skirtcafe.org

Thank you all for the input. this is a complicated subject and I am re reading all of the comments and suggestions. I understand that there are times for different length skirts.

I guess a picture is worth a thousand words For business church etc it is one thing but for other times what do you think

OK, I guess, but a short skirt over long pants never made much sense to me. If you like it, that's good enough.

Jim wrote:OK, I guess, but a short skirt over long pants never made much sense to me. If you like it, that's good enough.

What pants those are fleeced lined tights

I'm not sure that age really makes a lot of difference other than it tends to change the body's shape and features, which may affect what clothing suits. When it comes to appropriateness then is that not more to do with the occasion or who you are likely to be meeting up with? At work they generally deem jeans to be inappropriate, however that isn't the case for the groups that go to work on the farm. They do ask that my skirts aren't "too" short unless I'm wearing it over tights or leggings. I have probably pushed the boundaries a little hehe. Some have said that they would not have got away with wearing that I do.

This was today's work outfit that senior management were quite happy with:

SD looks good you are the only one I know that can make my skirts look long

looks good

JeffB1959 wrote:I think some people are trapped by the antiquated mindset that only the young can wear short skirts/dresses, a mindset I find to be inaccurate at best, discriminatory at worst. I mean, if you have the legs to rock a short hem, then go ahead and rock it, regardless of your age. Just wear what you want, when you want, and give only as much credence to detractors as you want to give, which should be none.

Man, if it was only about legs I'd be right with you, but short hems are not about showing legs. Short hems are for creating anticipation of seeing something other than legs. That's where the "age appropriate" comments are coming from, I am almost sure.

BUT, I don't think that Mrs. Doubtfire is the only alternative. Lots of older women manage to look quite nice, including showing a fair amount of leg. I don't see why we men can't do that too. Everything seems to be a matter of degrees.

My wife is unusually young looking for her age. She has a firm body any teenage girl would envy. She is one year younger than I am and I refer to her as my "trophy wife." She maintains herself by eating healthy and exercising. She easily looks 20 years younger than she is and is a petite blonde. She is a retired teacher and likes to play piano, guitar, and sings. She and her friends perform on open mic nights at local restaurants.

What is age appropriate for her? Attractive clothing for younger women. Tighter, shorter, colorful, shiny. We have been married 53 years and people have thought she was my daughter.

Maybe body shape appropriate might be a better guideline?

Lets see a man is walking into a bar .

There are 2 guys sitting there One says to the other did you see that old guy walking in wearing a skirt

His partner answers Its ok it was an age appropriate dark colored midi skirt

Just a follow upon Mcbeals legs The good the bad and the ugly

Ray wrote:Maybe body shape appropriate might be a better guideline?

This is one reason I don't wear a lot of short skirts, and tend to stick in the midi range. With my pot belly, anything too short just seems to look out of proportion on me. Even a longer skirt that hangs straight down doesn't look right, so that's why I tend to favor fuller skirts, sometimes fluffing it out with a petticoat. It seems to help balance the whole look for me.

Ugly? That's a bit harsh, OS1. Calista Flockhart is probably too thin in that pic, her legs included, but not ugly.

Your legs are good, though. Obviously.

I figure if you can nail appropriate for the time and place (work vs. the beach, etc.), as well as who you are (CEO vs. the janitor, or doctor at the hospital vs. patient or visitor, etc.), and it works with your body type, you are well on your way to being dressed appropriately. These things have more to do with what is appropriate than age does.

That said, a junior employee well typically be younger than management. Someone who is married and just out for drinks with friends, probably shouldn't dress the same as someone who is single and looking to attract the opposite sex. As we progress to different stages of life, expectations change, and our appearance should reflect that. Age loosely correlates to these stages, as well as body type, but I wouldn't say it is the reason for these changes in appearance.

The other issue here is that many of us, as men are starting to incorporate new options into our wardrobe late in life. Women incorporated these things into their own personal style long ago, when they were young. So they worked through the what-works-for-them issues when they were young, and slowly changed their wardrobe as their bodies and positions in life changed.

Young people are given a pass (to some extent) on dressing inappropriately, because there is an understanding that they are new to this. As a person gets older, there is a greater expectation for them to get the appropriate clothing thing down right, regardless of how long they have been wearing a particular type of clothing, whether that is a skirt or simply formal attire.

Well, alls I can say is, thank goodness for skinny flat chested women. If not for them, there would be no female blouses, and shirts that fit guys like us.

When it comes to appropriateness for men in skirts, who is writing the rules? In who's eyes should this be appropriate or not?

I wear what I feel as comfortable. It mostly depends on the places I go and what kind of people I can expect. If I feel I can pull it off then I will feel comfortable. That level of comfort grows in time. The more you go out in a skirt, the more you feel confident. In the beginning I wore skirts that looked like shorts but now I'm wearing skirts that look like proper skirts.

My wife and one or two of her friends still think my skirt-wearing is sligthly inappropriate but it is not keeping me from wearing skirts. I also don't feel much restricted by age. When I grew older I did not change my way of clothing when I was in pants or suits. If you are a fashion-follower, you might change your clothing with age but I never cared about fashion and bought what I found in the stores and suited me liking.