Dress/robe/tunic for hot days?

[AMM]

While I was on Lake George, on the hot days, I saw a few women in sundresses. They looked cool -- both in the literal and metaphorical senses -- and I wished I could have worn one. It's set me to thinking about what I could put together on my sewing machine that would be comfortable on hot, humid days and which I might conceivably someday dare to wear openly.

Any ideas as to how one could adapt the sundress idea to a man's body?

Speaking for myself, it would have to have sleeves (probably T-shirt length), since my shoulder muscles cramp unless they're covered. It would also need to be loose (billowy?) to let the air circulate. I kind of like the idea of a ruffle or flounce at the bottom, but I realize most guys here would think that too "femme".

My first idea was something like a nightshirt, but with a straight hem, rather than "shirt-tails". A yoke over the shoulders, with fabric gathered (maybe 2:1) at the bottom of the yoke (i.e., above the chest) that then falls to the knees, plus simple short sleeves and a V-neck. I'd have the body flare out somewhat, starting above my "spare tire." Fabric: a lightweight cotton or gauze; if you're worried about it being too see-through, add a simple cotton half-slip ("underkilt") Maybe a geometric design embroidered on the bottom 6 inches or so, to encourage onlookers to think ancient Greek or Roman tunic, rather than drag queen.

Anybody want to run with this idea?

-- AMM

[WSmac]

How about modifying something like these?
http://www.mccallpattern.com/item/M4002.htm

I am also picturing something like a scrub top that has a skirt attached underneath so that the top and bottom appear as separate items but are, in fact, one.

Did that make any sense?

[RichardA]

Have a look here in the mens dept
http://www.desertstore.com/

[sapphire]

RichardA and WSmac, great ideas! The MCCall's pattern would be very easy to start with.

I'd been thinking of something like a tunic/robe for men but had gotten into a rut. It would certainly be nice to toss around a few more ideas, maybe pictures or sketches.

What do you think?

Diana

[SkirtedViking]

...too masculine for most women.Since this is the freestyler's section it is supposed to discuss things out of the traditional masculine context.I certainly wear and would wear other types of dresses than those in the front page of the links but that's just na opinion.I do that often with heels and full beard or most times a goattie,and I am still a man and masculinity is something that is inner according to me.Clothes do not make you masculine.

[MtnBiker]

I have a garment that I wear a good bit during the warm weather. I call it a mumu (moo moo). My wife calls it my african tunic. It' clearly made from one single long piece of fabric (there are no shoulder seams) with an opening for the head. The only seams are down the side. It's very colorful and heavily embroidered in the neck and chest area. Exceedingly cool and comfy.

This was purchased in a shop in the Animal Kingdom Lodge at Disney World and is a man's garment. The store had men's and women's, the difference being the women's were shorter and smaller (men's were one-size-fits-all, and the women's were too, just a smaller one-size).

[AMM]

I have a garment that I wear a good bit during the warm weather. I call it a mumu (moo moo). ...

I've seen "mumus" for sale in catalogs.

I don't know why, but I don't like them. My reaction is that they have no shape or charm to them (others may feel differently, I'm sure.) They make me think of rich society ladies, lounging in their mansions, who don't have to care how they look or act because the folks around them have to act nice to them anyway.

I guess in all of my "fashion freedom" stuff, even the non-femme stuff, I want to dress so as to encourage people to want to look at me, to be attractive whether I'm dressed conventionally or unconventionally.

So, even as I'm looking for something comfortable for a hot day, I want it to have a certain charm, a certain flare, to be a little intriguing and enticing. Nothing too obvious or conspicuous, but definitely there. Hence the idea of an attractive profile (e.g., a bit flared), or a ruffle here or there, or a border print, or something.

For instance, with my contra-dancing skirts, in addition to the obligatory "swirlability", I like to have some extra elements. While the main skirt is usually in a bold ("masculine") color, I'll add some piping at the hem in a different color, and I'll add a lining in a lighter color with some lace trim (what some might call "feminine" elements.) Plus maybe a colored slip that doesn't swirl out so far. And finally, a simple cotton half-slip -- good for absorbing the sweat, but intriguing for being unbifurcated. The idea is to take on the fun parts of women's dress without trying to be a woman. Sort of "feminine" but not female, like those ruffled shirts and brightly colored tuxedos guys wear at weddings.

Now, having all those layers would be contrary to the overt purpose of a sundress-equivalent, but it would be nice to keep the philosophy. Just as a sundress (if done well) is more than just a cover-up for hot days, I'd like something that is more than just something to cover the male body.

-- AMM

[sapphire]

AMM,
What do you think of the following idea?

Buy a T shirt in a color you like and a size that is a comfortable fit for you. Buy a second T shirt in the same color and a size or two (or 3) larger.

Cut the hem off the first T shirt. Cut the second T shirt straight across just below the sleeves. If you want more fullness to the skirt, you could use 2 or three T shirts and pleat or gather as you like.

Join top and bottom together. Embellish as you wish, change the neckline if you want.

Diana

[Sylvain]

Two ideas:
a «real» Roman tunic from http://www.garbtheworld.com/
or a nightshirt from http://www.wittmanntextiles.com/tevnregleshs.html

[DavidsSkirts]

What about a robe or kaftan that folds over the front (overlapping like a bathrobe or shaving coat..), secured with a couple of concealed ties on waist line - so it still hangs loose and allows good airflow ? Would need to be flat and loose around chest and shoulders (i.e. not shaped like a woman's bodice..), so as to fit a wider range of sizes - would also make it more of a unisex/asexual type fit...

Secondly, what about a pinafore or 'skirt-all' style, made in a summer-weight fabric ?

[Since1982]

Regarding unbelted MUGs, think "Jumper". The "jumper" style garment fits the idea of a full or mid calf length garment for a man to wear, very much like what (in old Rome) was called a "Tunic". Just a thought.

[BrotherTailor]

I just finished a light summer weight garment for myself - alas the frost has come too soon! It is essentially the front and back panels of a commercial pattern "Randwulf's Mandelion", extended to just above the kneecap, stitched from hem to armhole, and sleeveless. I made it with a hood (for some reason applying a hood makes a dress look like a mediaeval tunic, very manly) It belts around the waist with a piece of nylon webbing 2"wide. It looks super made from a light cotton/poly weave fabric. I was wearing it yesterday and found it very cool and feather light.

[Sarongman]

How about the galabiyyah. A loose robe worn in islamic countries. There is a good selection at shukr.

[Peter v]

Quote:
Dennis A Lederl
Member


Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 25
Location: Carpentersville, Ill. (U.S.A.)

PostPosted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:51 am Post subject: The Perfect Skirt?? Reply with quote
Idea
What would be the perfect skirt!
I've seen this discussed before.
Pockets or no pockets? Pleats? Full skirt? A-line?
Maybe it's not a skirt at all!
Maybe it's a garment that is even harder to sell then a skirt.
How about a dress?
It doesn't have to be feminine anymore the a skirt does!
The advantage:
It hangs down from the shoulders and doesn't need to be belt to keep it in place.
It can be put over your head withoout stepping into it.
It can have any hem length all the way down to your knees.
In bad weather, with petticoats undeneath, it can be warm.
You can have pockets (no need for a purse) and the weight won't pull the waist band down (this applies to pants as well).
All in all a dress comes far closer to being an ideal garment for ease of wear then anything else. Pants, short pants and even skirts just don't match up.
The draw back is no one makes a dress for men.
Skirts and pants today are more or less unisexual, really. And skirts for men can be called kilts even if they aren't.
But a dress is seen by everyone as being JUST for women, even more so then skirts.
And that a real pity.
Dresses for men!
Maybe I should try a new web site to advocate for the concept.
Dennis A. Lederle
Embarassed

End quote.

Hi there, although this is a forum for men in skirts, i do agree fully.

Skirts are fabulous, but dresses do have great characteristics, incorperating the great things a skirt gives, and more. Could skirts for a section of the men be actually a safe half way step from wearing dresses?

I think dresses are great, really comfortable, no strain on the waist, really a great invention. But there is a well known problem, skirts are just round garments which fit quite easily. But to fit a dress depending on the style, that is very much more critical, it having to be made as a good quality tailoured men's shirt should be. Not a potato sack, one size fits all.

Once the top half is made to measure, not confection, but better quality, tailoured, then the rest is easy. It is the just like wearing your favourite tailoured shirt, but the tailor got the length wrong, and made it to knee length or longer.

Therew may be purists here that despise even the mention of dresses here, but I do think it is a logical followup of wearing skirts, skirted garments. And i think that they deserve a prominent place here on this forum. Nothing more femme than the skirts we wear. Because, do we wear only skirts? No we wear everything with the skirts but don't talk much about that. With dresses you have everything in one, makes it easier still. Choose a particular dress and you have a skirt and matching top in one. Pull it over your head and presto, you're virtually ready.

A comparison as to the suitability over the whole body size spectrum as apposed to skirts would be interesting. But I think that men of all shapes and sizes can wear dresses.

I love the wide flair that some skirts give, not worn by the serious man in skirts possibly, but for all the others who want to go or dare to venture further away from the pure now known masculine skirt look, dresses can give even more flare, wonderful looseness, beginning to flare out from under the arms.

Precicely how dresses made for men ONLY size / shape wise I would personnally hope, so as not to lose the wonderful colour / pattern variables now possible. I could see dresses made of some heavier material, denim also, to give them a more durable, work clothing effect which not only makes them practical, but should appeal to the taste of the more discerning men who still ( and rightiously so for them, ) want to have a manly look to their clothes, not wanting for themselves any femme look. So that in mind, there is plenty of scope, if they were to be made to cater for all tastes as are the skirts at the moment.

I personally find femme skirts and dresses very nice, and for me acceptable. Except that the dresses and most other nice above the waist clothing made for the woman's body SHAPE, doesn't always look right on a man. Often the top clothing is made to show the beautiful blank skin, chest / breast ans breast shapes. Deep V neck lines don't look so good with gorilla like hairy chests that men often have. And other women's dresses have the top pre shaped for a medium/large boesum, which is again not suitable to be worn as such by men. But there are other dresses which don't have deep necklines and have very little pre forming for breasts, and those are very suitable to be worn by men, with one exception, that the room under the armpits can be a tight fit. And sometimes there is too little allowance for the larger backs that men seem to have, restricting arm movement to the front. I know, I have fitted some dresses. and have four at the moment.

Knitted dresses are the easiest to wear, being nothing more than a very long jumper, and usually fit well. And they do look very good. Put a belt for the show, and to break the long line, loosly at waist height, no restriction, but a good look, and you're off!

Dresses are then not a so far from my bed show, but nearer than many men may think at first.

What is a night gown? It is a dress to be worn in bed.

To be followed.

Who is next?

Or is there objection to dresses?
Remember, there is no suggestion of travesty here, and how femme it gets depends wholly on yourself.

Peter v.

[DavidsSkirts]

My first idea was something like a nightshirt, but with a straight hem, rather than "shirt-tails". A yoke over the shoulders, with fabric gathered (maybe 2:1) at the bottom of the yoke (i.e., above the chest) that then falls to the knees, plus simple short sleeves and a V-neck. I'd have the body flare out somewhat, starting above my "spare tire." Fabric: a lightweight cotton or gauze; if you're worried about it being too see-through, add a simple cotton half-slip ("underkilt") Maybe a geometric design embroidered on the bottom 6 inches or so, to encourage onlookers to think ancient Greek or Roman tunic, rather than drag queen.

Anybody want to run with this idea?

-- AMM

With regard to Fabric : I like the idea of the light gauze fabrics, but rather than wearing a half slip, what about a hanging lining of slip type fabric in a solid colour, hanging from the waistline to a couple inches above the bottom hem, under a patterned or textured gauze - this would still allow free airflow, rather than having the restriction of the waistband on a regular half-slip.

For me personally, I would like the length to be a few inches above knee length (like the original mini's in the 60's, rather than the "micro" mini's of today - I already have enough of those..).

And it could help to have a bit of shape available in some variations - A line, tapered waists, pleats and darts - as some people on here do have some shape to their bodies.