Above the knee or below the knee!

Discussion of fashion elements and looks that are traditionally considered somewhat "femme" but are presented in a masculine context. This is NOT about transvestism or crossdressing.
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Sinned
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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by Sinned »

Well, I've just had my three long skirts delivered. Royal blue crinkle material, black and green in viscose. All ankle length on me and I love them. One has a built in slip which is great but the other two don't so I think I'll have to tactfully cadge a full slip off my wife. I know she has a few. That's my winter skirts sorted.

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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by crfriend »

Sinned wrote:One has a built in slip which is great but the other two don't so I think I'll have to tactfully cadge a full slip off my wife. I know she has a few.
I'd suggest purchasing your own; they're not all that expensive and you get to pick the style/colour.
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Sinned
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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by Sinned »

Well, I liked the long skirts but my wife didn't. She said that they make me look, to quote her exactly, "a bit tranny". So maybe I'll wear them around the house when she isn't in but it appears that she prefers the short skirts that show my legs off. Her opinion is really important to me so I'll take notice. I did say that I bought the skirts for winter use to keep my legs warm. And her response, "Well, wear trousers then!" I groaned inwardly but kept my mouth shut.

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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by skirtyscot »

Maybe you should have gone for a plainer material. Denim, cord, you know the ones. I wore my ankle-length brown cord skirt yestereay evening and hardly anybody seemed to notice.

For the cold weather, wear your short skirts with tights. My thickest ones are warmer than trousers. (Tell your wife that!) But again, steer clear of those fabrics she would cast aspersions on.
Last edited by skirtyscot on Fri Dec 07, 2012 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Keep on skirting,

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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by Derek Plattis »

I wore a full length pleated skirt in dark blue with pink and purple flowers all over - very freestyle ( I'll post a picture if I can). I wore it out to a pub with friends and no-one seemed to notice. I have to admit I was a bit nervous about it at first but in the end it was received without comment by friends and strangers alike. - All in all a great experience!
004 cropped compressed.jpg
Up to now I've been sticking to safer denim or dark plain skirts. Wearing this was really pushing the boundaries for me - but it was no real problem at all.

Happy Skirting

Derek
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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by skirtyscot »

Good for you! But I bet everyone noticed; it's not what you'd call subtle, is it?

I own one floral skirt. A bit of a mistake, really. I bought it on Ebay, where I found it with under an hour to go on the auction and the highest bid at a mere 99p. The photo was pretty poor and it just looked like a plain dark purple colour. Normally I ask lots of questions about skirts before bidding, but this time I decided to go for it. Well, when it arrived I saw that it was actually fairly subdued purple and black, with a large floral pattern. Less striking than yours, I'd say. It's long, light and comfy, and a good fit, so I decided to keep it. Though I would not have bid for it if I had realised it was floral, I soon decided that I quite like the patttern. It makes a nice change from self-coloured. Mrs SS dislikes it, but the staff at my local Co-op didn't seem to mind it all!

Must put a piccy up some time. Also wear it to a choir practice or some other place where lots of people will get a chance to comment on it.

But Derek, what kind of pub did you go to? Somehow I think that in the hostelries near me, skirts are rarely seen on anybody, and a floral skirt would be a most inadvisable choice for a man.
Keep on skirting,

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Derek Plattis
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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by Derek Plattis »

skirtyscot wrote: But Derek, what kind of pub did you go to? Somehow I think that in the hostelries near me, skirts are rarely seen on anybody, and a floral skirt would be a most inadvisable choice for a man.
It was a friendly, village pub where I am known for my skirt wearing.

I feel I could wear any skirt there or anywhere else really, but I will always continue to exercise caution and discretion.

Derek
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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by rick401r »

My first skirt was a flowered, button thru with almost a Hawaiian design. In fact, when I picked it up from the free table, I thought was a was a shirt since it was neatly folded with the row of buttons down the center. Only after I got it home did I find out I had picked up a woman's skirt. I put it on as a joke and found it to be the most comfortable piece of clothing I'd ever worn. That skirt changed my life forever.
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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by GerdG »

My skirts including kilts are all from top of knee to mid thigh. I have worn long skirts, floor length and ankle length but neither did I find them comfortable nor did I like the way they looked on me.

By the way, even in a very short skirt (finger tip length) the risk of exposing yourself is minimal, at least as long as you are walking or standing. I think this picture, taken from an angle you would never see in the real world, proves it. When sitting down some caution is asked for, however.

Image
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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by skirtyscot »

Very interesting photo, GerdG. I've often wondered how low someone would have to go get a good view of what was under a skirt. It's not really something you can ask a woman in a short skirt! But now I know, and the answer is pretty damn low, even with a skirt as short as that.
Keep on skirting,

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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by crfriend »

skirtyscot wrote:Very interesting photo, GerdG. I've often wondered how low someone would have to go get a good view of what was under a skirt.
Light also works to the skirt-wearer's advantage. In Gerd's photo, he was likely using a flash which would certainly get the attention of the subject of the photograph. Without "from-below" illumination most cameras, unless they're very high-speed or sensitive, would not stand much of a chance; similarly the human eye.

From my experience, the worst exposure problems are from behind on stairs or (worse) escalators. Those can be problematic, but by contemplating the local lighting situation can sometimes be ignored or simple precautions (e.g. sweeping) taken.

Of course, sitting in a very short skirt is something completely different altogether.
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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by GerdG »

Some years ago I simply wanted to check out how relevant the danger of being exposed. I promise, you’ll never see any pictures where I pushed boundaries too much. But I was surprised how little the risk actually is.
Like Crfriend wrote, there are the lighting conditions. Under a skirt there is normally dark, light seldom coming from below. Further the angle – of course dependent on the length and width of your skirt – plays an important role.

On the picture below I was standing on the top of a some very steep stairs. The camera was mounted on a table top tripod about two meters below my feet and as close to the stairs as possible. Camera angle estimated 70 degrees. The kilt was to the top of the knees.
Unless the viewer really does his/her best – or has the height of a middle sized dog – it takes more than that to be exposed.

Image

Even if lighted up in Photoshop you cannot tell if I was commando or not. Since then I have never feared taking staircases and escalators.

Image

If you doubt me, try standing on an escalator behind/below a skirted lady.

A few weeks ago I was in Japan. As you may know young Japanese girls are often wearing extremely short skirts. What impressed me was how naturally they moved along, never trying to keep the skirt in place, it seemed and yet nothing was revealed.

Image

I often took the Tokyo metro, and on the stations they have some very long and pretty steep escalators. Rather often I was founding myself standing say fifteen meters below a such dressed young woman. Still I have no idea what they are wearing or perhaps not under their short skirts. Or perhaps I just didn’t try hard enough. :wink:

We men must due to anatomy be a little more careful about the length of our skirts, but anyhow.
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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by skirted_in_SF »

Speaking from my (very) limited experience; a jacket, like shown in the last picture, tends to keep a skirt under control in windy situations.
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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by knickerless »

The photos above show there is very little chance of showing underwear or lack of it when going upstairs or escalator. if there was any such rick women in skirts would avoid using them. Spiral stairs as found on double deck buses or open plan staircase where the steps are open however are a bit different and should be used with care.

Nick
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Re: Above the knee or below the knee!

Post by JeffB1959 »

Last Sunday, I wore a 17 inch denim skirt on an outing, and for a time, I felt, well, dissatisfied because it wasn't short enough. I enjoy wearing skirts above the knee, mainly because I have nice legs that I like to show off, and that makes things fun for me.
I don't want to LOOK like a woman, I just want to DRESS like a woman.
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