It's happening

General discussion of skirt and kilt-based fashion for men, and stuff that goes with skirts and kilts.
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pelmut
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It's happening

Post by pelmut »

At Chippenham Folk Festival this weekend nearly every dance I attended had at least one man wearing either a kilt or a skirt; in some dances there were four or five of them. Some of them were youngsters and they really looked good in long elegant skirts. Charlie was there in his fabulous long purple skirt and he never seemed to be short of a partner to dance with.

I wore a variety of styles from shortish denim through ankle-length black cotton to an amazing long floaty diamond-patterned flared skirt that I spotted in a charity shop on the final afternoon. At no time did I see any strange looks or hear any unpleasant remarks, either in the dances or out in the streets - but I did get quite a few compliments. I also had many friendly conversations, with everyone treating my skirt-wearing as a perfectly normal thing to do - a big change from a few years ago when I first started wearing a skirt in public.

The change in attitude is beginning to happen - at least, in my part of the World.
There is no such thing as a normal person, only someone you don't know very well yet.
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Caultron
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Re: It's happening

Post by Caultron »

Was this contra or highland dancing, or just folk dancing in general?
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

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pelmut
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Re: It's happening

Post by pelmut »

Caultron wrote:Was this contra or highland dancing, or just folk dancing in general?
Quite a mixture spread over four days. I attended: Contra, English social, English ceilidh, Irish set, Irish ceilidh, Waltz workshop and American squares; but there were lots of other types too. I didn't include morris dancers in my 'survey' because their costumes are so bizarre that it is impossible to classify them.
There is no such thing as a normal person, only someone you don't know very well yet.
johnb
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Re: It's happening

Post by johnb »

pelmut wrote:At Chippenham Folk Festival this weekend nearly every dance I attended had at least one man wearing either a kilt or a skirt; in some dances there were four or five of them. Some of them were youngsters and they really looked good in long elegant skirts. Charlie was there in his fabulous long purple skirt and he never seemed to be short of a partner to dance with.

I wore a variety of styles from shortish denim through ankle-length black cotton to an amazing long floaty diamond-patterned flared skirt that I spotted in a charity shop on the final afternoon. At no time did I see any strange looks or hear any unpleasant remarks, either in the dances or out in the streets - but I did get quite a few compliments. I also had many friendly conversations, with everyone treating my skirt-wearing as a perfectly normal thing to do - a big change from a few years ago when I first started wearing a skirt in public.

The change in attitude is beginning to happen - at least, in my part of the World.
That sounds great. Its good to hear that men are getting about in skirts at least at folk festivals, assuming the Chippenham one isn't isn't totally unique in that respect.

John
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Daryl
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Re: It's happening

Post by Daryl »

pelmut wrote: The change in attitude is beginning to happen - at least, in my part of the World.
We're so used to thinking in terms of "it" not happening, perhaps "it" snuck up on us.

Late last year I wore a long flowery circle skirt to work, on the subway and streetcar both ways. People HAD to notice, and no way can I be confused for a woman, yet I got virtually no real "looks" and no comments or tittering except for a dear friend I worked with who is unabashed about sharing her amusement with my gender barrier crashing. I'd have been disappointed if she hadn't done that, because I've inured her to everything else and really hoped I'd at least get a response with this one.

So, more and more I'm forced to conclude that people do notice but don't care enough to make a thing of it (unless they are close to us and suffering the same anxiety we are often trying to overcome).

Now, I would lay money that while we're not treated badly openly, we'd be pretty sure to stay on the dole (or pogey) if we started showing up to job interviews in skirts. Employers may accept us after we're past probation, but would they pick us over an applicant in trousers right from the start?
Daryl...
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Charlie
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Re: It's happening

Post by Charlie »

The one guy I saw in a skirt was a member of band who was contra dancing when he wasn't playing. He must have been late teens or early twenties. As Pelmut said, there were a good number of kilts there, including a ceilidh dancer wearing a Utilikilt.
Several women asked where I got the skirt from; it came from a trader at our local market in Wells, and he happened to be at the street fair at the festival. Hopefully I put some business his way :D
As for acceptance, I wore the skirt to breakfast at the motel, walked up the middle of the high street several times (it was closed to traffic) and all around the festival. There may have been some looks, but no other reactions that I could see or hear :D
Someone did comment that there seems to be a trend starting.
Charlie
If I want to dress like a woman, I'll wear jeans.
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