What makes a skirt *masculine*?

[Jock]

I was watching an old Top of the Pops on TV from the 70s and got to thinking about clothes. In those days the boys were attired like peacocks. Clothes were silky, colorful (including pinks) and frilly - all things that we call feminine. For me it was an exciting time when men blossomed.

So I asked myself - carry this over to skirts and we would have the message boards jammed concerning fem styles, X dressing and needing to be macho. Or would we.

Hence my question: What makes a skirt masculine?

[RichardA]

What makes a skirt masculine

the guy wearing it

[Milfmog]

What makes a skirt masculine

the guy wearing it

Whilst agreeing absolutely with you, I sincerely hope that reply which is so obviously correct does not kill the thread

I nearly replied that the answer to Jocks question was "Having lots of pleats and 18 stone* of hairy Scotsman in it" - I suspect that jock already knows that would make a skirt masculine

I guess I ought to put my own perspective here: I don't think there is such a thing as a masculine skirt, or a feminine one. They're just clothes.

Have fun,


Ian.

* For any non-Brits reading this, that's about 252lbs or 114Kg.

[crfriend]

I was watching an old Top of the Pops on TV from the 70s and got to thinking about clothes. In those days the boys were attired like peacocks. Clothes were silky, colorful (including pinks) and frilly - all things that we call feminine. For me it was an exciting time when men blossomed.

Times, most assuredly, have not improved. Unfortunately, the relatively recent "peacock period" was a flash in the pan and everybody went back to dull and drab. It's quite sad, actually.

The good news is that, for the most part, people don't care so long as what one is wearing isn't completely outlandish or too revealing. In that regard, as individuals, we still have quite a scope for personal taste and adornment; the fact that society is bland doesn't necessarily mean that we have to be. The only drawback is that we'll just tend to stick out a little bit.

So -- and to get to the question at hand after laughing myself to the point of headache over Milfmog's comment -- it really is the bloke wearing the garment that makes it "masculine". True, it's harder to do this with some garments (think a pastel floral handkerchief-hemmed skirt) but it's quite possible with most. It's all a matter of degree.

[Milfmog]

I was watching an old Top of the Pops on TV from the 70s

I meant to post a few weeks ago to say that I was watching a Top of the Pops special over Christmas and was astonished by the sight of Jimmy Savile (now Sir James Savile OBE) in about 1973 introducing Slade while he was wearing a gold coloured silky kaftan style dress...

Somehow I can't imagine any of today's lookalike, jeans clad "style icons" presenting a show dress half as entertainingly as JS used to.

Have fun,


Ian.

[ChrisM]

I just saw the film "Across The Universe." Saw it on the plane on the tiny screen, but still absolutely loved it - a delightful film.

And I did remark to myself about the peacock attire of the 60s and 70s and how much I missed that.

Here in New Orleans during Mardi Gras we have seen many reprises of the cover of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Remember those brocade overcoats? The Peter Max flared trousers, paisley, err, everything?

Yep, we've lost ground. Let's go reclaim it! Let's go buy some 'hippy' clothes and wear 'em to the office.

Plenty of good shops for that here on Royal Street.

Chris

[GerdG]

What makes a skirt masculine?

You sometimes can see it in woman’s magazines. When they write about masculinity in fashion, they will refer to business suits and ties but also to skirts with pockets and a front zipper combined with rough fabrics like denim and in “manly colours”.
Feminism in fashion means laces, frilly things, a lot of superfluous details, light flimsy fabrics and female colours.
A man wearing this type of clothing can to my opinion not compensate for that, no matter how much man he might be. Accordingly I cannot agree that it only depends on the man who wears the skirt.

GerdG

[sapphire]

On a recent outing to the "Big Mall", I dressed in a plain blue skirt, loud turquoise blue tshirt, loud raspberry pullover sweater, navy blue tights, weird turquoise knee socks with an argyle pattern up the back, purple jacket and work boots. I stood out among the sea of jeans, hoodies and bare bellies. All the women looked the same and all the men looked the same.

You can find colorful stuff if you look and if you are willing to give it a go. t's not 70's, but there are bright colors out there.

On that trip I bought four shirts for Carl. One was white (yawn), another a nice bright pink, another lavendar and one was loud lemon yellow. There were others that I would have liked to get but couldn't find in his size: bright royal blue, blood red, teal, bright pumpkin. All of the shirts I bought were from JC Penny, not exactly an avant garde place.

Coldwater Creek had some lovely, lively skirts and tops, but they are expensive.

Don't forget your local thrift stores, or if you are near a clooege town, the recycled couture.

You can find bright and unusual stuff if you look.

[Since1982]

Having lots of pleats and 18 stone* of hairy Scotsman in it"

PLEASEEEEEEE Ian...Don't get the kilters started with the "A KILT IS NOT A SKIRT" mess... :)

[crfriend]

You sometimes can see it in woman’s magazines. When they write about masculinity in fashion, they will refer to business suits and ties but also to skirts with pockets and a front zipper combined with rough fabrics like denim and in “manly colours”.

So, this is crossdressing without being called such, then? "Rough" skirts with front zips (especially the right-over-left ones) are straight plagiarism of typical mans' fashions. Whilst it's well understood that the zip is a necessary accoutrement that allows a garment to get past the hips (in both men and women), having the thing in the stereotypical male placement just smacks of copycat mentality. "Manly colours"? What constitutes that?!

Feminism in fashion means laces, frilly things, a lot of superfluous details, light flimsy fabrics and female colours.
A man wearing this type of clothing can to my opinion not compensate for that, no matter how much man he might be.

If one looks back in history, it turns out that a lot of the embellishment that we now associate with "femininity" was worn by males. Hence I must humbly disagree with the assertion that a man wearing such garments in a modern context cannot compensate for it.

True, it may be difficult for a man to fully "masculinise" (that's not a real word, and I know it, but we're fishing for concepts here that, as yet, have no words to describe them) the extremes of the "frilly look", but it's quite possible with the less extreme types. It can be most instructive to look back through illustrated histories of costume (as in clothing) to see what was once available to men. I suspect that once having done so, the average bloke would not want one whit to do with the modern uniform unless it was his most sincere desire to blend into the crowd and simply disappear.

We are trying to (re)open a (new) world of fashion here. Placing arbitrary limits on it based on very modern interpretations only serves to limit the range of possibilities. Are we really interested in that? If so, shall we just make do with t-shirts and dungarees?