Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

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JamesKelsey
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Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by JamesKelsey »

I'm so new to skirts I've yet to own one, but I Found Skirtcafe in my search for the perfect frock!

I'm a 50 year old, open-minded, straight, non-crossdressing artist who's wanted to wear skirts as social commentary and a way to create a personal (unique) identity. What a sentence! Hm...

I'm looking for a style that suits ME, but don't yet have a clue what that even means. . . So the search continues! I love reading all of your posts & commentaries here.

James
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Caultron
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by Caultron »

Welcome to the board, James.

As to a style of skirt, tartan kilts, utility kilts, and denim skirts are probably the most common at first, just because they seem the least radical. The kilts are more readily accepted as a man's garment. and the denim skirts look so much like denim shorts that they don't attract much attention.

You can also try searching for "man skirt" on Google images, flickr, Pinterest or similar sites. Here are a few URLs:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/2192039@N22/
https://www.pinterest.com/jimbuyens/men-in-dresses/
https://www.pinterest.com/jimbuyens/men ... ts-modern/
https://www.pinterest.com/jimbuyens/men ... ts-tartan/
https://www.pinterest.com/jimbuyens/men ... -designer/
https://www.pinterest.com/jimbuyens/men ... -everyday/

Beyond that, the best advice I can give is to watch for (or imagine) a woman wearing a skirt that presents the image you want, and then try one of those.
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

caultron
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JamesKelsey
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by JamesKelsey »

Thanks Cauldron,

Actually, I'm in for a penny, in for a pound and am skipping kilts entirely. I'm looking for a "manly" mid-calf skirt. I've found a few contenders online, but am worried about proper fit.

Yours,
James
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Caultron
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by Caultron »

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

caultron
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Jim
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by Jim »

Greetings!

A skirt will fit the identity you have already chosen to assume better if it is similar to what you already wear. Maybe similar color or patterns, similar fabric, or the same amount of skin showing. If you are trying to do a personal identity makeover, whatever looks good to you.
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Caultron
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by Caultron »

JamesKelsey wrote:...Actually, I'm in for a penny, in for a pound and am skipping kilts entirely. I'm looking for a "manly" mid-calf skirt. I've found a few contenders online, but am worried about proper fit.
For starters, take your pants waist size, divide by two, and then subtract two. In my case, that's (36 / 2) - 2 = size 16.

Then, buy from sites that have free returns, including shipping.

Or just buy a few skirts from your local thrift store. They only cost about $5 and even if you never wear them out of the house, you can use them to try sizes, to practice moving around, and to get used to your new look.
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

caultron
skirted_in_SF
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by skirted_in_SF »

Caultron wrote:For starters, take your pants waist size, divide by two, and then subtract two. In my case, that's (36 / 2) - 2 = size 16.
That's going to be highly dependent on the site. I have about a 33" waist, using Caultron's formula I would be about a size 14. But at my favorite skirt supplier, Lands' End, I wear a 6. I just got a non-elastic waist skirt from them in that size and it fits well (a tiny bit on the snug side).
Caultron wrote:Then, buy from sites that have free returns, including shipping.
Also many sites have sizing tables for their products and/or chat functions. I use the chat function at LE often to check on actual dimensions. Don't forget customer reviews that many sites publish. Sometimes they will give you a hint if an item runs large or small.
Stuart Gallion
No reason to hide my full name 8)
Back in my skirts in San Francisco
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moonshadow
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by moonshadow »

Welcome to the site!

One thing about skirts is, there is something for everyone. Just have a look around!

Be sure to shout out to Dave (PDXFashionPioneer), he's another Portlander....
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
partlyscot
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by partlyscot »

Another vote for hitting the local thrift stores. If you have the nerve, just look through what's on offer, pick out a few that look interesting and of a likely size, then go try them on. If you don't want to actually use the changing rooms, then figure out the measurement of your anatomy where you want them to hang, how far it is down to where you want the hem to be, and take a tape measure with you when browsing the racks.

The great thing about this method is you can try a whole bunch of different styles and materials, and find out the pros and cons of them. Example, I do like the feel of a heavy knitted fabric skirt around my ankles, but if it's too fine and clingy, it's a bit too revealing. Also, they aren't very suitable for my walking pace and lifestyle.

Welcome to the site and have fun with you new explorations!
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JamesKelsey
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by JamesKelsey »

Hey,

Thanks for your kind replies everyone. I figured this would be a welcoming site. . . I seem to be more drawn to mid-calf to ankle-length skirts, but I'm looking for heavier materials and not a lot of luck yet. . . my search continues.

Sizing is all over the place (no news to YOU, I'm sure!). I was even shocked with myself... while I wear a 34 / 34 (USA) pant, my actual MEASUREMENT was a 42 waist. . . how depressing! Then as I searched around, I found I'm probably a 20w in woman's size. . . now I just feel FAT! (Maybe this is why women are always dieting? :lol: :D )

Yours,
James (Portland-ish, USA)
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Elisabetta
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by Elisabetta »

Hi James I'm Jenn Moonshadow is my husband. :welcome:
"When life gets blurry adjust your focus."
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Pdxfashionpioneer
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by Pdxfashionpioneer »

Hello James,
Welcome to the SkirtCafe!
I don't know why but your name sounds somewhat familiar. As Moonshadow pointed out -- and I missed, thank you Moon -- I live in Portland so I can tell you from personal experience that Portland is VERY skirt friendly. I've shopped in Penney's at Clackamas Town Center, Here We Go Again on NE Broadway, My Girlfriend's Closet and Rerun on NE Fremont, Goodwill on NE Halsey and their boutique Downtown, TJ Maxx and Ross Downtown and other locales and no problem anywhere about taking skirts, dresses, etc. into the dressing rooms. Where they have Men's & Women's Fitting Rooms I usually get directed to the Men's unless, like in Forever 21 in Lloyd Center it's inconveniently far away and then they'll take me to what we'd usually think of as the Women's (JC Penney's as well). One night at the Ross in Clackamas the Fitting Room Attendant insisted I grab a booth on the Women's side saying, in an endearing French accent, "Go on! Be who you are!" Oh and let's not forget Target! I've gotten some great dresses there for CHEAP. They've always got sales going on and nice variety.
I have gone to all kinds of places in skirts and dresses, usually dresses, starting with church, and no bad responses.
Women's sizes are almost a oxymoron. As Skirted in SF suggested, when it comes to skirts the sizes are almost meaningless. As Caultron suggested the best idea is to measure your waist and when you see a skirt that appeals to you measure it on the hanger and multiply times 2. I've got everything from 8's to 14's (which is my dress size) that fit me. Fortunately, my dress size, 14, is pretty consistent, though the other day I was wearing a 12 that I bought and tried on at Fred's, on clearance, that I got a bunch of compliments on, a clerk at Goodwill told me I "rocked" it!
I am between jobs right now so if you would like to get together, which I think would be fun, just send me a Private Message and we'll exchange real contact info and set up a time and place.
Btw, I'd welcome getting together with any other Café members in or around Portland who is so inclined.
David, the PDX Fashion Pioneer

Social norms aren't changed by Congress or Parliament; they're changed by a sufficient number of people ignoring the existing ones and publicly practicing new ones.
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Kilted_John
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by Kilted_John »

Welcome. About 180 miles north.

-J
Skirted since 2/2002, kilted 8/2002-8/2011, and dressed since 9/2013...
flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/245gt-turbo
Darryl
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by Darryl »

Greetings, James!

Good advice above, I had to be different. :D I was talking with a friend about my "bucket list" and mentioned I wanted to learn the pipes and wear a kilt. Everytime I used the word "kilt" she sorta looked down to the right and muttered "skirt." Thinking about that conversation a couple days later while driving home I said "time to fish or cut bait." My mom had used Lane Bryant, so I went there where I met this friendly saleslady to whom I said I'm looking for skirts appropriate for a man, dress me!

I left with a black Ponte pencil skirt that hung to mid-knee level, an A-line (also in black) that was about the same and a black skater skirt. Picked up a few other items from them as time went by. A midi, a maxi, an exercise skort and a hiking skirt from Catherine's (their low-end store). Got a couple skirts from Dress Barn and yesterday picked up a mini from some fancy store in the Mall. Next weekend I'll go back to a couple local thrift stores and see what they got that strikes my fancy.

I wore my first skirts around the house a couple day, and to take the trash out at night in the dark to feel the breeze. Then I just dressed appropriately for Mall-crawling and changed my pants for an A-line skirt. (Both were in black....I have a thing for Navy and black.) 8)

People saw me, the sky didn't fall, black helicopters never appeared.... ho-hum.... Black and denim appear to be invisible. :mrgreen:

Then I got a few kilts and the ladies started asking questions and sharing that they had Scottish or Irish ancestry or both and so on.

When the weather was running in the mid-90s a few weeks back I was in line at McD's and the lady was loudly lamenting the heat wave to her friends, when she noted me standing there and looked me up and down and said "I KNOW your're cool!" I grinned.

I held the door for a lady vet while we were going to a VA appointment and she asked about my miniskirt, I said it was the coolest thing I could wear in this weather, to which she agreed. She'd just wondered. I'm getting another running skirt for my next 5K and starting to investigate "running dresses." :shock:
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oldsalt1
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Re: Greetings my fellow-skirted men!

Post by oldsalt1 »

If you are looking for running skirts go on Open tip .com you have to search around the sight a bit to find them but I just bought 2 Columbia running skirts. They were 19.99 each. just as a point of reference
I wear size 34 pants and the ladies large was a very good fit almost a tiny bit big
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