Genuine reactions....

General discussion of skirt and kilt-based fashion for men, and stuff that goes with skirts and kilts.
rivegauche
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by rivegauche »

Ha! Just had my first negative reaction though it was pretty subdued. I was shopping in the little town of Auchterarder in Scotland on Monday wearing a long full navy cotton skirt, male white shirt untucked, with my hair covered by a navy print polyester square scarf tied at the back of the neck, pirate style. My legs were bare and I had black ballet pumps. Having done some successful shopping I was heading for a shop that previously refused to let me try on a skirt, I noticed the owner (?) Taking her street notices in. Then she noticed me, looked me up and down, then looked away shaking her head. When I asked if she was closed, she said she was but her eyes said that she meant she was certainly closed to the likes of me. I know we should deny such creatures our custom but it often has accessories that are hard to find. To anyone who has still to venture forth this is very VERY rare. The shop was called Labels for Less other shops in Auchterarder are lovely.
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by pelmut »

I've just spent the day setting up the site public address system for a festival. Wearing a knee-length denim skirt I've been doing heavy work, climbing ladders, erecting poles, perching on high ledges to set up equipment and even walking up the roof of a marquee to pull cables across.

Reactions to the skirt from those below? Nil.
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crfriend
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by crfriend »

rivegauche wrote:Having done some successful shopping I was heading for a shop that previously refused to let me try on a skirt, I noticed the owner (?) Taking her street notices in. Then she noticed me, looked me up and down, then looked away shaking her head. When I asked if she was closed, she said she was but her eyes said that she meant she was certainly closed to the likes of me.
Then the sad creature loses many possible sales. That's her loss, not yours, so don't take it on board.
I know we should deny such creatures our custom but it often has accessories that are hard to find.
In which case, turn the tables and show up in a smart 3-piece business suit and see what happens. If she fawns over you, you have a choice: You can pay her the money for the pieces you picked out (ostensibly for your wife) or you can tell her that you're the chap that she turned away in a fit of pique in the past and leave the purchases on the counter.
To anyone who has still to venture forth this is very VERY rare. The shop was called Labels for Less other shops in Auchterarder are lovely.
I can vouch for the fact that I have never -- even so much as once -- been treated so, and I've been at this for more than a decade.
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Sinned
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by Sinned »

Remember the scene in Erin Brockovich when having been refused in an upmarket dress shop because her attire was, ahem, less than elegant only to return rather chic to say, "I was in here yesterday, you wouldn't wait on me. You people work on commission, right? Big mistake. Big. Huge. I have to go shopping now." I'm sure you can adapt this to your next encounter or even quote it.
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neiljerram
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by neiljerram »

I had a very brief reaction today! Whitecross Street, in central London, a wonderful place for lunch from loads of diverse food trucks. A guy said something, in my general direction, about "the nut house is over there" :)

But really, (a) it's incredibly rare to get a negative reaction like that, and (b) in my view, if you think about us as a movement, you kind of _want_ to get a reaction sometimes, otherwise how can we say that we're spreading or deepening the acceptance of men in skirts? I mean, if there's a person who is inclined not to accept us, and we'd like that person to move towards acceptance, along the way they have to at least notice us, and a reaction (of any kind) indicates that that (at least the noticing!) is happening.

Non-reacting is a broad church too. It could be yeah, noticed, and totally cool with it; or it could be noticed, don't like it, but don't want to get involved; or it could be too deep in thought (or phone) to notice; and so on. (And we could also be way too self-important about all this ourselves - people have other things to do than notice our apparel.)

I think I've got a bit lost in my argument there .... :) But the overall points are that mostly you don't get reaction - it's way more about how you feel in your own head, than about what anyone else thinks - and that it's not such a bad thing if you occasionally do.
renesm1
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by renesm1 »

I'll be down the road in Bank with my tactical 511 kilt - I'll report back on reactions!
neiljerram wrote:I had a very brief reaction today! Whitecross Street, in central London, a wonderful place for lunch from loads of diverse food trucks. A guy said something, in my general direction, about "the nut house is over there" :)

But really, (a) it's incredibly rare to get a negative reaction like that, and (b) in my view, if you think about us as a movement, you kind of _want_ to get a reaction sometimes, otherwise how can we say that we're spreading or deepening the acceptance of men in skirts? I mean, if there's a person who is inclined not to accept us, and we'd like that person to move towards acceptance, along the way they have to at least notice us, and a reaction (of any kind) indicates that that (at least the noticing!) is happening.

Non-reacting is a broad church too. It could be yeah, noticed, and totally cool with it; or it could be noticed, don't like it, but don't want to get involved; or it could be too deep in thought (or phone) to notice; and so on. (And we could also be way too self-important about all this ourselves - people have other things to do than notice our apparel.)

I think I've got a bit lost in my argument there .... :) But the overall points are that mostly you don't get reaction - it's way more about how you feel in your own head, than about what anyone else thinks - and that it's not such a bad thing if you occasionally do.
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Disaffected.citizen
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by Disaffected.citizen »

Sinned wrote:Remember the scene in Erin Brockovich when having been refused in an upmarket dress shop because her attire was, ahem, less than elegant only to return rather chic to say, "I was in here yesterday, you wouldn't wait on me. You people work on commission, right? Big mistake. Big. Huge. I have to go shopping now." I'm sure you can adapt this to your next encounter or even quote it.
Sorry, Sinned, I believe the film was "Pretty Woman".
pelmut
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by pelmut »

neiljerram wrote:I had a very brief reaction today! Whitecross Street, in central London, a wonderful place for lunch from loads of diverse food trucks. A guy said something, in my general direction, about "the nut house is over there" :)
A good reply to that would be:"Oh! so you know your way back, then..." ...but of course you can never think of responses like that quickly enough.
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Sinned
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by Sinned »

Yeah, my mistake, sorry about that. They are both good films.
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andrew9602
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by andrew9602 »

Hello,
I hope I can add something useful to this thread.
In my view, if you are sensibly & conservatively dressed nobody will mind.
I was wearing a lady's business suit today in my home town. I got noticed quite a lot, but nobody said anything.
To be honest, they are probably not that interested.
That means it comes down to your confidence. If you can overcome the initial reluctance & get out in public, dressed in something sensible, your confidence will take a massive leap forward. Then you'll wonder why it took you so long.
If you don't believe me, try it. You'll be amazed at how good it makes you feel.
I hope this helps.
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Caultron
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by Caultron »

For a man to appear sensibly & conservatively dressed while wearing a skirt is an interesting challenge, possibly an enigma. But I too hold that as an objective. It seems to require a mixture of fashions for men and for those other skirt-wearers, ahem, women.

It's like, "Good grief, that guy's wearing a skirt. That's weird. But given that, how does he look?"

And you're right, confidence is the key. If you feel well-dressed and you're confident, at ease, and friendly with those around you, they'll react far more positively to that than they they'll react negatively to the skirt.

Where'd you get the lady's business suit? For me, at least, I've never found a jacket that fits.

Not that I ever wear men's business suits. But still...
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

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renesm1
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Re: Genuine reactions....

Post by renesm1 »

Caultron wrote:For a man to appear sensibly & conservatively dressed while wearing a skirt is an interesting challenge, possibly an enigma. But I too hold that as an objective. It seems to require a mixture of fashions for men and for those other skirt-wearers, ahem, women.

It's like, "Good grief, that guy's wearing a skirt. That's weird. But given that, how does he look?"

And you're right, confidence is the key. If you feel well-dressed and you're confident, at ease, and friendly with those around you, they'll react far more positively to that than they they'll react negatively to the skirt.

Where'd you get the lady's business suit? For me, at least, I've never found a jacket that fits.

Not that I ever wear men's business suits. But still...
Which begs the question in my mind - are you the guy on Twitter that I saw wearing a skirt suit? If you are, then you looked pretty good in it! One day I'll pull of the skirt suit (one day....)
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