A Formula for Successfully Selling Men's Skirts

[Mouse]

Should add, Mouse.
Most school uniform ensembles are flat bland boring, so yes I get your point.
However, so is a lot of work appropriate clothes making overlaps almost inevitable/predictable.
The exception is a distinctive plaid skirt which merely lends weight to the point I made.

Oh I agree to some extent since a grey skirt is a very common thing, I have one.
I just think if you team it with a number of other things such as a blazer, short white socks, sneakers, white shirt and a badly tied tie, you get a shorthand look that is labeled 'school girl look'. You just need the hockey stick and you are made for your next fancy dress party, if you are a woman.
As a man I am trying to look like me, not a young school girl which has all the wrong associations. May be I am more sensitive being a skirted man who is connected to a primary school?
I think we MIS have a space in the UK to dress as we please. I just think we have to be careful to preserve that space. {Now I have just written that line, I need to go and check my 'Pics and Looks' pages.}

[Barleymower]

The world is in such a bloody, metaphorically and literally, that MIS is pretty much dead in the water for the foreseeable future.

Stevie,
"It's mostly dead, very different from all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead there's only thing you can do - go through his pockets and look for loose change"

[DrFishnets]

I just think if you team it with a number of other things such as a blazer, short white socks, sneakers, white shirt and a badly tied tie, you get a shorthand look that is labeled 'school girl look'. You just need the hockey stick and you are made for your next fancy dress party, if you are a woman.

I really like the short black pinafore dress I bought recently but what concerns me is that it looks a bit like the gymslips the St Trinians schoolgirls wore on the films. However, I try hard not to make it that way by combining it with leggings and casual coloured T-shirt and timberland boots. I suppose if I was going to a man in drag fancy dress party I’d combine the pinafore dress with black stockings and suspenders and high heels and the badly tied tie.

[Mouse]

I really like the short black pinafore dress I bought recently but what concerns me is that it looks a bit like the gymslips the St Trinians schoolgirls wore on the films. However, I try hard not to make it that way by combining it with leggings and casual coloured T-shirt and timberland boots. I suppose if I was going to a man in drag fancy dress party I’d combine the pinafore dress with black stockings and suspenders and high heels and the badly tied tie.

I think you are fine, please don't let this sap your confidence in going out. I think as you say, you are quite some way from St Trinians.

[webboy42]

The only formula that exists for selling something is making something the market wants. From my perspective, the main thing that prevents me from buying a "women's" skirt are the small sizes. I currently wear the largest size of Macabi skirt, and most, if not all, of the brands I've seen in local department stores don't have sizes as large, or if they do, they only have colors or styles I don't like.

Limiting a skirt range to traditionally masculine colors won't sell more skirts to men, because the men who feel comfortable wearing skirts will buy them regardless, and those who aren't won't. I wouldn't avoid buying a shirt just because it also happens to come in a color I don't like, I'd just buy the color I want and ignore the rest. When it comes to skirts, I think the fit is more of a limiting factor than what colors or styles they happen to come in.

[denimini]

I think that the utilikilt style skirt appeals to many men who would not normally be interested in wearing a skirt or their partners allowing them to.
I don't think that there is any product that would appeal to every man. Think of a car that would appeal to all men.
I ran it past AI and got:

Skirt design.jpg

Only joking as I haven't dabbled with AI yet.

[Kirbstone]

Anthony,
That formula is as clear as Guinness to me.

BTW, Asos are currently offering a denim part-pleated knee-length skirt in raw grey with a fly closure on the 'mans' side & belt loops, pockets &c which I am thinking of ordering. I could get someone to hem it for me, as I don't like raw edges.

Tom

[LiuBang]

From my perspective, the main thing that prevents me from buying a "women's" skirt are the small sizes.

Perhaps, conversely, that the main thing that propelled things like "boyfriend's fit" pants was because it's easier for a woman's small body to fit into a pair of men's oversized clothes, than it is for a man to squeeze into his wife's tiny, undersized-to-him, skirt?

[Ozdelights]

Anthony,
That formula is as clear as Guinness to me.

BTW, Asos are currently offering a denim part-pleated knee-length skirt in raw grey with a fly closure on the 'mans' side & belt loops, pockets &c which I am thinking of ordering. I could get someone to hem it for me, as I don't like raw edges.

Tom

You helped my understanding of the formula.

All of the denim skirts I have seen here are traditional 'men's' closure. And yes I have a light grey one.

Barry

[Myopic Bookworm]

Asos are currently offering a denim part-pleated knee-length skirt in raw grey with a fly closure on the 'mans' side & belt loops, pockets &c

Not bad. They are also advertising a "unisex" linen look midi skirt in stone: rather a curious cut, but modelled by both sexes.

[mishawakaskirt]

The only formula that exists for selling something is making something the market wants. From my perspective, the main thing that prevents me from buying a "women's" skirt are the small sizes. I currently wear the largest size of Macabi skirt, and most, if not all, of the brands I've seen in local department stores don't have sizes as large, or if they do, they only have colors or styles I don't like.

Limiting a skirt range to traditionally masculine colors won't sell more skirts to men, because the men who feel comfortable wearing skirts will buy them regardless, and those who aren't won't. I wouldn't avoid buying a shirt just because it also happens to come in a color I don't like, I'd just buy the color I want and ignore the rest. When it comes to skirts, I think the fit is more of a limiting factor than what colors or styles they happen to come in.

I'm not sure what your pants size is. But you should be able to find some that fits. It may take lot's of hunting but you should be able to find something. On eBay at the very least. Just be diligent. I window shop eBay too often and now have way to many skirts because of that.
I'm a size 38 to 40 in men's pants. And 20w to 22w in skirts, shorts and shortalls. Just be regular at searching, and be patient and you should eventually find something to like. CJ Banks is one of the brands I like a lot. If you tell me what size you are and sort a what style s you are looking for, I can always keep a watch full eye for you, and send you leads or Links.

While the percentage is low, there is still a decent amount of well built skirts, with decent pockets for sale, that's part of the thrill of the hunt.

Making a men's skirt is sort of like reinventing the wheel.
What do you do to a skirt to make it masculine???
For some uneducated people. No amount of rugged uping will make it masculine enough.
No amount of mud , blood, bottle openers, belt loops, clips, grommets, skull and cross Bones, jet black ripstop fabric, chains, or buckles Will make a skirt masculine enough for man to wear for some.
You could probably include internal pocket for a guys twig and berries. You would still get " but it's a skirt" from someone.
I've gotten grief From my wife about wearing kilts, the most universally accepted male skirt on the planet.
To her there is no mens skirt.




I know some of you don't like the thought of marketed, men's skirts, in traditional male colors and basic masculine styles.
But let's say several companies do make a rugged boring grey skirt for men. Atleast it's a skirt for men, it's a start in the right direction. It's a free country, and for the most part a free world. If you still want to buy and wear a tickle me Elmo pink skirt, do so. More "men's skirt s " will ultimately make it hopefully easier for all of us to wear skirts. I feel that men wearing overly feminine outfits undermines the MIS cause some. Because they are seen as trying to present as female. Whether they are trying to or not. It doesn't take much to knock flat the male identity.

Regarding skirts like macabies, skirt craft, J walker, light heart gear. That has either a male or unisex skirt.

While I like a couple of them. I see no point on spending the extra money on something that will get labeled by 99 + percent of people as a womans skirt.
How many of you that have a macabie skirt, or other have had some one coming up to you and " dude you are rocking that awesome male marketed skirt"

My wife would slap me once for wearing a skirt. Then slap me again for spending 60 + dollars on a skirt.

[webboy42]

I'm not sure what your pants size is. But you should be able to find some that fits. It may take lot's of hunting but you should be able to find something. On eBay at the very least. Just be diligent. I window shop eBay too often and now have way to many skirts because of that.
I'm a size 38 to 40 in men's pants. And 20w to 22w in skirts, shorts and shortalls. Just be regular at searching, and be patient and you should eventually find something to like. CJ Banks is one of the brands I like a lot. If you tell me what size you are and sort a what style s you are looking for, I can always keep a watch full eye for you, and send you leads or Links.

While the percentage is low, there is still a decent amount of well built skirts, with decent pockets for sale, that's part of the thrill of the hunt.

I'm a 2XL at Macabi, although the knee length is tight on me if I put on too much weight. I don't know my standard size, but I have a 50in waist in the shorts I used to wear. I haven't even been trying to find pockets, but I thought recently that I might like to try a cotton (or similar soft material that can be machine washed and dried that isn't nylon) pleated skirt with an elastic waist band. I have an apple shape, so I wear my skirts at the hip, so I believe that's a low rise waist I'd be looking for. I don't care enough to be as persistent as you suggest, although it did occur to me just today that I might consider looking up a dress maker on Airtasker.

Regarding skirts like macabies, skirt craft, J walker, light heart gear. That has either a male or unisex skirt.

While I like a couple of them. I see no point on spending the extra money on something that will get labeled by 99 + percent of people as a womans skirt.
How many of you that have a macabie skirt, or other have had some one coming up to you and " dude you are rocking that awesome male marketed skirt"

My wife would slap me once for wearing a skirt. Then slap me again for spending 60 + dollars on a skirt.

No one has ever identified that I wear a male marketed skirt. Fortunately, the only one likely to be critical of me wearing a "woman's" skirt is mum, and I'm learning to ignore at least half of what she says as her brain-mouth filter is faulty and apt to torpedo a good mood.

[LiuBang]

I know some of you don't like the thought of marketed, men's skirts, in traditional male colors and basic masculine styles.
But let's say several companies do make a rugged boring grey skirt for men. Atleast it's a skirt for men, it's a start in the right direction. It's a free country, and for the most part a free world. If you still want to buy and wear a tickle me Elmo pink skirt, do so. More "men's skirt s " will ultimately make it hopefully easier for all of us to wear skirts.

Agreed--as others have said, making a "unisex" skirt will only mean that 99% of the buyers will be female. Market the skirt as a men's skirt for optimum success.

I feel that men wearing overly feminine outfits undermines the MIS cause some. Because they are seen as trying to present as female. Whether they are trying to or not. It doesn't take much to knock flat the male identity.

My thoughts exactly. It's already a hard enough battle even for cis-hetero MIS to simply have the freedom to wear a no-frills, blue/grey/black skirt. Let's not make it harder by wearing an outfit that even many skirt-loving women would find bizzare.

As for those who say "but we need to make sure we wear super flamboyant skirts, flamboyant or bust!", well, honestly, it's already far more accepted for a man to go out in flamboyant pants/shorts/shirts than it is for him to go out in even a very plain, conservative, solid color skirt.

Regarding skirts like macabies, skirt craft, J walker, light heart gear. That has either a male or unisex skirt.

While I like a couple of them. I see no point on spending the extra money on something that will get labeled by 99 + percent of people as a womans skirt.
How many of you that have a macabie skirt, or other have had some one coming up to you and " dude you are rocking that awesome male marketed skirt"

My wife would slap me once for wearing a skirt. Then slap me again for spending 60 + dollars on a skirt.

Also true, retailers should continue increasing their male skirt offerings. But until prices come down for male skirts I'd probably just buy a plain, big and tall woman's skirt and style it with a guy's polo shirt/T-shirt and guy's sandals.

[Grok]

Regarding skirts like macabies, skirt craft, J walker, light heart gear. That has either a male or unisex skirt.

While I like a couple of them. I see no point on spending the extra money on something that will get labeled by 99 + percent of people as a womans skirt.
How many of you that have a macabie skirt, or other have had some one coming up to you and " dude you are rocking that awesome male marketed skirt"

I don't really care about the marketing, got Macabi skirts because I like the designs.

[TonautBrom]

Asos are currently offering a denim part-pleated knee-length skirt in raw grey with a fly closure on the 'mans' side & belt loops, pockets &c

Not bad. They are also advertising a "unisex" linen look midi skirt in stone: rather a curious cut, but modelled by both sexes.

Sounds interesting - do you guys have links to both those skirts?