first timer

mark47 · Post by **mark47** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 1:11 pm

I'm new to this. I remember wearing one of my mother's dresses when I was a teen-ager...a looong time ago. I'm now 67 and am straight as an arrow. I'm looking at skirts in the desire toward comfort. I am going to do this. I've been doing research...like; what style of skirt, color, etc. I live in Tucson Az, and am in cargo shorts most of the time, so think a cargo skirt would be the easiest transition. I have found a few on line that I really like. As soon as I figure out sizing...maybe find a liberal minded sales girl in a department store, or order on line and hope for the best.

RichardA · Post by **RichardA** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 1:38 pm

Hi Mark and :welcome:

Website · Post by **crfriend** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 2:18 pm

Greetings, Mark, and welcome to the community!

On sizing: When it comes to styles commonly found only "on the other side of the aisle" you'll find that it's a bit of a black art, and that's compounded by the increasing popularity of "vanity sizing" which misrepresents the numbers. From personal experience, I've found that going by the stated hip size is likely to be more accurate for me that waist size so long as the thing will fasten around my waist and won't fall off. A quick strategy that's been known to work is to take a piece of string, wrap it completely around the part of your body where you want the waistband of the skirt to ride, halve the length of it, and then carry that in your pocket to use as a measuring device held up to the waistbands of skirts on the rack -- a close match of skirt to string will yield a close match in fit.

Too, an avenue you might want to take at first would be to choose elastic-waist skirts, or tie-waist skirts early on as those are very forgiving about sizing issues.

Good luck!

Caultron · Post by **Caultron** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 5:16 pm

Hi, Mark, and welcome.

Utility kilts are very much like a cargo skirt with several advantages thrown in. For one thing, they're easier to sit down in. They're long enough to be modest, and the overlapping apron in front drops between your legs providing additional safety.

Alt.kilt has a sale on this weekend - $120 for a high-quality domestic custom-made utility kilt. I own several from them and can vouch. http://www.altkilt.com/classic

Another source is http://www.utkilts.com, which sells offshore-produced utility kilts starting at $150.

Or just to get started, try shopping at a Goodwill store. Your size will probably be your men's pants size minus 20. I'd recommend a denim a-line at least 20 inches long with no slits, but your tastes may obviously vary. It may take several visits to find what you want but don't sweat it. If you're bold enough to use the dressing room, great, otherwise bring a tape measure. At $5 a skirt you can hardly go wrong.

Give it a try!

dillon · Post by **dillon** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 6:34 pm

Welcome, Mark! Sizing with skirts made for women is no simple matter, but I have a waist that is more or less 35"...a 34 waist in pants is a bit too snug, and a 36 waist is a bit loose, but with pants, who cares? So I go for the larger 36. I find a women's 14 to be about right for my waist size, so a 34 to 35...if you need 36 to 37, better look for a 16, and 38 to maybe 40, look for an 18, which are harder to find in many skirt styles. Above 40, you need to try plus sizes, and those can be variable. A few skirt styles have adjustable waists with short strapping on the sides which have a couple buttons an inch or so apart, allowing you perhaps 2 to 3 inches adjustment. Then, of course, you can look for skirts with belt loops and order a bit larger, and belt it to fit your waist. Don't expect to find belt loops, seams, pockets, etc on most skirts marketed for women to meet the construction and durability of men's trousers, however. Some do, but not many.

mark47 · Post by **mark47** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 7:07 pm

Thanks for the great replies, guys. My confidence is growing that it can, and WILL, do this. I'm currently traveling in New England and don't have time for 'shopping', bit when home in a couple of weeks...stand by. I'm a 34 waist, and sizing help I've got really helps.

Sinned · Post by **Sinned** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 7:57 pm

As for the immediate future please ensure that YOH is ok with this as if she isn't then that will be a BIG problem, HUGE. I would wear my skirts more often but for the opposition of MOH! Also you will be nervous about your first time or two. That's understandable, choose your expeditions carefully and use baby steps. The first time or two I felt that everyone was watching me ( they weren't ) and apart from a smile from a shop assistant there was no reaction whatsoever.

I can vouch for the use of thrift stores ( or charity shops as we call them over here ) and ebay for cheap skirts. It does seem strange to go into a store wearing a skirt and shopping for a skirt! When you can do that then you really are confident. I have over 80 skirts and have paid on average only about £2 each ( funnily enough MOH donated some of them

) with a small amount of postage. So this endeavour doesn't have to be expensive.

Good luck and welcome to the site.

mark47 · Post by **mark47** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:00 pm

I have been right up front with MOH. When I first brought it up...that I was going to start wearing skirts I really thought she'd go running screaming down the street. She actually said it would be fine, and that's what scares me. She is usually closed with her thoughts. I'm going to do the 'thrift store' thing...where one around the house, and in my work shop. There are a lot of hiking trails around where I live in Tucson, so probably an afternoon hike is in order.

Caultron · Post by **Caultron** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 10:55 pm

I regularly wear a kilt on expeditions all over Arizona with my hiking club, and I guess everyone else has accepted it. They elected me President.

We're based in Phoenix and don't get down to Tucson very often, but maybe we'll meet up some day, eh?

IMG_8798 copy.jpg

mark47 · Post by **mark47** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 11:16 pm

Caultron wrote:I regularly wear a kilt on expeditions all over Arizona with my hiking club, and I guess everyone else has accepted it. They elected me President.

We're based in Phoenix and don't get down to Tucson very often, but maybe we'll meet up some day, eh?

IMG_8798 copy.jpg

Maybe, once I get going, we can meet sometime...maybe half way...Florence?

Website · Post by **crfriend** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 11:44 pm

mark47 wrote:I'm currently traveling in New England and don't have time for 'shopping', bit when home in a couple of weeks...stand by. I'm a 34 waist, and sizing help I've got really helps.

Where in New England?

Back before I pitched a lot of weight due to work-related stress (and then unemployment-related stress) I had a 38" waist and a size 14 skirt fit quite nicely -- so there's the rub. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to it, and as my SO put it once, "It's down to trial by fitting-room."

Caultron · Post by **Caultron** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:26 am

mark47 wrote:Maybe, once I get going, we can meet sometime...maybe half way...Florence?

Maybe so. I'm work Mon-Fri and my weekends tend to be pretty busy, but there must be a way.

Caultron · Post by **Caultron** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:18 am

BTW, here's an event where I *know* you can wear a kilt and not get laughed at.

http://tucsoncelticfestival.org/

skirtcafe.org

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