How do you approach tops?

[maninafrock]

Bought this top for £4 from a charity shop a few days ago. I have a number of skirts in lilac/purple/mauve - wife thinks this is best combination.

[Grok]

I prefer shirts not tucked in if they are short enough, covering no more that the belt loops of a mini skirt

Most men's shirts are too long and can look out of proportion if not tucked in and are a problem with mini skirts whether tucked in or not.

Regarding untucked shirts, the proportions work well with long skirts. With shirts designed to be either tucked or untucked, you may see a bottom hem that could be described as straight, or flat, and aesthetically this works well with a skirt. You get what I call a Double Drape effect. The shirt drapes over the skirt, and the skirt drapes over your legs.

[Chip]

I have two main looks for my top. I mainly rock T-Shirts which are quite loose, but tucked in. Occasionally, with certain skirts, when not at work and in hot weather they will be un tucked.

My other look is a tight fitting leotard which gives me very fitted top tucked in. This comes from my love lycra clothing that the girls got to wear when I was a kid.

I do have a dress, which is basically a long tight T-shirt. Of course, living in the UK, a jacket or fleece of some description is normally in play, which obviously covers most of whatever top you have on.

My picture area http://www.skirtcafe.org/forums/viewtop ... 86#p256986 shows my current range of outfits which I where daily.

You have some great looks, and you're not a stranger to the fitted top. Even most of your hoodies have a nice fit. And lycra... I never really let myself consider it but I am now. Love your dress look too. I haven't found a fitted dress I really like yet.

[Chip]

As a teen I wore a boy's/men's large, but nowadays if buying men's shirts I'll go with a small. A L was usually very very - comically - baggy - with a medium being more to size with regular jeans... but even the mediums seem too big with skirts.

It's funny how drastic the size changes can be. I sometimes wonder how much of it is the complimentary lines of the skirt + top, and how much is based on our expectations, ie. seeing small tops on skirted women for most of our lives.

[Chip]

Wear a dress. Problem solved.

I find the opposite. With a skirt, I can find a suitable top such as a man's formal shirt, a T shirt (long or short sleeves), with or without a waistcoat/vest or overshirt, a jacket, etc. The top half of a dress is much more likely to be cut for the accommodation of boobage which I do not possess, and I have much greater difficulty finding a dress that works properly for the male figure.

oh yeah, i've found that before – a bit too loose around the front of the chest. and most dresses i find are thin fabric, which draws extra attention to the male bulge when it's just a single piece of fabric.

[Chip]

I have had a colour and style consultation for menswear and womenswear and the feedback was invaluable - it does not necessarily transfer to other men though. I have the advantage of an inverted triangle upper body that looks good in dresses and certain types of skirt. I have been told I look better in these clothes than in conventional men's clothes but thanks to the style consultation I do them reasonably well too.

There are also huge advantages in going up market - nicer clothes hang better. I look on it as a hobby. A really good skirt/top or dress is cheaper than a round of golf and lasts longer.

I've heard that colour consultations can also be dependent on the tone or hues of your skin.

And yes, quality is key. Clothes really went downhill with fast fashion. From the fabric used, to the hems, and the fits just aren't tested on real bodies as much.

[Chip]

From the bottom?

heh, i walked right into that

[Coder]

It's funny how drastic the size changes can be. I sometimes wonder how much of it is the complimentary lines of the skirt + top, and how much is based on our expectations, ie. seeing small tops on skirted women for most of our lives.

I think what drives men's shirt fit is based off of two things - tighter shirts for "fit" men, and looser shirts for the rest of us. As for our difficulty in finding a shirt that works with skirts - I agree and think it's a socialization thing, and how we expect a skirt to be styled. I don't know if we can fully divorce ourselves from that - insofar as wanting to wear a skirt "properly". Experimentation is the only way to find out what works.

[Grok]

Mens shirts were designed, as such, to go with womens skirts.

[Grok]

Excuse me, not designed to go with womens' skirts.

[Dust]

I wear men's shirts, but if I'm wearing it with some fitted skirts or mini skirts, I look for something fairly fitted. Slim fit men's shirts are your friend. If I'm getting a short sleeve men's shirt, I go a size down from what I used to get, and it's basically slim fit. Long sleeve, going down a size (or going women's) will often result in sleeves that are too short on me.

My wife encouraged me to start getting more fitted shirts in general, now all my old, baggy, "regular fit" men's shirts just take up closet space, never getting worn with pants or skirts. Having grown up I'm an era of baggy clothes, it seemed like a significant change, but it really does work better.

I'll sometimes wear a baggier shirt with a kilt, but that's about it. I think kilts sometimes look better that way. I always tuck in my shirt with a kilt unless I'm just working around the house, or it's a second layer on top in the cold, like a sweatshirt, long sleeves T-shirt, or something.

[Uncle Al]

Slim fit men's shirts are your friend.

Sorry Dust but "slim fit" shirts are no friend of mine - never have been
I'm losing weight but still resemble "Jabba the Hutt" in Star Wars.


"Slim Fit" anything, IMHO, is delusionary for 90% of the population

Uncle Al

[Dust]

Okay, I probably should have said that they are my friend, and that of thinner guys like me. Point is, fit matters.

[Mouse]

You have some great looks, and you're not a stranger to the fitted top. Even most of your hoodies have a nice fit. And lycra... I never really let myself consider it but I am now. Love your dress look too. I haven't found a fitted dress I really like yet.

Many thanks for the compliments. I have had immense fun taking pictures of myself to document what I wear on a daily basis. The whole point of doing so, was to show other members what is possible, right now in the UK.

[timemeddler]

I've though about some of those women's jackets where the waist is cut higher as a substitute for one of those kilt jackets. The idea being when worn with a knee length skirt it would be a more casual "kilt Inspired". Or just a casual look with my actual kilt.