Normal and Natural

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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oldsalt1
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Normal and Natural

Post by oldsalt1 »

I use normal and natural a lot when I comment on some of the café members outfits.

I just want to make sure the members understand what I am trying to say

I am hoping to reach a point where skirt and even dress wearing by men is not some weird idea .

I want it to be "so what he's wearing a skirt

I realize that I have posted some extreme outfits. but my true goal is to have what I am wearing accepted as nothing out of .the ordinary

so please if I use the term "normal and natural" accept it as a compliment
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Dick Ackerman
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by Dick Ackerman »

Dan.
We share a common goal. Never fear, it is always taken as a very positive comment from my point of view. Skirt on.
Dick
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beachlion
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by beachlion »

Normal and natural is also my goal. When you think you are dressed normal and natural, you will behave normal and natural.
I'm certainly not a flamboyant person who wants to be the center of attention. Only when I think I have to, I will make my presence noted and give them hell if needed. With my skirts I try to extend the way I was dressed before. Pants and shorts morphed into skirts, that is all. In my overall picture there is not much of a change. Even with heels I try to be modest, free of frilly things.

The remarks "normal and natural" of Oldsalt1 sounded to me as approving because that was in my opinion also the intention of the wearer.
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by Fred in Skirts »

Dan,
Wearing skirts as men should be as normal and natural for us as it is for women! I see no reason it should be otherwise. We as men in skirts should work as hard as possible to make it so. :D
"It is better to be hated for what you are than be loved for what you are not" Andre Gide: 1869 - 1951
Always be yourself because the people that matter don’t mind and the ones that mind don’t matter.
weeladdie18
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by weeladdie18 »

I feel I have reached my comfort zone when the female compliments me on my attire without asking me why I am wearing a skirt .
I make an effort to wear smart male attire with my female skirt .

For example I wear a female summer skirt with male attire to give a normal and natural look to my outfit .
A male sports jacket is not commonly worn these days . Neither is a full simple summer skirt .
I mix these two garments with a lightweight colourful female neck scarf.

Unfortunately sometimes I get into an outfit I am not really comfortable with .
The final comfortable outfit is the one I am confident to wear out on the street .....All a matter of experience.
weeladdie18
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by weeladdie18 »

Perhaps the answer is not to wear what Dan would call an extreme outfit .
As I have said before .... I am still not happy wearing a dress . If I do not try to wear a dress , I feel more comfortable and so more confident .
It does require experience to get it right .

Another thing to note is that folks recognise us by the skirt we wear . I deliberately do not wear the same skirt on two consecutive days .
By wearing a different skirt each day , I can show the World that it is normal and natural for me to wear a skirt.
Freedomforall
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by Freedomforall »

Your goal is mutually congruent to mine as well.
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JeffB1959
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by JeffB1959 »

To throw in my two cents worth (adjusted for inflation), I feel that "normal" and "natural" are terms that are open to personal interpretation, depending wholly on the individual. In my case, I feel that it's perfectly normal and natural to wear skirts, dresses and heels like any woman, I feel totally comfortable and at ease in such clothes because they're just that....clothes! Nothing more, nothing less, and that's way it should be.
I don't want to LOOK like a woman, I just want to DRESS like a woman.
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by Fred in Skirts »

JeffB1959 wrote:To throw in my two cents worth (adjusted for inflation), I feel that "normal" and "natural" are terms that are open to personal interpretation, depending wholly on the individual. In my case, I feel that it's perfectly normal and natural to wear skirts, dresses and heels like any woman, I feel totally comfortable and at ease in such clothes because they're just that....clothes! Nothing more, nothing less, and that's way it should be.
And that's the truth!!!

Well said Jeff. I fully agree, we should not worry wither or not the great unwashed and down right stupid think about what we wear and when and where we wear it.
Clothes are made from cloth which is made from thread which comes from plant and animal fibers, nowhere is there any gender applicable items that go into making clothes.
Just My two cents worth as well... :lol: :lol: :lol:
"It is better to be hated for what you are than be loved for what you are not" Andre Gide: 1869 - 1951
Always be yourself because the people that matter don’t mind and the ones that mind don’t matter.
weeladdie18
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by weeladdie18 »

with reference to Normal and Natural .....and regard to Sightings in the wild ....I am the only Man in who normally wears a skirt ....in my regional location.....
I might normally see as many as five females normally wearing skirts in the same location in one day .
In say a hundred persons passing through my location , this would suggest that with a 50% mix of males and females ....one male in fifty and as many as one female
in ten would naturally be seen normally wearing a skirt.
If I say that I would normally wear a skirt , We should remember that the number of females who naturally wear a skirt may vary from day to day.

It is also worth noting that I would expect my sightings of females in traditional skirts to normally be females of the older generation.

This survey is perhaps rather random but does show that I might expect perhaps as many as five times as many females to one male normally wearing a skirt in a crowd .

This is a fairly random survey of the relative number of males and females who might be seen normally wearing skirts .However most people in a crowd would
probably have more important issues to consider during their daily lives.
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denimini
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by denimini »

I believe that it is not what we wear that determines normal and natural; it is our mindset and the way we behave that sets the cue.
I have never seen another man in a skirt in real life, as yet, but I carry on as if a man wearing a mini skirt is the most normal thing in the world, never acknowledging my abberation unless someone directly asks a question, even then I respond as if someone asked why I was wearing pants.
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
john62
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by john62 »

Well in Melbourne over the ten or so years I have been going out in a skirt, I have seen one male in a kilt and that is in a city of about four million people !

John
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denimini
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by denimini »

john62 wrote:Well in Melbourne over the ten or so years I have been going out in a skirt, I have seen one male in a kilt and that is in a city of about four million people !

John
I have been down there a few times .......... we must have missed each other :)
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by 6ft3Aussie »

I was down in Melbourne a couple of years ago when there was a Scottish festival and saw plenty of men in kilts at the big train station (think it was Spencer St).. There was at least one guy on the train back close to where we left the car, and I recall several young women (maybe late teen/20s or so) spent the whole time talking to him.
Our office in Melbourne is at Scoresby.
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Pdxfashionpioneer
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Re: Normal and Natural

Post by Pdxfashionpioneer »

"Normal and natural" sound good to me.

I heartily endorse the view that wearing what feels comfortable and natural to YOU is absolutely key. In the first place, it's the whole idea. In the second, it is what builds acceptance for not only men wearing skirted garments, but also for every other kind of diversity.

That said, I would like to put in a plug for pushing the borders of your personal comfort zone. What makes womenswear so much fun is the nearly infinite variety. That variety allows you to find the exactly right outfit for the season, time of day, weather, occasion and, most importantly, your mood! That is true fashion freedom! Don't squander that newfound freedom on the same limited range of colors, fabrics and styles that you restricted yourself to when you only wore pants or shorts.

Life is short, seize the day!
David, the PDX Fashion Pioneer

Social norms aren't changed by Congress or Parliament; they're changed by a sufficient number of people ignoring the existing ones and publicly practicing new ones.
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