Do folks notice or not?

[Uncle Al]

Darryl,

I'll bet that outfit was smashingly good looking

Picture please

Uncle Al

[skirted_in_SF]

Detoured through Middletown for a Moby Dick fish sandwich. Parked, walking in the front door to find two ladies standing up to eyeball my approach and the girl behind the counter walking forward with a smile to take my order. Everyone had sat back down by then so when I got my sandwich and Coke I sat and ate, then walked out with a grin.

I've had a similar experience. For the last several years I've worn one of my cotton, bottom of the knee length, skirts when I drive the 700+ miles each way to visit my brother. On my drive home I arrange to be near the small town of Corning in the northern Sacramento valley around the time I would like to eat my evening meal. There is a local hamburger chain in that area that I discovered years ago and I now choose to visit the branch right off of I-5 in Corning for its convenience. It's in a converted gasoline station so I pull up and park, walk in and place my order at the counter and find a seat. They prepare my order and deliver it to me, I eat it and leave. I've never had a single comment, and I'm not sure I've ever seen a second look from staff or other customers.

[Couya]

I am getting the impression that a lot of us are secretly upset that we don't get more comments and attention from the general public.

Martin

[Caultron]

I am getting the impression that a lot of us are secretly upset that we don't get more comments and attention from the general public.

Well, I have to admit, being comfortable wearing a skirt in public does (at least for me) require a certain enjoyment from shocking people. It's much like wearing any other new, unusual, or off-beat fashion in order to assert oneself or gain attention.

But I certainly don't expect to be the center of attention everywhere I go. I just interpret lack of reaction as acceptance and take my enjoyment in that. I've done something I like, and thereby broken the rules, and I've gotten away with it, and now I'm grinning inside because of it. If someone says, "Nice kilt," or, "I like your outfit," that's just icing in the cake.

So don't dread the public reaction, revel in it, even if the reaction is lack of interest or bland passive acceptance. Because in fact those may be what most of us really want.

[Reaper_Man]

Do people notice, i think some do and some don't and many of those that do notice aren't really bothered by seeing a man in a skirt or dress, they see you but don't react in any way and thus you don't actually know that they have seen you.

as for skirts and dresses, my wife and myself have just arrived back home from a weeks holiday in Lanzarote where i wore either skirts or dresses for the whole week except for the flights and journey to/from our hotel

when wearing a skirt there were no comments or other reactions at all but when i wore a dress it was a different scenario ... there were still no comments (except 1 which i will mention later in this post) to me from anyone but i did get a couple of wolf whistles and as we walked past a few bars/restaurants with outside seating areas we did notice that camera phones were suddenly pointed in my direction and on one occasion as we walked along a busy street a woman who was in front of us turned and noticed my dress, stopped, pulled out her phone and blatantly took a picture as i passed she then proceeded to take another one from behind, she didn't even seem to care that i could hear the (shutter) sound her phone made when she took them.

Comments ..... as we walked passed a bar/restaurant with people sat outside we saw a guy nudge his wife useing his foot under the table they were sat at and he said to her "look, a bloke in a dress" we continued walking and didn't hear her reply

On Friday night we were in a bar when a Scottish guy asked why i was wearing a dress ... i explained my reasons (comfort, look nice etc), i also told him that i wore skirts and kilts too but when i mentioned that the 2 kilts i own were black and not tartan he was adamant that they were skirts because (quote) "if it's not tartan then it's not a kilt", he also admitted that when he first saw me in the dress he thought to himself "what the f... is going on here" but said that after chatting about skirt and dress wearing for a while and the 'why are they only for women / women wears mens clothes etc' he did see my point and understood why i wear them but added "i still wouldn't wear them myself"

Finally we were out on an excursion around the island and i was wearing a lightweight white skirt (bought on a previous holiday in Malta) along with a white top that was clearly a 'womans' garment (see pic) that i had bought in Lanzarote 2 days earlier, we were waiting for our bus and i asked the wife to take a photo of me in the skirt/top when a German guy (on the same tour) came over and asked if i'd like him to take a photo of both the wife and myself, the photo was quickly taken and the German guy asked about my clothing, the skirt in particular, again i explained my reasoning he was in agreement that skirts and dresses etc are not just for women, he was very knowledgeable about how the skirt was originally invented for men rather than women, he didn't say whether or not he wore / would wear them himself but it was nice that he had the balls to ask rather than just snearing or sneakily taking photos etc

I think those that do notice a man in skirts / dresses are probably curious as to why but think we might be a bit weird and are therefore afraid to ask

anyway here the outfit i was wearing on the island tour

[Darryl]

Darryl,

I'll bet that outfit was smashingly good looking

Picture please

Uncle Al

Dunno about 'smashing' but I have a fondness for Navy and (basic) black outfits...skirted and otherwise.

Hopefully, this will work: http://www.skirtcafe.org/forums/viewtop ... 39#p142739

[melsav]

I have been wearing my camo kilt for about a month now, have no problem going out in public. Apart from the occasional "are you Scottish" or " i like your skirt" people don't seem to notice or care what you wear. My family support me all the way and have no problem with it. My 10 year old grandson wants me to make him one, but I don't think that he would wear it.

[arteagafalda]

My initial experiences wearing skirts out in public (miniskirts 13 to 15" top to bottom) were that virtually no one noticed. These were solid, dark colors and could have easily been taken for short shorts from afar. Since I don't have eyes in the back of my head, it is impossible to know that there weren't more people who noticed. Perhaps they only stole a look when I wasn't facing in their direction or when I had passed them by. Most people have been trained not to stare (as this can be interpreted as a sign of aggression), so my individual, subjective opinion on this subject is not statistically reliable. When I go out, I don't look at every person in my field of view to see if they have seen me (and me in a skirt) as I am also not trying to be aggressive in that way towards them either.

The reason why I believe a man wearing a skirt or kilt solicits more attention that the individual wearer believes they are soliciting is because once I started wearing my kilts out into public (not my miniskirts) with family and friends, they tell me that they notice a large number of people doing double-takes and staring when I am not facing in their direction - many more than I noticed when wearing skirts. Now it could be that the kilts I am wearing, which are much more bulky and longer (~20") than my miniskirts, are more noticeable and therefore solicit more looks. Without a scientifically controlled experiment, it is impossible for me to say if kilts that I wear are more noticeable and solicit more attention than miniskirts that I wear. However, I think it is safe to say that all of our individual, subjective experiences may not be giving us the whole picture as to our impact on others by being "seen in a skirt".

Food for thought.

Este modelo de falda es bien audaz.
Favor buscar en google:
Un chico luce "una falda fallera futurista"

[photoguy207]

I just spend a few days in Vegas at a conference and at night I went out with a skirt on to the bar or to dinner. I had on either a Old Navy dark grey skirt or a black Mountain Hardware skirt, they are about 19 inches long (I think I posted about them last year when I got them), I did have a black long sleeve shirt tied around my waist which helped hide the fact that I had a skirt on, but the darker colors and shorter length also make them look like shorts. I also played blackjack at a table for a while two of the nights surrounded by lots of people and nobody said a word.

The hardest part of wearing a skirt is sitting on a bar stool! But when I did the arms of the shirt I had around my waist helped keep me covered down there!

There is something about walking around in public with a skirt on and nobody notices. But mostly it is such a free feeling, its amazing!

[Darryl]

Left work in a black v-neck sweater over a maroon long-sleeve polo shirt over a white tshirt with tan graduated-compression support hose with a pair of black dress socks and black fleece-lined leggings, a black control-top half-slip and the black knit pencil skirt I usually wear with my black Brooks cross-trainers, a green plaid Old Navy fleece-lined jacket with hood, and finally a cross-body messenger bag and a computer bag hanging off my left shoulder.

There were crowds of young people, 20- and 30-somethings mostly, many of them carrying instruments. (2015 Kentucky Music Educators Association Professional Development Conference.) The pedway between and around buildings is fairly long and very well-lighted. With nowhere to go but forward I put on a slight grin and watched everyone as they proceeded towards me in larger and smaller groups with no apparent adverse reactions while making occasional eye contact with some of the ladies and nodding. I spotted a lot of trombones, a number of trumpets and quite a few flutes. Maybe a few saxes in the mix.

Exited the pedway at my parking garage and had just hit the elevator call button when a lovely brunette walks up and asks if I'm going up so I turn to look at her so she got a good back- and front view. She asked me if I was attending the KMEA and I said no, I'm an IT guy. We rode up several floors while conversing and wished each other a good night as we went to our vehicles.

As usual, after the fact I though it might have been interesting to mention that I was also a musician. Oh well, she was pretty but could have been my grand-daughter. Too wide a gap, though I know a lovely lady only 10 years my junior with whom I hope to build some kind of relationship.

<cue Star Trek music> AND THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES.....

[Caultron]

...The reason why I believe a man wearing a skirt or kilt solicits more attention that the individual wearer believes they are soliciting is because once I started wearing my kilts out into public (not my miniskirts) with family and friends, they tell me that they notice a large number of people doing double-takes and staring when I am not facing in their direction - many more than I noticed when wearing skirts. Now it could be that the kilts I am wearing, which are much more bulky and longer (~20") than my miniskirts, are more noticeable and therefore solicit more looks. Without a scientifically controlled experiment, it is impossible for me to say if kilts that I wear are more noticeable and solicit more attention than miniskirts that I wear. However, I think it is safe to say that all of our individual, subjective experiences may not be giving us the whole picture as to our impact on others by being "seen in a skirt."

No doubt some of that occurs. Sometimes you can hear a small commotion behind you, sometimes you can see the reflection in a store window, and so forth.

But you are dressed pretty far off the norm. What did you expect?

And the frowners or whatever have recognized your space and given it to you, even if it seems strange to them.

Enjoy.

[Big and Bashful]

I think a "traditional" kilt is quite noticeable, as you walk the deep pleats and heavy wool give it a swirling motion which I have never seen any other skirt manage, also with trad. kilts tending to be tartan they do stand out anyway. I don't know about other kilts such as the Utilikilt, having never really seen one in action. Being wrapped in a chunk of dark cloth or denim is much easier to miss as it blends in with other forms of netherwear (How's that for a word? it just fell out!).

[Caultron]

Utility kits have the same swish but don't stand out as much because of their solid color. They're also far roomier than ordinary skirts, making them easier to sit down in. And except for my wife (who does it to bug me) no one has ever called any of my utility kilts a skirt, and they seem to accept it as menswear.

Interestingly, I suspect if you asked these people to describe how kilts differ from other kinds of skirts, they couldn't do it. They couldn't come up with the pleats and the apron and the wrap-around construction, for example. But they do still recognize the kilt as being distinct.

[Kilted_John]

If I want to be akin to the Christmas dinner centerpiece, I'll throw on a tartan kilt. If I want to blend in, a Utilikilt or a regular skirt (even a brightly colored floral-print skirt works) does the job.

So, that's the difference between a trad. kilt and anything else. Doesn't matter what tartan, or if a sporran is worn or not, you're going to stick out like a VERY sore thumb in a traditional wool tartan kilt.

-J

[Couya]

I certainly stand out in my kilts, but not as a "very sore thumb" !!! (At least, I hope not.)

But I don't think one stands out more in tartan than in any other colorful* skirt. Which is probably why most men go for dull browns, black or denim. We are supposed to disappear, but since we don't really WANT to disappear, we take along a top model in an expensive gown.

Martin
(*apologies to my British friends. Blame the spelling on th automatic corrector on my made-in-China computer.)