seen from a waist level view (If one stoops that low to find out) !
Thus a significant amount of hem length (LIFT) is necessary to keep the exposure factor to a minimum or none at all.
When bending over or reaching above also sitting this factor changes and MUST have some allowance.

CR would not have a problem with this since his skirts (noticed I used HIS skirts) don't have this effect.
Unless one has his view in the gutter with a selfie stick camera or mirror attachment ! Shame !

When wearing SHORT the all important squat is important instead of bending over and as far as reaching "Man must know his limits" ! Really !
Sitting is another learned experience angling the body to reduce the view or crossing the legs or as the nuns refer to it as closing the gates to hell !

So Welcome sl893 come back any time with more interesting introductory questions !
"What makes skirts Masculine or Feminine ?"
"YES SKIRTING MATTERS"!
"Kilt-On" -or- as the case may be "Skirt-On" !
WHY ?
Isn't wearing a kilt enough?
Well a skirt will do in a pinch!
Make mine short and don't you dare think of pinching there !
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Re: What makes a skirt manly v feminine

Post by Happy-N-Skirts »

When I shop for skirts with an associate is helping me, I tell them I am looking for a "masculine" skirt, meaning it blends in as resembling shorts. I bought a skirt recently I would describe as olive drab or army green. It has an elastic waist and sufficient front pockets. I like to put my keys in a pocket when I am out and about. I don't get noticed and feel like I am getting away with something. I like hiking and walking on trails and photography. I am either in the desert or the mountains. All of my skirts are above the knees, which is also the way I like shorts. Sometimes I buy longer skirts and have them shortened. The most recent skirt was the right length, but was a skort, which defeats the purpose, so I removed the inner shorts. I like the freedom, comfort, and ventilation of a skirt.

This is the time of the year that I find more skirts in stores, so this is when I do the most shopping for them.

That is my definition of "masculine skirt."
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