That rare male compliment

[Faldaguy]

Other threads (PDX Fashion; Fred in Skirts; Jeff, etc. have reported the rare male compliment, but not seeing a thread dedicated to compliments from men, here it be!

I've had a number of compliments about my skirts, mostly from women but rarely from men who seem to try to 'not notice'. So today I'm headed out to pick up the milk from my neighbor's dairy when I stopped at another neighbor to drop an item off to a youngish (40 yo) single bachelor who usually has 'eye candy' on or in his arms! After greetings his first comment was 'where was I headed, I was looking good, like maybe off to a dinner at the Reserve' while clearly checking out my skirt.

I think I was more surprised because I was wearing a simple straight green cotton skirt landing a couple inches above the knee paired with a nice linen tropical print shirt, dark green below, light green above and thought I was very casually dressed--something I might even wear in the shop. But as rare as it is for men to extend any comment, the compliment was a nice confirmation that some men are freeing up enough to acknowledge something positive about a non-conformist member of their set, and that MIS in particular can achieve positive recognition from other males.

I don't seek or keep tabs on compliments, but do enjoy those that come and hope you too may see the barriers weakening a bit with the occasional positive comment from other men that don't personally choose to wear skirts themselves.

[denimini]

I have had very few compliments on my attire. A few compliments from women regarding a skirt or a jumper (pullover, sweater) but only one from a man saying "Great" after his wife commented on my mini skirt and long socks.
Regarding normalisation of skirt wearing by men, I prefer no compliments about my skirt because people never complimented me on my pants.
I guess some might fear that same sex compliments would have the same connotation as same sex anything else.

[moonshadow]

I was wearing along tie-dye boho skirt one evening, walking across a Lowes parking lot and a mid-aged man complimented the skirt saying "nice tie-dye!"

They are rare indeed. Compliments from women are much more common, in fact I got one last weekend.

[partlyscot]

While I was working at my last job, I did sometimes get male compliments, but usually about colourful shirts, even when I was skirted.

[STEVIE]

Over the years I have found that the compliments from guys centre around the fact rather than the style. Guys also tend to be less verbal and will simply give a thumbs up to indicate their approval.
With women it is different. I have had quite long chats which were initiated by a compliment. Styles, designs or accessories, with some women there is no subject which is taboo.
All part of the fun guys.
Steve.

[JeffB1959]

The number of compliments I've gotten from men are far and few inbetween. But one I'll always remember was from some ten years ago when I was leaving a bookstore, wearing a denim a-line skirt that fell below my knees with a pair of high heeled knee boots, as I was walking out, two guys were going in, and one of them gushed over....MY BOOTS! He said they looked great. Go figure.

[Pete07]

I have a couple of skirts about knee length, both in dark plain colours, they have 2 pleats at on the front on each side. A number of guys have said to me "Nice Kilt". To which I have replied a simple "Thank You" but when in other skirts I haven't had anything from guys outside of friends.

I don't really mind not getting compliments. As Denimini said, I wouldn't have been getting compliments on my clothes if I was wearing trousers and a shirt. The less people mention the skirts to me the better. But if people are genuinely curious/interested i'm happy to discuss with them.

[new2skirts]

Not so much as compliments, but more "banter"... I was in a denim pencil skirt with sneakers when a guy asked "aren't you cold in that thing?"
I was farily warm with tights on, I figured it was the closest thing to a compliment as the guy had a grin on his face but it all seemed to be in good humor. Men generally don't compliment each other, if anything it's a quick "nice jeans / jacket" etc as they may not want to be seen as checking another guy out...

[TheSkirtedMan]

I get adhoc compliments from women, more so when I have my Indian wrap skirts on due to pattern and colours. Had one only last Friday, 4th June but then I had my maxi 37inch long skirt, on, which when walking showed 11 inch satin half slip due to either side splits. Very complimentary on the entire outfit and continued in the same vane as often, by her adding its a shame more men will not embrace clothing freedom as we women do. She added clothes these days have no gender and I was sporting my freedoms well.

That and noticing this thread topic (I am an infrequent member of this forum), reminded me of the only male compliment and he added that he wished he had the nerve to do so. His wife was present and added that she would be quite happy but his reply was that he could not face a society as it is. I did let him know my experiences and that the small minority are just that and always at a distance but it was no good.

[Heckno]

I've gotten a couple comments from men that I think could be considered compliments. They've basically been business propositions!
For a little background, all the skirts I wear I have made from what were once pants. I work in a store where we buy and sell used entertainment and so I am more likely to have conversations with more or less random people than I would truly prefer. My favorite states are silent and alone, but anyway . . .
The first guy was a very extroverted, talks-too-much kind of person (the absolute opposite of myself). He kept going on and on about the website he started and how he was looking for partners to help him get it off the ground and I don't know what all. He started asking me about how quickly I could make the skirts and then started speculating on the overhead involved in buying pants wholesale to have me make into skirts. I just kind of nodded and got in a few things like "Well, gee, I . . . " and "I dunno if . . . " I just wanted to help him find the movie he asked for. I certainly never called the number on the card he gave me or even glanced at his website.
The other guy is more the dirty hippy in a local band sort. Nice enough. I've seen him at the store a couple times and the first time he asked if I'd make skirts on commission. I gave some kind of non-committal response. Then I saw him in the store last week and he asked again. This time I said that I didn't think I would, but that I'd be willing to explain how I do it as it's relatively simple. I suppose I could make a bit of cash that way, but I just don't want to be intimate enough with someone I don't know to make something they'll wear, like, on their bodies. And how much is a busker gonna pay me anyway?
But, there you go, if you can call interest in my work a compliment, I've gotten some!

[Dust]

... I've seen him at the store a couple times and the first time he asked if I'd make skirts on commission. I gave some kind of non-committal response. Then I saw him in the store last week and he asked again. This time I said that I didn't think I would, but that I'd be willing to explain how I do it as it's relatively simple. I suppose I could make a bit of cash that way, but I just don't want to be intimate enough with someone I don't know to make something they'll wear, like, on their bodies. And how much is a busker gonna pay me anyway?

Someone once told me not to turn down a job, just give the price you'd actually do it for. You may think it's so high as to tell them to get lost, but they might be happy to pay your "I don't want to work with you, but if you pay enough..." price. Just saying...

Plus, you could probably just convert a pair of pants without ever getting close to the guy. Just ask for a pair that fits him, then take it home and start cutting...

[Heckno]

Plus, you could probably just convert a pair of pants without ever getting close to the guy. Just ask for a pair that fits him, then take it home and start cutting...

I suppose I do shy away from or cut short interactions like these because of my social anxiety. In the moment, it doesn't really occur to me that this is an opportunity to grow, I just retreat to my comfort zone as quick as I can. Maybe if hippy guy mentions it again, I'll suggest a price, take a number, and start a social adventure! It makes me nervous to think about it, and I promise nothing, but, well we'll see.

[geron]

Out shopping this week in Dennis's home town (Sinned City?) with my wife and an adult daughter, somewhere near the Minster we had to squeeze together on the narrow pavement to allow a bunch of four boisterous-looking younger men to pass. Since I was in a knee-length hiking skirt, I was ready for some off-colour remarks. Instead, one of them commented, "I like that, mate!" loudly enough for my wife to hear also. He'd gone before I could thank him.

[Faldaguy]

Got one today! We were just entering the Safeway store on MLK Blvd in N.E. Portland this evening, once again wearing a skirt that surprisingly to me has been complimented before -- a black, probably light weight rayon print full A line, mid-calf skirt with 4-5" stylized circles in gold, red, yellow, & gray/green -- so a fairly bold and hard not to notice item on male or female. Anyway a young man, probably in late 20's sporting some fairly stand-out attire of his own, but conventional by gender fairly loudly said, "I like your skirt, way to go...." as he headed past us. I did not see him again. Earlier in the day we had been shopping at our old stand-by, Goodwill on Broadway and one of the clerks, female this time, first told me she liked my skirt as I was browsing a rack of them; later she inquired "if I danced" -- explaining she belongs to a dance club and some of the men wear skirts; she thinks they like the swish and feel when moving. Later I was over in the "men's" shirt section empty handed as my wife had the cart with our pickings by then, and she inquired if I'd found anything good. My skirt clearly had her notice, as it did a few others, but they went about life without comment except one little girl, maybe 4 who had to let her Mom know! A pleasant afternoon.

[Faldaguy]

A little strange this time; but genuine. We were at a place called the Washington Square Mall near Portland, OR trying to find the Sonoma and Williams store in search of kitchen knives. I was wearing a mid calf A-line brown suede & black skirt with brown and black Pendleton shirt, nothing loud but clearly not a guy in pants either. As MOH and I were trying to sort out our path a chap came up effusively saying he like how I was dressed, and almost immediately wondered what I wore under it. I told him it was a strange question and he demurred a bit while trying to explain his query as he had a wrap he often wore at home for comfort and would like to wear skirts out -- the implication being without unmentionables and was seeking support, I guess. My wife stepped in, as I had stumbled a bit, with a generic reply about how all choices people make remain open and that I had found sites with other skirt wearing men. He enthusiastically requested some suggestion, remained very pleasant and appreciative of my choice of attire wishing more men would do the same. His wife joined us about that time as we provided a dash of history and sources for more info. There were no other open comments or reactions that I noted, which is typical -- either I don't pay attention, or they aren't made, but surely a couple thousand folks saw me in the course of that stop alone in a setting where it would be easy to react or comment -- other than this "rare male compliment" just another nothing day.