Do folks notice or not?

[DenIM]

I did'nt go and speak to the neighbours. I had'nt met them or even had cause to speak to them and I did'nt think it was worth making an issue of it; at least my customer now knows that I wear a skirt and they're okay with it. The neighbour had an opportunity to open his/her mind when they noticed the skirt but clearly chose not to. My point is that people do notice a man in a skirt but keep their opinions to themselves. perhaps to avoid confrontation or to publicly show their approval?

[STEVIE]

For a lot of people it's the "SEP syndrome". Something like, if I choose to ignore it then i's Somebody Else's Problem.
They may be totally for or totally anti but they cannot bring themselves to a personal acknowledgment of a guy in a skirt.
I have a couple of perfectly civil colleagues who, regardless of my protests, insist on asking about my "kilts". The bright red and very straight cargo skirt is a case in point. More so they are both Scottish and actually, otherwise intelligent. Simply, they cannot associate "guy" and "skirt" in the same sentence. That does not make them bad though.
That said, go out enough and you will be surprised when somebody pays you a genuine compliment or shows welcome interest. Wow, that's a boost, if there ever were one.
Steve.

[Sarongman]

insist on asking about my "kilts".

I've only had that from a bookshop proprietor who was (I haven't been to Maleny now for a number of years) a friend with whom I would exchange banter and pleasantries. On this occasion I was wearing an ankle length khaki "Gap" cargo skirt and he said "That's a nice kilt". I let it pass and thanked him for the compliment.

[skirtyscot]

I've had this a couple of times as well, on people seeing me skirted for the first time. Maybe they think that I call it a kilt, and don't want to offend by calling it a skirt. (Because they know, as we all do, that if a man wears a skirt, the sky will collapse on our heads!)

[couyalair]

Strangely enough, I work with a lady from Scotland, who invariably refers to my lower garments as skirts, though, most of the time, I am wearing a good tartan kilt.
Customers in the charity shop show surprise (frequently) and admiration (sometimes) and refer to my apparel as "falda" = skirt, of course; there's no other word!
In the street, people look the other way and say nothing!

Martin

[GerdG]

I suppose the term kilt is by many regarded the polite way to refer to a man’s skirt. (Scottish) men are known to be wearing kilts.

However, when we think of most “modern kilts” they must be skirts to practically all others than the wearers. Hardly any outside our small world should think of a kilt when seeing it.

I have a Utilikilt which is too long. Now I’ll go find a seamstress to have it shortened 1.5 inch and I have wondered what to say when I arrive:
“I have a kilt that I should like to have shortened.” Or “I have a skirt that I should like to have shortened.”
If I present it to her and say kilt, she might look around and ask where? Therefore I have decided that, of course, I’ll call it a skirt.

And it is OK with me that people call my kilts skirts. After all they are.

[couyalair]

I have wondered what to say when I arrive:
“I have a kilt that I should like to have shortened.” Or “I have a skirt that I should like to have shortened.”

Do you mean, Greg, that Danish has a word for kilt different from the word for skirt?

I wonder if anyone here knows enough of oriental languages to tell me if those countries have a word for skirts in general that is different from the word for what men wear (sulus, lungis, sarongs ...); ie: a parallel to English usage skirt/kilt. None of the languages I am familiar with have special words, (equivalent to kilt), but I've not had the opportunity to travel far east.

Martin

[Pleats]

I have a Utilikilt which is too long. Now I’ll go find a seamstress to have it shortened 1.5 inch and I have wondered what to say when I arrive:
“I have a kilt that I should like to have shortened.” Or “I have a skirt that I should like to have shortened.”
If I present it to her and say kilt, she might look around and ask where? Therefore I have decided that, of course, I’ll call it a skirt.

If you have the Utilikilt in hand and seeing the seamstress in person then don't call it anything. Just say you need this shortened by an inch and a half.

[Dottie]

I have a Utilikilt which is too long. Now I’ll go find a seamstress to have it shortened 1.5 inch and I have wondered what to say when I arrive:
“I have a kilt that I should like to have shortened.” Or “I have a skirt that I should like to have shortened.”
If I present it to her and say kilt, she might look around and ask where? Therefore I have decided that, of course, I’ll call it a skirt.

If you have the Utilikilt in hand and seeing the seamstress in person then don't call it anything. Just say you need this shortened by an inch and a half.

..... and then when you pick it up get asked to try it on "just to see if its alright " and this was by the elderly seamstress who thought nothing of a man in a skirt

[r.m.anderson]

Why worry about the nomenclature about the garmet being a skirt or a kilt.
I would worry about the price and quality for services rendered.

Hemming up a skirt or a kilt may or may not result in an increase in price for services.
If using a ordinary sewing machine there is extra work to do the job right.
If the seamstress/tailor has a serger sewing machine it could cost less because the serger
does two jobs at one time; sewing the hem and cutting the excess material off at the same
time.
In any event the material when hemmed has to be sewn in such a fashion to prevent the
unraveling of edge of the hem.
With a kilt and a skirt the entire hem perimeter has to be sewn.
Easier with a skirt that is not pleated.
With a skirt that is pleated entirely all around there is more work and thread to do the job.
A kilt is pleated at the sides and back with flat overlapping aprons on the front.
This still will result in virtually the same amount of work to hem the garmet all around.
With a tartan pattern kilt or skirt take care and talk with the alterations person about where
the hem should be initiated - maybe two inches of reduction may be better than 1 and half.
With a solid color (material) not much to worry about here.
Whether you shorten the hem 1 or more inches should not make a big difference in price.
Best to get estimates and ask if the alterations will be done with a serger the preferred method.

AND REMEMBER THE CARDINAL RULE --- "MEASURE TWICE AND CUT ONCE" !
A big kilt/skirt can be made to fit smaller but not the reverse !

"Skirt-Kilt-ON"
rma

[GerdG]

I have wondered what to say when I arrive:
Do you mean, Greg, that Danish has a word for kilt different from the word for skirt?

Yes, Martin, we have different words. A Skirt is called a nederdel, meaning lower part. Sometimes we also use the word skørt, especially when it is a mini-skirt, which is called a mininederdel or a miniskørt.
A tartan kilt is called a kilt, no matter if is is a traditional men's kilt or a lady's mini-kilt/kilted skirt.

[GerdG]

If you have the Utilikilt in hand and seeing the seamstress in person then don't call it anything. Just say you need this shortened by an inch and a half.

..... and then when you pick it up get asked to try it on "just to see if its alright " and this was by the elderly seamstress who thought nothing of a man in a skirt

If I didn't tell her that "it" was mine, I doubt if she should ask me to try it on, when I came back for picking it up. If I in the first place had told her it was mine and she now asked me to try it on, then I should try it on, of course. I do wear such things, so why not? I might also have worn a kilt/skirt when I delivered it in for shortening, then she had probably already guessed what it was about.

[couyalair]

A tartan kilt is called a kilt,

Then you have borrowed a foreign word. What about a man's non-tartan lower garment with overlapping front aprons?

M

[GerdG]

No, Martin, a kilt (and a kilted skirt) is a kilt. We use a lot of foreign words in the language, most of them English by origin.

[Caultron]

I I have a Utilikilt which is too long. Now I’ll go find a seamstress to have it shortened 1.5 inch and I have wondered what to say when I arrive...

I suspect you're a lot more emotionally charged about this than the seamstress will be. It's just another piece of work to her. And I suspect that anyone who works full-time altering clothes for people has seen it all, and many times before.

Self-confidence is the key to "bringing off" any sort of counter-cultural dress or behavior, whether it's tattoos, piercings, hairstyle, clothing (as here), or something else. Assert yourself and if somebody else doesn't like it, it's their problem, not yours.

caultron