What inspired you to wear a skirt anyway?

[moonshadow]

every since i was a kid, i liked the look of clothing that was supposedly meant for a female. everything i tried, i thought was more comfortable and stylish than what was supposedly for men. even shopping for nikes, i thought the women's section had better styles. but i never gravitated towards skirts. a couple years ago, i got a second hand dress and loved it. i added a few skirts, and i was absolutely hooked with the look and the level of comfort.
i wore in public to a few stores not long ago. it felt liberating. just yesterday, i went to bigger stores in a teal skater skirt. it is getting easier, but i cannot see me wearing out alot because of the area i live in. also i have never seen another guy wearing one. i try to wear to places that are frequented by more women, such as hobby lobby. and as an artist, i need to go there all the time anyways.
it is getting easier to wear though. i still feel nervous, but i do not chicken out. it is messed up that women can get away with wearing anything, men cannot or are scared too, i am not scared. i just do not want to get jumped as i am into the more freestyle look.
as for style....i like the minis i got from victorias secret. but they are fairly mini. i love them. but recently, i got a skater skirt from victorias secret. it is above the knees, but looks great. i thinl that is my favorite style so far. i cannot wait to try other looks and styles

I admire your courage in the deep south. I draw on it up here in the Appalachians, and even up this way, while not deep south, as much as I love the concept of "freedom", I'm still not brave enough to wear anything above the knee. I have yet to wear that white summer dress out. But then again, it's not summer, which also has a lot to do with it.

[Bamaskirting]

every since i was a kid, i liked the look of clothing that was supposedly meant for a female. everything i tried, i thought was more comfortable and stylish than what was supposedly for men. even shopping for nikes, i thought the women's section had better styles. but i never gravitated towards skirts. a couple years ago, i got a second hand dress and loved it. i added a few skirts, and i was absolutely hooked with the look and the level of comfort.
i wore in public to a few stores not long ago. it felt liberating. just yesterday, i went to bigger stores in a teal skater skirt. it is getting easier, but i cannot see me wearing out alot because of the area i live in. also i have never seen another guy wearing one. i try to wear to places that are frequented by more women, such as hobby lobby. and as an artist, i need to go there all the time anyways.
it is getting easier to wear though. i still feel nervous, but i do not chicken out. it is messed up that women can get away with wearing anything, men cannot or are scared too, i am not scared. i just do not want to get jumped as i am into the more freestyle look.
as for style....i like the minis i got from victorias secret. but they are fairly mini. i love them. but recently, i got a skater skirt from victorias secret. it is above the knees, but looks great. i thinl that is my favorite style so far. i cannot wait to try other looks and styles

I admire your courage in the deep south. I draw on it up here in the Appalachians, and even up this way, while not deep south, as much as I love the concept of "freedom", I'm still not brave enough to wear anything above the knee. I have yet to wear that white summer dress out. But then again, it's not summer, which also has a lot to do with it.

way i figure it is above the knee or below, i can potentially draw too much attention. so i do not worry so much about that.really not courageous though. i am half scared to death! but my mean look carries the day

[skirtyscot]

SkirtedWelshman, did you ever have to wear a skirt as punishment, or was this mere suggestion of it enough to get you interested?

And did you ever behave in a girly way in the hope of being made to wear a skirt?

[Kilted_John]

What gave you the idea to even consider trying on a skirt in the first place?

Summer of 1991. Someone left one on top of the dryer in the laundry room. Tried it on. Felt very comfortable. Took it off, and went back to what I'd been wearing.

How long before you had that idea did you actually give it a go?

About 10 years. Won an auction for a MacKenzie tartan kilt, which happened to be about a foot too small. Thought I'd get into shape and start wearing it. Realized that it'd not work out that way. At the time, I'd pretty much eschewed wearing long pants unless it was very cold or I needed to do work on a car. So, had been wearing shorts. In February 2002, I'd headed down to Olympia, WA to get some parts for one of our cars. On a lark, I dropped by the Goodwill store down there and picked up three skirts off the rack. After I got done with the junkyard, I slipped into one of them (a stretchy knit a-line above-knee skirt in navy blue) and drove home. Found a secluded spot to change back into shorts, then drove the final mile back to the house. I'd joined the original Tom's Café about a month or so prior.

How long have you been doing this? (public and/or privately)

14 years, as of next weekend.

Was there any resistance with family, friends, co-workers, etc?

Family, yes. A lot. Took about six months before my family accepted me in a kilt, but skirts took another 6 or so years before they were finally tolerant of them around the house. The big outing came four years ago. Ever since then, it's been somewhat ok. At least I now don't have to throw on a kilt or a pair of shorts if a family member happens to be going with me somewhere.

Friends, no problems, really...

Employment-wise, around that time, I was between jobs. Usually, I try to present a rather normal image when I'm working, but do ask after being on the job for a bit whether or not it's accepted. If not, then I stick with either jeans, or shorts. If yes, then I'll throw on a kilt. One job I had was in the summer and fall of 2005. Worked for Utilikilts. So, pretty much had to wear one daily.

Where was the first place you went out in public? What was the general reaction (in public)?

Post office on Valentine's Day 2002 (or as I prefer to call it, International Singles' Awareness Day). Some laughs, but, that's to be expected. First time out, so didn't act as if it was normal.

In regards to the public outing, where? (city/state or city/nation for those outside the U.S.)

Duvall, Washington.

What are your favorite style skirts? (Length, shape, womens, or kilt, traditional kilt, or something like the "UK")

Knee-length or shorter, as full as possible. Have to have as much freedom of movement. Typically wind up having to buy stuff from the distaff side, since, for the most part, men's skirts are either very expensive, or not as varied. Current favorite is a leopard-print chiffon pleated skirt. Extremely comfortable, since, unlike a kilt, it's lightweight. Surprisingly, it's no worse about blowing up than a Utilikilt.

Do you "freestyle"? (experiment with different clothing styles) Or is it strictly skirts?

My pics and looks thread shows that I do. Difference is that I keep the beard, don't wear makeup, no painted nails, and I still wear male footwear. Works pretty well in my experience. My experience with dresses seems to be positive, even though I don't usually wear shirtdresses. I do like the back support of a strapless dress, combined with the feeling of waist freedom. When my back is bothering me, I'll throw one of those on and wear it, either by itself, or with a shirt over it, so it looks like a regular skirt. Started wearing them in 2013, when I expected to do jury duty (got out of it without showing up - really don't have the time or desire to serve), and figured I'd either get passed on, or, if I got chosen, I'd just wear one the whole time I was serving.

Feel free elaborate any additional commentary. This is NOT meant to be a survey. The questions above are only suggestive questions, feel free to add more, or subtract from the list.

ALSO:

I'd LOVE to see some photo's of some of you in your first skirts. Back when you were just testing the waters. Even if it goes back to the 70's. So fire up the scanner if need be!

Early stuff: https://www.flickr.com/photos/245gt-tur ... 6034966466

Most of the kilt pics date from between 2002 and 2003. Everything post-2010 is separated by year and can be accessed by deleting the album number and going to the albums page.

I'm also the admin for this flickr group: https://www.flickr.com/groups/unisexskirtsneakers (photo moderation is turned on, since some members who have since been deleted were posting stuff that you can find on crossdressers.com, etc - stuff that wasn't appropriate for the group)

-J

[bobmoore]

I have liked skirts since I was a kid. My mother used me as a dress form when she made skirts and dresses for her nieces. I loved it! I have had skirts of my own since I was ten.

[JeffB1959]

There's a sort of....dynamic nature that comes from wearing a skirt, regardless of the length, speaking of which, wearing a miniskirt brings out the exhibitionist in me as I enjoy showing off my legs. Skirts are easy to wear, and are great fun to wear as well, also, at the risk of sounding like an egotist, I think I look not just good in a skirt, but DAMN good. Lastly, defying convention that says men shouldn't wear women's clothes makes me feel like a rebel because I gleefully give society the middle finger because I decide what I want to wear, not society.

[skirtingtoday]

There's a sort of....dynamic nature that comes from wearing a skirt, regardless of the length, speaking of which, wearing a miniskirt brings out the exhibitionist in me as I enjoy showing off my legs. Skirts are easy to wear, and are great fun to wear as well, also, at the risk of sounding like an egotist, I think I look not just good in a skirt, but DAMN good. Lastly, defying convention that says men shouldn't wear women's clothes makes me feel like a rebel because I gleefully give society the middle finger because I decide what I want to wear, not society.

That is exactly how I feel - I think my legs too look good in miniskirts (my longest "skirt" is 20" denim, shortest is 13.5" also denim though I do have 3 kilts each 24").

The minis are great fun aren't they!

Ross

[moonshadow]

There's a sort of....dynamic nature that comes from wearing a skirt, regardless of the length, speaking of which, wearing a miniskirt brings out the exhibitionist in me as I enjoy showing off my legs. Skirts are easy to wear, and are great fun to wear as well, also, at the risk of sounding like an egotist, I think I look not just good in a skirt, but DAMN good. Lastly, defying convention that says men shouldn't wear women's clothes makes me feel like a rebel because I gleefully give society the middle finger because I decide what I want to wear, not society.

Right on Jeff! And yes, I agree you do wear your skirts and dresses very well. An excellent presentation of how men in such garments should look.

[JeffB1959]

skirtingtoday: Yes, miniskirts are indeed great fun. In the beginning, I used to be rather self-conscious about wearing minis, especially when it came to sitting in the darn things. Now, I don't care about such minor concerns, heck, I actually enjoy having a short skirt ride up when I sit. Heh!

moonshadow: Thanks for the kind words. I've always been of the opinion that if you're going to wear women's clothes in public, then you DAMN well better look nothing short than your very best. The presentation is everything, so it has to be top notch.