Skirt Cafe is an on-line community dedicated to exploring, promoting and advocating skirts and kilts as a fashion choice for men, formerly known as men in skirts. We do this in the context of men's fashion freedom --- an expansion of choices beyond those commonly available for men to include kilts, skirts and other garments. We recognize a diversity of styles our members feel comfortable wearing, and do not exclude any potential choices. Continuing dialog on gender is encouraged in the context of fashion freedom for men. See here for more details.
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.
Took a $25 roll of the dice today on ebay, after an unsuccessful weekend of dress hunting. According to the dimensions, I calculate it should fit. It may be a bit on the long side, but that's easily hemmed. I really hope it fits and works on my body as I really like the look, and would hate to have to turn around and donate it.
No pictures, no links, it's a surprise! And if it doesn't pass "the mirror test", you'll never know! In fact, it's going to my personal UPS box in Bristol, so I will try it on in my privacy, if it works, then I'll out it. If not, then it goes into the boneyard of Moonshadow's epic fails.
Not planning on going full board into dresses, but I feel I have enough skirts to add at least a couple of dresses in my collection.
Coming from L.A. California, so I expect it to arrive sometime next week.
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
moonshadow wrote:Coming from L.A. California, so I expect it to arrive sometime next week.
I allow a week coast to coast for UPS ground.
Depends. If it's UPS or FedEx ground then yes, defiantly a week. However USPS can be odd. I've known them to ship a parcel on a plane and have it hear in a few days. Yet on the other hand, it took a full business week to get my Mouseworks skirt shipped from Earlysville VA to Damascus, which according to google is just under a 4 hour drive! I watched as that skirt traveled from it's source to North Carolina, to Knoxville Tennessee, got hung up in a little town outside of Johnson City TN for a few days, then made it's way to Bristol.
It's strange.
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
When I order from Sierra Trading Post in Laramie WY, UPS consistently takes 3 to 4 days longer than USPS to deliver the item. But, unless you specifically ask for USPS, they always send it the slower way. I figure they are either some anti-government contrarians, or they make more from their shipping charges than it actually costs them for UPS. That's why I prefer 6PM.com; they ship FREE via USPS (from Kentucky) and I have the parcel in 2 to 3 days. They are usually cheaper as well.
I just got some fantastic hiking socks at a warehouse sale from the company where my daughter is now a designer. Ballston wool hiking socks for $3 a pair and in my size! They do a lot of custom label wool blend outdoor socks for brands like Woolrich, Icebreaker, Cabelas, REI, Bass Pro, Teko, and more. There were a lot of 2nd quality name-brand socks for $1 per pair, but mostly in women's sizes.
As a matter of fact, the sun DOES shine out of my ...
USPS has at least two classes of service: the classic parcel post which is slow and Priority Mail. Via Priority, I routinely get two day service from the Boston suburbs or Denver to San Francisco. Many of the vendors I buy from use a service where they ship UPS or FedEx to my local post office and USPS makes the delivery. It can be interesting to use tracking to watch your package travel around the country on its way to you.
Stuart Gallion
No reason to hide my full name
Back in my skirts in San Francisco
I don't know.... I've tried on a few dresses at different stores and so far... well, it's not that I look "bad" in a dress. But as I look at myself in the fitting room mirror I no longer see a simple "man in a skirt", but rather I see a drag queen.
A sexy drag queen, but a drag queen none the less.
And I can honestly say that this is not the "look" I'm aiming for.
It's not the concept of a dress, it's the design of them, and the fabric. In the department stores, the simple dresses that have the style I like (cut of the fabric) are floral and simply to "granny" like, the ones of more simple fabrics are to provocative in other areas, or they are to big busted, which looks really weird on my chest. While women and men may be similar enough from the waist down for skirts to work on just about anyone, I have learned that from the waist up, women and men have completely different builds.
The model wearing the dress I purchased on ebay looked flat chested, so I'm hoping that this won't be an issue when I try it on.
Remember some of my other post, I like the look of skirts on me (and other men) because I feel they are elegant and graceful. Many dresses on men (myself included) in my opinion just look silly and "out of place". Except for Jack's. I thought his were cool. If I could find one like that, then that would be a different story. But dresses are a tough look for a man to rock. They are, all in all the biggest fashion taboo for men that remains to this day. Whereas I believe men in skirts is slowly becoming more acceptable. I wouldn't say "common place", but I feel in the next decade or two, most people will at least know a man somewhere that wears a kilt at least, if not an outright women's skirt.
Honestly, if a designer designed a dress for a man, I'd wager it'd look like a robe. Which is basically a another word for "man's dress". As we look back in history, we hear story after story of men who wear skirts, however not to many men who wear dresses, however many men did, and still do wear robes.
The jury is still out on this one. But from what I've seen myself in so far, I'd rather go out in my old wiccan robe than a woman's dress.
One thing is for sure, the religious right would have a tough time being critical about it, as Jesus, Moses, and all the other biblical superstars wore... a robe.... (okay technically not a robe, but more "dress like" than a skirt!)
And while a man in a robe may indeed turn heads and be unusual, I can't think of anyone that would mistake the man for a crossdresser. Since robes are reserved for mostly religious reasons.
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
Would have been nice to see a photo to make an assessment of it - if it was a tight LBD, I would understand the worry. But with no picture, we haven't a clue
kilty wrote:Would have been nice to see a photo to make an assessment of it - if it was a tight LBD, I would understand the worry. But with no picture, we haven't a clue
Patience....
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
Actually, another dress is on it's way as well. I didn't mention it because for about a week it showed as "backordered" on the website, and I didn't expect it until January 2016! In fact, I was going to log in last night and just cancel the order, I learned that not only did it ship, but apparently as of Sunday it was sitting at the Bristol TN post office!
So it might actually arrive today, if that's the case I look forward to trying it on.
The dress I'm speaking of on this reply is NOT the dress I spoke of at the start of the thread (I've ordered two). However I have a bit more confidence in this one as it was purchased from a website called "woman within" (my wife's suggestion), which caters to plus sized ladies. The dress in question looks as though it will fit, and the size is right.
Although the website calls it a "jumper dress". The model shows it with a shirt underneath which is probably the way I'd wear it.
Both dresses were among the most conservative and modest I could find, online or in the real word. If these don't work, then I'm out about $75 and I will go on to say that dresses aren't for me.
Naturally I would have liked to have tried them on, however in the online world that is not an option. However the online world gives me basically unlimited time to study they garment and it's dimensions, take my tape and measure myself to see if it's workable, unlike brick and mortar stores where sizes are not always so detailed, and while debating, I have a tendency to get "shoved" out of the way by more serious female clothing shoppers.
I tell ya, women can get downright viscous when you're standing in front of a garment they want to try.
When shopping in the men's section, I've noticed men are MUCH more polite.
Just sayin....
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
Woman Within is probably where I get most of my nonstandard clothes. I prefer nylon to cotton underwear, so whenever I need new briefs I get their 10-pack. I've ordered a number of nightgowns and dresses from them over the years.
My main problem with WW is that they use short models. I'm no giant, just a paltry 5'9", but stuff that looks ankle length on the models falls just below my knees. And don't even get me started about "long" sleeves that barely make it past my elbows. When I need something that truly is ankle-length or has full length sleeves, I have to order it in a solid color that I can find a matching fabric, and sew on the extensions myself.
You might also want to check Just My Size, since they also cater to us full-figured folk.
Ralph wrote:Woman Within is probably where I get most of my nonstandard clothes. I prefer nylon to cotton underwear, so whenever I need new briefs I get their 10-pack. I've ordered a number of nightgowns and dresses from them over the years.
My main problem with WW is that they use short models. I'm no giant, just a paltry 5'9", but stuff that looks ankle length on the models falls just below my knees. And don't even get me started about "long" sleeves that barely make it past my elbows. When I need something that truly is ankle-length or has full length sleeves, I have to order it in a solid color that I can find a matching fabric, and sew on the extensions myself.
You might also want to check Just My Size, since they also cater to us full-figured folk.
Other similar sources - Lane Bryant and Catherine's. Check also the large department stores i.e. Macy's Plus sizes
Yes maybe more expensive but shop end of season or during sales and use their discount coupons.
AND damn those short 3/4 sleeve Asian long sleeve blouses and jackets.
Those people are ignorant of the sizing of the western hemisphere woman.
Lots of interesting stuff on ebay but sadly the sizing is for another person in outer space.
The Asian manufacturers have their own unique petite sizing - nothing for the full figure (wo)man.
Sizing I refer to as fit for the munchkins !
"YES SKIRTING MATTERS"!
"Kilt-On" -or- as the case may be "Skirt-On" !
WHY ?
Isn't wearing a kilt enough?
Well a skirt will do in a pinch!
Make mine short and don't you dare think of pinching there !
r.m.anderson wrote:
AND damn those short 3/4 sleeve Asian long sleeve blouses and jackets.
Those people are ignorant of the sizing of the western hemisphere woman.
Lots of interesting stuff on ebay but sadly the sizing is for another person in outer space.
The Asian manufacturers have their own unique petite sizing - nothing for the full figure (wo)man.
Sizing I refer to as fit for the munchkins !
Ain't that the truth. I find any skirts or garments made for Asian women are pretty much useless for western women. Their XXL is equal to something like a 25" waist! Their small is about as big around as a tea cup saucer.
Which sucks because they have some AWESOME skirt designs.
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
moonshadow wrote:I find any skirts or garments made for Asian women are pretty much useless for western women. Their XXL is equal to something like a 25" waist! Their small is about as big around as a tea cup saucer.
Which sucks because they have some AWESOME skirt designs.
The problem is that the designs might not "scale up" and look right. Some designs just don't look right on folks our size -- and I'm not speaking of the size 26+ crowd; some of the Asian designs would look forced on a US size 2.
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
moonshadow wrote:Ain't that the truth. I find any skirts or garments made for Asian women are pretty much useless for western women. Their XXL is equal to something like a 25" waist! Their small is about as big around as a tea cup saucer. Which sucks because they have some AWESOME skirt designs.
Oh, yes. I love the look of a nice cheongsam, but unless you're 4'8" with a 6" waist you can forget about finding one that fits. That said,
crfriend wrote:The problem is that the designs might not "scale up" and look right. Some designs just don't look right on folks our size -- and I'm not speaking of the size 26+ crowd; some of the Asian designs would look forced on a US size 2.
I once tried, back when I was "only" 36 inches around. I got the absolute largest they offered, like 6XL. Technically I could fit into it, but I looked (and felt) like an overstuffed sausage.
Ralph wrote:I once tried, back when I was "only" 36 inches around. I got the absolute largest they offered, like 6XL. Technically I could fit into it, but I looked (and felt) like an overstuffed sausage.
It's amazing how much smaller some people are in comparison. I was pushing 36" around, now I find that I'm probably about 35". Still to large to go back to a 34" waist, but 36" hangs a little low on the hip.
None the less, most ladies "medium" skirts fit me well. I'm sort of between sizes 10 and 12. If it's got an elastic waist band then size 10, if it's belted - 12. Not sure about a non-elastic, non-belted skirt. Never tried one. Personally I don't think I have enough hip to hold such a garment and remain confident that it won't slip down. But I find that those style of skirts are in the minority anyway, and those I do see frankly aren't my style. Elastic 12 fits, but I find they can feel loose.
I also find most of the Asian ebay skirts I like tend to be high waisted. I have a couple of skirts that work best high waisted, but since I've gotten better at skirt shopping, I do try to avoid them. I rather prefer to wear them where my belt line is.
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
In fact, it's going to my personal UPS box in Bristol, so I will try it on in my privacy, if it works, then I'll out it. If not, then it goes into the boneyard of Moonshadow's epic fails.
