Newly Skirted in Ohio

[steve66oh]

Greetings!

My name is Steve, I'm 44, straight, divorced father in northeast Ohio.

I'm here because I've had an interesting experience this summer with nail polish, which has caused me to question society's customs regarding men's fashion.

I started wearing nail polish in early July, because I lost a bet. The wager was that my friend couldn't name a specific actor in "Apocalypse Now". The stakes, fairly negotiated, were that the loser must - for one week - polish his toenails hot pink... display his toes in public... take photos in public.. post the photos on his Facebook page and any dating sites he belongs to (I'm on PoF)... wear sandals whenever he leaves home (work excluded). Our friends promised to repost the photos to their pages, with a $20 reward for proof of cheating the wager, which would impose a $200 penalty on the cheating loser.

So, I didn't have the luxury of psyching myself up, warming up to it or trying it out in safe, low-exposure settings - I had to jump into it with both feet (so to speak...

But, on the second day, I realized that my feet actually looked pretty good with polish - in the same way that my car looks better with paint. I also realized that hardly anybody noticed, and those who did were either enthusiastic, complimentary or silent. The wager was supposed to be emasculating and humiliating - but it wasn't. I spent the week thinking about my definition of "masculinity", versus the various expressions of it in media and society. I watched "Fight Club", and when Tyler Durden says "You are not the car you drive... you are not your ******* khakis.", I thought "Yeah, and I'm not the paint on my toes."

In other words, I realized that the polish is JUST decoration, it does not define me - and anybody who tries to define ME by my polish, is stupid, wrong, and irrelevant! What matters is how I feel about the polish... and I like the way it makes my feet look.

I don't see myself as doing something "femme" - to me, there is nothing about the paint that makes it inherently feminine. I am the same man I've ever been, with or without color - and I see no reason why men can't wear polish as men. I also reject the idea that masculinity and femininity are mutually exclusive, contradictory ideas. There are many things in life which are both masculine AND feminine, depending solely on the gender of the person... things like honesty, parental devotion, compassion, empathy, appreciation of art, independence, loyalty, dependability... and where the expression of these differs between the genders, it's mostly the result of cultural influences which often have no real connection to gender. Girls like pink because girls are "supposed to" like pink, that is all. I say, screw that!

(I know you've all heard similar points before - I've read dozens of them here since I joined...)

Anyway, by the end of the first week, I couldn't wait to put on a better color - and my toes have been in color ever since! I'm presently waiting for my latest color to dry - "Blue My Mind" by OPI. I've found that the reds, pinks and corals seem to have the "girliest" names - my first color was Sally Hansen's "Party Girl Creme" (which was just a really dirty joke to me - the punchline is "Finger licking good!") When you look at the blues, greens, browns and greys, the names are a bit more unisex.

Of course, this got me to thinking about other fashion customs, like society's insistence on bifurcated garments for men. I am intrigued by the idea of wearing a skirt or a UK, and I have no doubt that I will do so soon.

So, I'm happy to be here, and I'm looking forward to this adventure!

[owen]

Welcome to Skirt Café, Steve. We don't tend to talk much about cosmetics here, but we do tend to talk about skirts, quite a lot! Just as what you wear on your nails doesn't define your gender, neither should what you wear around your legs. Men in many parts of the world have adopted skirts as comfortable practical everyday working wear, so what's stopping us in the west other than ourselves? Go for it, and let's hear the results!

[steve66oh]

I did it! Yesterday, I bought a $5 pair of wool dress pants from the salvation Army store. VERY NICE pants - if they had been hanging in JC Penney, I would have mistaken them for brand new! I loosely followed the instructions at http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/ ... oject.html (I even did it ON a Sunday like the headline says..) , and converted the pants into a skirt, shown here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgYJ2v_2KAM

The skirt falls just above the knee, a nice comfortable length, just a little restrictive when I climb stairs or exit the car. It's not quite a pencil skirt - those seem to reach the top of the calf and taper in a little bit...

The pants were 33x32. To get the skirt length, I ripped the stitches from the cuffs and unfolded them, then I folded the unhemmed cuffs to the top of the waistband - basically cutting the pants in half. I then let the waist out to 34, then ripped the inseam stitches, sewed the legs into the biggest tube I could make, resewed the tube to flatten "pooches" in the front and rear seams, trimmed the excess inside, then hemmed the bottom 1". Piece of cake, took about 2 hours.

I'm thinking of using one of the cut-off legs for a modesty panel inside - just a flap that would hang inside the front when I stand, but would drape over my junk when I sit - the skirt rides up a little when I sit, which threatens to expose my underwear.

The video can also be seen if you're a member of the Flickr group "Men in Skirts and Kilts": http://www.flickr.com/groups/meninskirts/

And, I wore my new skirt to a sports bar, had a couple of beers and watched the tail end of the SNF game. No incidents to report, I'll wear it out again tomorrow.. I see why you guys are hooked!


PICT0027 by steve66oh, on Flickr


[Post edited by Milfmog to keep it within forum rules]

[Tassierob]

Welcome Steve

Be warned, once started you may need a bigger wardrobe
When you are starting don't be afraid to look at modern kilts to. Depending where you go I find they can be more readily accepted, particularly in the work place and more blokey places shall we say.
By doing that I can now count on one hand the number of days a year I wear trousers. Even wear the kilt on construction sites and exhibiting at trade expo's.

Enjoy your new found freedom.

Rob

[steve66oh]

Day 3 update:

Yesterday (Day 2), I wore the skirt to a different sports pub. Thin crowd. Only noticeable reaction was as I was walking to the patio for a smoke, I heard a woman say "All gays to the patio!" with some giggling. I smoked, then returned smiling with head high and took a seat at the bar. My thinking is, the one ignorant, prejudicial woman forces everyone else present to choose whether they will stand with prejudice or against it - so her comment helps advance the cause.

Day 3, I just had to make a run to the store for more cigs. A group of young guys was walking out as I entered, I caught a couple of funny looks. Exiting a few minutes later, I saw they were hanging out in the shadows to get another look. Maybe they liked my legs...

Also today - the evening host on my local talk radio station plays a call-in game called "Stump the Panel" - the station crew and friends are the panel, callers pose trivia questions in television, movies and sports. One member of the panel claims to be a specialist on the film "Goodfellas", and promised the rest of the panel that if he is stumped on a Goodfellas question, he will wear a skirt in public. The host also maintains a Facebook page, which he monitors during his show. I posted a comment on his wall, with the "Givenchy Spring 2011" link I saw elsewhere here, suggesting that if the panelist is stumped and needs a skirt, Givenchy is bringing out men's skirts in 2012 (technically they're kilts, but they're white, pink, shimmery and floral printed, and I doubt I'll see Sean Connery in one anytime soon). The host mentioned the link on-air, "dudes wearing skirts" from a major design company, which I see as another step toward acceptance.

[skirted_in_SF]

Based on your activities in the last several days, you may have to see if someone can change the title of this thread.

[steve66oh]

Based on your activities in the last several days, you may have to see if someone can change the title of this thread.

I'm a DIY kind of guy.... excellent suggestion - done!

[skirted_in_SF]

Based on your activities in the last several days, you may have to see if someone can change the title of this thread.

I'm a DIY kind of guy.... excellent suggestion - done!

What I don't know about how the forum database works would fill a book. I thought the thread title would be a key to keeping all the replies connected. Obviously, they aren't.
Good job anyway.

[steve66oh]

What I don't know about how the forum database works would fill a book. I thought the thread title would be a key to keeping all the replies connected. Obviously, they aren't.

That's OK... I didn't know it was possible until I tried to do it! (come to think of it... not unlike wearing polish and a skirt... ) All I had to do was edit the original post and change the headline.

Anyway - if anyone wants to find me on Facebook, I'm at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1485632142 - we should plan a get together sometime...

[tesjolts]

I like your converted skirt. Very good job !!

Tes

[Since1982]

Steve!!