Hello and skirt question

[CoffeeMUG]

Hello all,

I've been lurking around here for a while and thought I'd join up as I've enjoyed reading this board.

I am new to the skirt/kilt thing, but have tried one of my wife's skirts and would like to get something for myself, either some kind of denim/khaki-like skirt or a non-traditional kilt such as Utilikilt. I would most likely wear them around the house for now so a skirt isn't a problem for me (and a skirt seems like a cheap way to try the MUG thing).

I've been looking around and the main concern I've come up with is the fit. I normally wear a 37-38" waist and have basically no hips to speak of (and a pretty small rear end!), but a bit of a beer belly. So it seems like some of the stuff I've looked at is too tight if it's got a regular waistband or way too loose if an elastic band. Perhaps I just need to try different ones until I get the right one. Any tips for a newbie? Thanks!

[crfriend]

Hello CoffeeMUG, and welcome.

I suspect you're just going to have to experiment for a while until you happen to find what size you are -- there's no direct conversion as far as I can tell. The general wisdom seems to be aim for the size that is closest to your hip size as guys will tend to wear the skirts a bit lower than the ladies.

Personally, I've got just about a 38" waist (and about 42 around the widest part of my backside) and it looks like a misses' large (size 14-16) works pretty well. Generally, skirts with elasticised waistbands can be difficult to initially get used to because blokes typically wear belts to hold their tr*users up; if the skirt doesn't fall off, or slide down appreciably, that's all the tension you need.

If you really don't have hips that can hold the thing up, you may need to look into suspenders (or "braces" as they're sometimes known).

[ChrisM]

I don't know Minneapolis, but I would recommend thrift shops. Out west in Washington we have a nice chain named Value Village, which always has a large skirt selection, priced at 0.99 each. At such a price you can afford to try several just as experiments in fit.

I have recently been wearing elastic waist broomstick skirts, which will fit any physique (as they are largely shapeless.)

I bought some 30+ skirts at Value Village - all kinda different styles lengths cuts etc. - and thus now have a much better feel for what works on my body.

Just think of the investment as remedial tuition.

Chris

[r.m.anderson]

Ok - Coffee Mug:
I do not post often in this forum but for a local guy I make extraordinary
exceptions.
First off we have a great selection in the cities.
1) Goodwill Stores
2) Salvation Army stores (a few left)
3) ARC Value Village
4) Turn Style Consignment stores
5) Ragstock
There are more here than I can mention.
Most all of these have a dressing room to try before you buy.
Nobody bugs you about - "Well these are for the opposite sex"!
The closer to Halloween nobody ""Bats an eye"" to what you are
doing thinking costume. Even at that just make sure that the
dressing room you select is Unisex or appropriate to your gender.
And even at that if you approach the cashier or other wait person
with a cavalier attitude - 'Hell use the ladies room' it is the only
one available. They are more interested in the sale or commission
on the sale.
A help would be to take your personal measurements in advance
and then when shopping take out a small key chain measuring
device be it a cloth tape or metal snap back reel and "rule" (pardon
the pun) out the items definitely not worth looking at further and
selecting those worthy of the try for size.
Other places to consider are:
Marshalls
T J Maxx
AND the malls and outlet stores we have in this part of the country!!!
Well enough said - "this is Mecca"
And if that is not enough - getting something close to your size
you can have it tailored/altered by the many SeWhat stores and the
CanDo places in the many malls.

[boca]

Welcome CoffeeMUG to the cafe

Most of what I would have said already has been said above, however there is one suggestion I can make: Utilikilt's Beer-gut cut: http://www.utilikilts.com/newsizing.htm

If you check at the bottom of the page there will be a section titled "beer guts" where the detail how they will add a special cut to the kilt for guys with guts for an extra 25 bucks.

[CoffeeMUG]

Hello again and thanks for the informative replies. My wife doesn't think I'll find something in a women's skirt that will fit, but I'll still do some looking and probably buy something that's actually a kilt as well. It'd be nice to have something cheap/comfortable to do household chores and the like in. I'll post back when I find something that works. I also have a friend who as a wiz at sewing/fabrics who might have some good advice. Thanks again!

[Since1982]

I know it's a woman's site but, Lane Bryant has more skirts with large roomy pockets than any (including all the men's skirt sites) sites I've seen. They carry an A-line skirt that I've bought some of that are only $16.99 for normal sized people. I get the $19.99 ones cause I'm a bit bigger in the middle. Those A-line skirts have very roomy side seam pockets and a small deeeeep watch pocket that a roll of money fits very well in. You need to use your fingertips to access it, so the chance of being pickpocketed is nil. Good luck with whichever you decide on and WELCOME to our little Cafe. Be careful while here tho, the potted palms have been known to fall over on people not paying attention. :whiteflag

[binx]

Ok - Coffee Mug:
I do not post often in this forum but for a local guy I make extraordinary
exceptions.
First off we have a great selection in the cities.
1) Goodwill Stores
2) Salvation Army stores (a few left)
3) ARC Value Village
4) Turn Style Consignment stores
5) Ragstock
There are more here than I can mention.
A help would be to take your personal measurements in advance
and then when shopping take out a small key chain measuring
device be it a cloth tape or metal snap back reel and "rule" (pardon
the pun) out the items definitely not worth looking at further and
selecting those worthy of the try for size.

That's how I found my proper "size" was buying from those second-hand stores, then giving the ones back that i had second thoughts about after wearing them for awhile. All the skirts in the "Fem shoes for men" thread were keepers. Elastic and gathered waists, and stretchy material are the best IMO. My favorite roomy, wear-around-the-house elastic-waist skirt was from a Lane Bryant clearance for $10.

binx

[Bravehearts.us]

Hello and welcome to the Café. Have a cup on me. 
The input in this thread is all good advice. Some of these guys have a lot of experience, too, and know what they are talking about.
You might want to check out my thread, The beginning of skirting”. You also might want to check out my site so you know that we all go through similar stages. It’s http://www.bravehearts.us
Glad you came aboard and will be looking for more of your posts and progress.
Lar

[ChrisM]

The advantage of a wrap skirt during your experimental phase is that the fit is not tailored.

The simplest wrap skirt is something like a sarong. I have several sarongs that I wear when weather is hot.

One step more "skirt like" is the woman's kilt or kilt-skirt. I found many wrap-style kilt skirts (I am assured by the straightlaced that these are not kilts because they wrap the 'wrong' direction) at my thrift store. I have several in standard tartans, that only very few people will know are not kilts.

I do shop with a tape measure. At thrift shops I think people assume I am shopping in order to resell them on eBay or something like.

You are correct that the waist/hip ratio can be a problem. Hold the skirt up while it's on the hanger and you can see the extent to which the waist is tailored in, and with practice you will be able to judge from this the extent to which the skirt won't fit you.

Surprisingly I find most of my off the rack skirts are "petites". This is surprising because women's petite clothes are tailored for persons of short stature, and I at 6'- 3" am anything but. But apparently there is also some change in the waist/hip ratio for the Petite that makes them accord better with my physique.

I also find that certain manufacturers fit me better. I tend to fit well in products by Talbots and Liz Claiborne.

But again...Here's the formula:

Measure yourself.
Use some online shopping sites to translate your measurements into nearest woman's sizes (I'm a size 14.)
Hit the yard sales and Thrift shops for skirts in your size.
Take 'em home and try 'em.
Throw 'em out / give 'em to charity / have your own yard sale.

Best of luck!

Chris

[Since1982]

I'm 6'1" and buy only petite sized skirts from Lane Bryant. The LB petite is 32" long and comes to my mid calf. On a 5'2" woman this "petite" would drag on the ground. LB also carries "normal" at 36" long and "tall" at 40" long. Those must be some oddly shaped people that make these in these sizes. The blue skirt I'm wearing in my avatar is a petite.

[CoffeeMUG]

Thanks again all for the great suggestions and for sharing your experiences in this. I'm looking around when I have time and a good friend of mine, who's amazing in the sewing department, is looking into making a casual kilt for me. I'll check back when I find something that works well for me.

[DanR]

Hello all,

I've been lurking around here for a while and thought I'd join up as I've enjoyed reading this board.

I am new to the skirt/kilt thing, but have tried one of my wife's skirts and would like to get something for myself, either some kind of denim/khaki-like skirt or a non-traditional kilt such as Utilikilt. I would most likely wear them around the house for now so a skirt isn't a problem for me (and a skirt seems like a cheap way to try the MUG thing).

I've been looking around and the main concern I've come up with is the fit. I normally wear a 37-38" waist and have basically no hips to speak of (and a pretty small rear end!), but a bit of a beer belly. So it seems like some of the stuff I've looked at is too tight if it's got a regular waistband or way too loose if an elastic band. Perhaps I just need to try different ones until I get the right one. Any tips for a newbie? Thanks!

Get yourself an elastic-waisted skirt from the womens rack that's long enough to suit your personal taste. Be sure it's a dark color, preferably black. There are a couple manufacturers left that still make mens skirts:

JDEZ
Midas
Anders-Landinger

You can find their URL's on the Links page.