The Vagaries of Fashion

[Caultron]

All you have to do is look more reasonable than these people.

http://www.dumpaday.com/random-pictures ... ts-24-pics.

[Sarongman]

More Walmartians, I feel slightly ill from the effects---ummm thanks, I think, Caultron

[STEVIE]

Sorry,
but on many levels these shots are just wrong, not funny, just plain wrong.
There doesn't seem to be much to do with fashion in them, more a freak show that would be best ignored.
Steve.

[Caultron]

The interest for me is that here are these people dressed wildly beyond "normal" and (except for someone taking their photo and posting it on the Internet) apparently getting away with it.

So unless you in your skirt or kilt look even stranger than these, you're OK. And who knows, maybe even then.

Today I went to the dentist, a laundry / alterations shop, and a shoe / alterations shop wearing a t-shirt, a chocolate brown utility kilt, and sandals, and nobody blinked an eye. Well, OK, there was one. A young hygienist at the dentist's office kept sneaking peeks and smiling. And I assure you, I don't get that in trousers.

The visits to the two alterations shops, BTW, were to get another kilt repaired. An eyelet hade worked its way off a buckle and I needed a slightly larger eyelet to replace it. Neither shopkeeper blinked an eye, except that the first one had neither a supply of eyelets nor the machine for putting them in. He suggested the second shop which, because they also repair shoes, did.

[STEVIE]

Hi Caultron,
I understandd the point you are making, my problem is with the photographers and the motivation for taking the snaps.
I'm very doubtful that they have the slightest human interest in their subjects. I can't know for sure but I have a feeling that that they'd view any skirted guy with a similar attitude.
Of course these are outlandish looks but are also quite remarkably tame in comparison to some of the real vagaries of fashion.
As far wearing a skirt, not kilt, I've kind of got the various reactions down to about 5 or so.
Ignore, amusement, disdain, curiousity and outright support. Of course it's possible to get a bit of a mix. I can say that I've never had bad service while skirted and like you received and returned more smiles than ever trousers would have produced.
Steve.

[Caultron]

Well, OK, I guess it's true that some combination of people -- photographers, editors, Web posters, whatever -- found these people ridiculous, and some here might construe that as a threat to be perceived the same way.

To me, it's more like, "These people are nuttier than I am, so what I am might not be so bad." I mean, OK, they got their picture on the Internet, but only as they appeared in public anyway.

Or similarly, look around: you might not see any other men in skirts, but you *can* see other people dressed against the norm, so dressing against the normal is apparently OK.

But I can see that this post, like my previous Walmartians ones, isn't going over so well, so I'll cut it out.

[STEVIE]

Hey, it's not a case of "cut it out", I never meant that.
Yeah, these people are more or less likely to be nuttier than you or me.
We'll never actually know unless we take the time to get to know them.
Snapping from behind a telephoto lens is not the way to get to know about the rich tapestry that is our existence.
Not threatened, I had an amazing "chat " on Sunday with four 20 something guys.
It was that, that gave me the idea of the 5 reactions, 4 people and me, they just couldn't get their collective heads around a guy in a skirt.
Point, no pictures, just a random chat that gave pause for thought to me and, hopefully, them.
Steve.

[Caultron]

.Snapping from behind a telephoto lens is not the way to get to know about the rich tapestry that is our existence.

Of course not. Photos are merely blinks in the infinity of time. But we still take them.

[henri]

Well Caultron, those photos makes my straight black skirt and stockings look so normal. It is very hot here in the UK at the moment, not quite as hot as Arizona! But pretty bloody hot for London.
Wear what you feel good in. I do not have time to chip in to Skirt Cafe all that often, but I am so relieved I made the decision to wear my skirts openly about 2 years ago. Hardly get any odd looks, but to my amusement a lady locum GP (Doctor) referred to my skirt as a dress! My regular Doc has got completely used to me appearing more often in a skirt, and amusingly said that I had a good pair of legs for fella! And I am no spring chicken!
My skirts are loose, held up with braces, and when it is cooler I wear flesh-coloured stockings, with a plain garter / suspender belt.
If it is right for you, just do it. In a cosmopolitan city like London we now have so many groups who wear a skirt or gown type garments no one bats an eyelid.

[Caultron]

Well Caultron, those photos makes my straight black skirt and stockings look so normal.

Thanks. That's spirit I intended when posting the link.

In a cosmopolitan city like London we now have so many groups who wear a skirt or gown type garments no one bats an eyelid.

This is the hardest lesson for new skirt-wearers to believe and learn: how very little (if at all) the rest of the world cares what you wear.

[TheSkirtedMan]

Those that have appeared in "Walmartion" link above are just individuals expressing their individuality. They are doing others no harm just like men in skirts yet many in society privately query our motives a few publicly.

Sure I wouldn't dress like them and to me privately they do look odd, or not "normal" as members of society say. What is normal. The answer is ones own perception of a view you hold. We are all odd to each other, the exception is if you find a fellow minded person then you are a group. That group then thinks others are odd and the other group thinks likewise. Why, because each is different and each thinks they are right.

The ones behind the lens are no different. They highlight the differences of others by publishing because they the photographers think they are right and the others are wrong.

You judge people by getting to know them as individuals. I once met a guy heavily tattooed, ear rings all over, built like a bulldozer and clothing that was not mainstream yet he was polite, friendly and we actually had an intelligent conversation whilst we both sat and waited for our appointments.

I wear skirts, tops and cardigans known by society as womens wear. I too go to Dentists, Opticians, Doctors, theaters, grocery stores, petrol stations etc and take out those that look because I'm different, the odd brief giggle by young girls, 99.9% just get on with life and I have had no direct comment. Many talk to me immediately, some take a few minutes before they hear me speak then realise I am no different to other humans but simply dress differently to mainstream men. I to get more compliments than giggles and certainly no compliments in trousers. Does that make me more normal than those in the "Walmartion" link or less normal than societies mainstream perception who to me are similar to Lemmings.

Judge people by how they interact with others not by dress. Putting photos of these "Walmartions" and knocking them is no different to those who do the same about men in skirts.

I'm sorry if you don't agree but this is my observation on the subject of "The Vagaries of Fashion"

[Caultron]

You're not alone in seeing yourself (or us) thrown in with the Walmartians, and in seeing the photographer/collector/Web site owner as making fun of them, and therefore us.

This wasn't my original intent: namely that these people were further off mainstream than us, and they were, "getting away with it," so we shouldn't worry about about our own appearance being a bit unusual.

But since this has proven divisive, I've stopped posting these kind of links. Two was probably enough anyway.