Stealth Skirt trick

For those do-it-yourselfers...
weeladdie18
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by weeladdie18 »

Yes some of my skirts do not feel like skirts to me .....Some are hip hugging and tight on the hem at my calves.....some are the box pleated above the knee
and are tame and perhaps a bit short on the top of the knee when I sit down.....some are nearly ankle length and free with a bit of weight in the skirt on the
hips.....others are full summer skirts.....these are calf length and light enough not to be constrictive......When I am wearing this style of skirt sometimes
I do not feel the skirt as the garment keeps my legs warm ,Protects my legs from the sun but does not feel as if I have any material protecting
my legs......As If I am just wearing Athletic Male Swimming Trunks...Which we call Speedos ....This a trade name for close fitting Swimmers

Hope you understand what I am saying...A sense of not being able to feel that I am wearing a skirt...as the skirt is light and full
as the waist is elasticated...weeladdie
weeladdie18
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by weeladdie18 »

If I say my Traditional Scottish Kilt is 20 Inches from 2 inches above my true waist to the top of my Knee cap......I have a female wrap over pleated
sports skirt which is four inches above my Knee so waist to hem is probably 14 inches......clip fastening on the outside of apron ....
Velcro on the Inside .....one in green material .......a second one in black.......I am going to try these for beach wear this summer ...perhaps
a bit more modest than just wearing Speedos ........ One day last year we had a sea temp of 19 C and the pebble beach was almost too hot
to walk on with bare feet......roll on summer............
weeladdie18
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by weeladdie18 »

I will admit that I have been wearing my below the knee elasticated summer skirts for most of the winter ...these will still be my go to town
summer skirts....the 14 inch wrap over sports skirt is a summer idea for covering up my Speedos.....The 14 inch is probably as short as I will go....
I feel I can wear this length of sports skirt without flashing.....As I will be wearing the garment to cover my swimmers ...who cares....?

If we look at the school girl pleated skirt four inches above the Knee ... this is a pretty modest garment .....I find that my top of the Knee cap
pleated skirts are more refined for my advancing years.....with the pleats sewn into the garment from my hips... eight inches below my waist ..upwards
to my waist.... this keeps all the excess cloth under control....It is unlikely that the whole garment will end up around my ears.....

One of my over garments is my normal male length tweed sports jacket..........worn over a sweater.....This helps to keep down the rear pleats....
This jacket has three pockets on the outside and five pockets on the inside...solves all the junk carrying problems

Going back to the O.P. .....I do not attempt o hide the fact that I am wearing a skirt but I hope my ramblings will explain how I have changed the
use of different styles and lengths of skirts fo different uses.....Skirts are very cheap in the charity shops at the moment...Many are unworn ex trade stock.....
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denimini
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by denimini »

Thanks for such a comprehensive explanation.
weeladdie18 wrote: Hope you understand what I am saying...A sense of not being able to feel that I am wearing a skirt...as the skirt is light and full
as the waist is elasticated...weeladdie
Yes, one of the great joys of skirts is that you feel like you are not wearing anything .......... and still maintaining modesty.
I walked down to the post office today and there was a strong cool breeze - I kept feeling whether my skirt was still in place as it felt like I was walking down the main street in my underwear - it felt great, once I assured myself that I was respectable.
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
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Daryl
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by Daryl »

Happy-N-Skirts wrote:I have been wearing skirts since recovering from an operation several years ago. I liked them so much I continue to wear them, especially when hiking or driving. I wear them around the house and frequently wear them in public such as shopping centers, restaurants, gas stations, stores. My skirts are as closely resembling shorts as possible and are khaki, denim, camouflage, gray, olive drab. My wife suggested that she iron a crease in front and behind and sew a seam. That way they will look more like wearing shorts. Very few people have noticed what I am wearing and they have all been female. I have only received compliments from them. The added crease / seam makes my skirts look a lot like pants and helps self confidence.
I pretty much agree with the responses opposed to trying to "hide" the skirt but I must say I am pretty sure that I have noticed that people make a mental assumption that I am wearing shorts with some of my skirts, and I think that might have spared me a few second glances. The main useful thing I can imagine about "stealth skirting" is the same as any other thing that doesn't challenge all the norms at once. For example, a denim skirt that still has a fly in the front (as opposed to a zipper on the side or at the back) is a little less cognitively jarring, and for this reason some men prefer their jean skirts to look that way.

Under cover of not challenging all norms at once, social acceptance might progress a little more quickly, but at this point I think that idea is getting pretty moot pretty quickly. People just aren't reacting as much anymore.
Daryl...
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Sinned
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by Sinned »

I went to the Diabetic Clinic and was wearing a skirt. No reactions at all from either the public or the staff at the hospital. Conversation with the Specialist, who happened to be the lady that is taking over the Clinic on the retirement of the current Head, were perfectly normal. People. Generally. Just. Don't. React. In fact I would think that 90%+ of the people I passed just didn't even look or notice that I was wearing a skirt.
I believe in offering every assistance short of actual help but then mainly just want to be left to be myself in all my difference and uniqueness.
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by Fred in Skirts »

I have found that people do not care one bit about what you are wearing. I don't care what others are wearing, so why should they care about me and what I am wearing.

Most of the time when people react to you is because you might not be comfortable with what you are wearing and show it. I know that is what happened to me when I wore my first dress out in public, after wearing skirts for several years with no problems.
"It is better to be hated for what you are than be loved for what you are not" Andre Gide: 1869 - 1951
Always be yourself because the people that matter don’t mind and the ones that mind don’t matter.
Darryl
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by Darryl »

Yesterday I wore a dress to work...black cable-knit sweater dress, long-sleeved and falling to just above the knees. Nothing worthy of comment occurred.

Wore it again today to a different client, went out to a local health food store to pick up a couple things, then it was a toss-up about going to Five Guys about 4 blocks down the road for a burger and fries or to the Taco Bell just the other side of the parking lot. Heretofore another uneventful day.

In Taco Bell, while waiting at the counter to put my order in an older guy was giving me the eye and then he asked what that was. I guess I looked confused because he then raised his cane a bit and pointed ... to my shoulder bag, to which I clip my cell phone holster in lieu of a belt. Told him it was a Tummi small messenger bag I've had for five years, Kevlar exterior if I remember correctly. He went on his way happy and I said 'kewl.'
:shock:
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Daryl
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by Daryl »

Fred in Skirts wrote:I have found that people do not care one bit about what you are wearing. I don't care what others are wearing, so why should they care about me and what I am wearing.

Most of the time when people react to you is because you might not be comfortable with what you are wearing and show it. I know that is what happened to me when I wore my first dress out in public, after wearing skirts for several years with no problems.
Yes, folks react to your discomfort more than have any discomfort of their own. That doesn't mean that people don't make assumptions though, and allow those assumptions to colour their subtle responses to you, but it does mean that the general public is not the minefield of bad reactions we sometimes expect it to be.
Daryl...
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Sinned
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by Sinned »

MOH is at work tomorrow and I am back to the Audiology Clinic tomorrow and yes, I will be wearing a skirt. I was going to go on my bike but it's dues to be a wet day so probably not. I shall drive there.
I believe in offering every assistance short of actual help but then mainly just want to be left to be myself in all my difference and uniqueness.
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denimini
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by denimini »

Fred in Skirts wrote:I have found that people do not care one bit about what you are wearing. I don't care what others are wearing, so why should they care about me and what I am wearing.

Most of the time when people react to you is because you might not be comfortable with what you are wearing and show it. I know that is what happened to me when I wore my first dress out in public, after wearing skirts for several years with no problems.
Many true words said there.
Sometimes people will have a second look, which is OK because it is different, as I have a second look at someone dressed in a unique way.

If a skirt that can be mistaked for shorts will help someone be mentally comfortable on their first outing, rather than looking furtive, then that is good.
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
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denimini
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by denimini »

I have long lost interest in skirts that look like shorts but for those still interested, here is another contender.
Image
Image
https://picclick.com.au/Women%E2%80%99s ... 40751.html
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
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Pdxfashionpioneer
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by Pdxfashionpioneer »

Generally, I feel that each of us should find our own style and dress and act according to our comfort level.

But when it comes to sewing two fake pleats into the front of a skirt with the intention of getting people to mistake it for shorts, I have to agree whole-heartedly with Sinned's and Old Salt's initial reactions, "Don't do that to yourself!"

Either wear your skirts in public with pride or don't do it!

Before anyone thinks, "Easy for you to say with your long hair," I suggest you look at the earliest pictures I posted on this site. I was as bald as my father when I first started wearing dresses in public. And from day one, just as Fred says, no one really gave a damn! Nearly all of the people who did were very supportive; especially when I had just encountered my once-a-year negative reaction.

As FDR said, about much more consequential matters, "The only thing you have to fear is fear itself. Debilitating, irrational fear."
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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denimini
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Re: Stealth Skirt trick

Post by denimini »

I don't think they were made to look like shorts as they were made for women's wear and generally shorts are made to look like skirts in that market.
I am not sure of the origins or rationale of the single pleat, perhaps to give a bit of drape where it is needed when sitting.
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
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