Skirted men in the city of London

[renesm1]

I stumbled across this set of pictures from a professional photographer.

http://www.franckallais.com/series%201.html

No doubt in my mind that these are all staged (I believe the photographer is more on the artistic side of photography than the journalist side) but the men all look reasonably presentable and in my (somewhat biased) view, these look how men should dress in a professional setting (well mostly)! I'd be more than happy to turn up to a business meeting dress this way! (OK perhaps with a slightly longer (knee-length) skirt!

Here's one (although the lack of shadow in this one is slightly suspicious!)



R

[crfriend]

I like the third one in on that series. Good find.

[straightfairy]

For once, all the skirts on the men looks perfectly reasonable for their outfits.
It's the footwear that looks odd on some of the pics, especially for the outfit colour and the build of the men. There are combinations that look out of place on any man or woman.

[RichardA]

To me heeled shoes are a no no and I look at that as cross-dressing sorry, but that is my opinion

[Kieran]

Most of them (apart from the third one) look quite tight. I can imagine those skirts being a bit uncomfortable to wear due to this.

[couyalair]

To me heeled shoes are a no no, and I look at that as

... just plain stupid -- whether for men or for women!!!
Who wants permanently deformed -- and painful -- feet?

Martin

[pleated]

Looks fake to me. If you look around that site you will see that most of the pictures on it are manipulated in one way or another.

[r.m.anderson]

May not be fake - but staged "Yes" !
Very limited traffic pedestrian as well as vehicular - setting as if staged on a Sunday morning pre church services.
No matter how it is painted - men in pencil business skirts wearing heels will never sell.
It is the anti-thesis of trying to get the common public to accept men in skirts as a valid movement.
I feel that this is just taking us back to square one to start all over.
Wear kilts - - -
Wear kilted skirts - - -
Wear non tartan kilts & skirts - - -
Wear pleated skirts - - -
Wear flat non-pleated skirts - - -
Wear skirts of various fabrics colors - - -
Wear skirts of varying lengths - - -
Wear skirts & kilts for casual wear - - -
Wear skirts & kilts for more formal gatherings - - -
BUT DO NOT WEAR SKIRTS AS BUSINESS ACCEPTABLE ATTIRE ! (At least not now - - - the common public is just not ready for this introduction)

Over reacting - well maybe but don't push the skirted evolution envelope by pushing the self-destruct button !

"Now-What-Was-I-Doing-Before-I-Was-So-Rudely-Exposed-To-This-Staged-Event" !
rma

[crfriend]

BUT DO NOT WEAR SKIRTS AS BUSINESS ACCEPTABLE ATTIRE ! (At least not now - - - the common public is just not ready for this introduction)

I fly quite happily in the face of that assertion and show up at work more often than not wearing skirted rigs, and for the first time today somebody actually qualified to critique from an independent perspective (my sailing pal's wife significant other). The response was a resounding endorsement (she's only seen me in my uber-casual Macabi "sailing skirt"). The rig in question was overwhelmingly black (shirt, tiered skirt, waistcoat, and shoes) but with my red petticoat underneath -- and I was fresh off work with it.

This can work, and if we manage to convince ourselves that it cannot then we set ourselves up to fail. The entire point is to put looks together that just work and that the casual onlooker can grasp and, hopefully, wonder, "Can I pull that off?". The gnarliest problem is actually identifying what works on "me" (yes, I'm talking about you), embracing it, and then running with it.

Most of them (apart from the third one) look quite tight. I can imagine those skirts being a bit uncomfortable to wear due to this.

Tightness can be illusory, and can be tamed amazingly well by intelligent choice in fabrics. Now, if one was to use cotton duck for some of those skirts one would not be able to move in them without severe chafing, "rising", or worse. However, is one uses fabrics that are not the "norm" for guys apparel then the rules change quite dramatically. Using elastic fabrics for short skirts can work surprisingly well, although if one does not take one's body shape into account they can look a bit tarty. (I got an eyeful of those on young lasses this evening on the way from quayside to a favourite bar; the look worked well on some, and others just looked like they were for hire.)

I commented on the third frame because that's a look that I would absolutely wear, low heels and all. The only change I would make would be to shorten the jacket a little bit. The guy's ponytail speaks volumes as well. (Many gals like guys with long hair, and it seems that quite a few of 'em like guys with the guts to put together good skirted outfits as well.)

[GerdG]

... just plain stupid -- whether for men or for women!!!
Who wants permanently deformed -- and painful -- feet?

I so much agree, Martin.

[Brandy]

I would not get to excited, this was a shoot done for a customer. If you are really interested why not send him an email.

It looks like the purpose was to make a street scene look as normal as possible with the addition of men in skirts. I wonder what the ad was about.

--Brandy

[Mugs-n-such]

To me heeled shoes are a no no and I look at that as cross-dressing sorry, but that is my opinion

That's how I feel too, unless they were high heels designed for men, like some used to wear about 1973? As you said, that's just my opinion, too...besides, high heels are not really feet-friendly health-wise, imo.

[crfriend]

That's how I feel too, unless they were high heels designed for men, like some used to wear about 1973?

I wore roughly 2-inchers during most of the '70s and during my early career in the '80s, and as near as I can tell that style went "unobtanium" around 1983 or so when the neoconservative backlash to the '60s and '70s really bit in. These weren't "teeter-totter" shoes, either; these were bloke's shoes and were very practical indeed. It's the spike heels that are mostly the problem; with enough width at the bottom of the heel, so long as the height is not extreme, stability can be fine.

The main point is that one should be able to stand and walk comfortably without resorting to overt measures to maintain one's balance. If one cannot maintain comfortable balance -- in motion or standing at rest -- or the ankles are stressed sideways (even slightly), the thing's a bad design.

[Ray]

I LOVE these! Favourite is the last one - the two gents walking left to right. This is a look I aspire to. A clever project.

[Mugs-n-such]

The main point is that one should be able to stand and walk comfortably without resorting to overt measures to maintain one's balance. If one cannot maintain comfortable balance -- in motion or standing at rest -- or the ankles are stressed sideways (even slightly), the thing's a bad design.

I agreee completely. Incidentally, I think cowboy boots are also rather high-heeled, some of them, and of course no one would accuse a cowboy of being girly, imo (at least not most of them).