As girly as it gets

News from High Street, for the Fashionistas among us! Couture only here please; if you can buy it off the rack, try another forum.
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Since1982
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Since1982 »

As for "feminization" of males, I wonder ... how many items can you borrow from the female wardrobe before you become "feminized"?
I don't "borrow" anything from the female wardrobe. I have all my skirts created for me, for MY specifications by a tailor. 8)
I had to remove this signature as it was being used on Twitter. This is my OPINION, you NEEDN'T AGREE.

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SkirtedViking
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by SkirtedViking »

Reading many of the above comments I shall deem to re-post one of my opinions once again - thought it is useful since this is the freestyler's section of the board - as it is explained in the beginning this is a "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."
" My definition of a freestyler is a man that is gender correct, no wigs,pads and so on while wearing skirts,heels,"feminine" tops,etc. The best example for freestyling is women - there is no apparel that is forbidden(no social scorn) for women,even on formal occassions, no matter how masculine is the clothing,shoes,accessories. Yep, I see such women everyday on the outside - man's t-shirt, man's trousers and flat shoes with laces, baseball hat and all that while she is not hiding the fact that she is a woman, the breasts are there, the voice is feminine, there is no fake moustache and beard. I wonder how come the term crossdresser is never applied to a woman and thus has remained as a gender descriminatory word?Accepting that a man can't be always in the macho vision does not necessarily mean that people who accept that notion would wear the same but just to view that as a fashion and gender equality.The idea of freestyle section is to present apparel out of the so called "braveheart" ideology in a a gender correct image of the male person.Judging by many posts it seems to me that many members on this site (which is not bad or good just a fact) are very conservative and thus the freestyler section is somewhat cramped and whenever someone posts whatever out of the "masculine" stereotype many members jump on the wagon: "I am masculine so I wouldn't wear that". In my humble opinion that mindset, that principle is also leading to all the rest non-skirt wearing "masculine" men (and some women share that view) who think that a skirt no matter how "masculine" is not for males but for women only - the same very principle is applied within male skirt-wearers to apparel that is out of the masculinist tradition of the 20th and 21st century.If it is not masculine it is tranny blah blah blah.That is the opinion of a 1.85 cm tall guy with a beard and very masculine stature and thus being a freestyler and not anything else.So let's hope that the section will be braver and more members shall contribute to the discussion of gender and fashion equality.
P.S. I do not mind and respect braveheart ideology, just has too many traits of the society that we all (male skirt-wearers) suffer from - machismo."
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by rogerbigfish »

SkirtedViking,
I agree completely with what you say. Freestyling is all about freedom of choice and getting away from traditional restrictions. As long as you are not trying to pass yourself off as the opposite gender then no crossdressing can be implied. As you say, the use of padding etc to disguise your body shape is an attempt to fool people into perceiving you as something that you are not. Whereas the wearing of clothing more traditionally accepted as being the norm for the opposite gender is just exercising your right to your freedom of choice to dress as you feel fits your personality. There is of course always the possibilty that others may not like your choice and may even ridicule it, but then it becomes just a matter of taste or fashion. Often it is more a case of wearing clothing that is appropreate for the situation; you would not for instance choose a business suit if you inteding to go logging and beachwear would be just as outlandish in the boardroom.

I agree that when we talk about fashion freedom, we should not limnit ourselves to just kilts and skirts that mimic the tradtional mags associated with men, such as Scotish kilts, sarongs and other "male" attire. If you want to wear a denim mini wth an organza blouse and tights than go for it. As long you follow the local rules regarding indecent exposure the the only person who suffers if you look like a stuffed turkey is you. We have all seen some appalling fashion disasters on people who are folowing the normal gender guidelines. Those of us who make choices outside of these guidelines often have put far more thought into it than those who just follow the rules even though those rules might not suit them at all.

I say we should each find our own style rather than follow what the fashionistas dictate.

Roger.
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by ChrisM »

Juan, don't be put off by the comments you received.

As with most things, the people that take the time to comment are the people that are most 'excited' - pro or con - by the subject under discussion.

There are many of us who did look at the photos and had much milder reactions. My own reaction was, indeed, "Oh how interesting. An experiment in Clothing Art." and not much more. I shan't be dressing like that myself, but then again I don't have the body of a 20 year old boy anyway, so I could never look like that even if I wanted to. And I don't think the artist intended anybody to dress like that in the real world, it was much more like the "Do the Don'ts" ad that was recently posted on Femulate. That is to say, it was art.

Please keep posting any photos that you find of the same sort. I find their ability to generate ideas and to explore alternative looks quite interesting and helpful in developing my own sartorial tastes.

Thanks.

Chris
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Since1982
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Since1982 »

Just because I personally don't "borrow" anything from the female wardrobe, doesn't mean I don't fully support you fellows that do. Please don't read things into what I say other than what I say! I'm not very devious, what I'm saying means nothing else.! :D
I had to remove this signature as it was being used on Twitter. This is my OPINION, you NEEDN'T AGREE.

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Ray
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Ray »

An interesting conversation. I'm quite relaxed with the photos. While I don't see guys wearing that sort of stuff, the hairstyles are not uncommon for guys in the UK.

For me, ChrisM summed up my thoughts nicely.
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Jack Williams
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Jack Williams »

All the skirt photos above get a tick from me, but the first one of the trio, and designer's one are really good i thought.
Last edited by Jack Williams on Thu Aug 27, 2009 3:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Jack Williams
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Jack Williams »

As for "borrowing from the female wardrobe" well, personally, i gave up trying to diferenciate some time ago. About half of the things i wear as underwear come from there, i guess because they have so much better and nicer stuff than men. The same goes for lots of other things. From whence would i get my wonderful dresses to modify for men? And my excellent cord and denim skirts? I reckon they are much more successful male skirts than a lot of the "Made for men" ones on the site. One does not need to "borrow" but merely make it your own!
Dawn
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Dawn »

Lots of interesting discussion on this thread.

I'd add my opinion that the pictures do portray what the "Outer Limit" could be, not what is necesssarily comfortable for the mainstream and as such are interesting.

As to the borrowing issue, I frequenlty get t-shirts and T-necks from the other side as the colors are much more varied and less drab!
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Davy »

I am going to put forth a contrary opinion which may be in the minority, but here goes:

One of the reasons I wear skirts is precisely to "be different" and to wear something obviously not "mainstream", at least for us guys. Therefore I tend to have a preference for what others might call more "outrageous" styles. Usually I will buy the shortest skirt I can find and find myself shortening even those after one or two wearings. I find the "girly" look quite appealling; I think #3 looks great and I, in fact, have a skirt somewhat similar to that. #2 also looks like it would be quite fun to wear, but probably not very comfortable. #1, seems somewhat boring and would not be my choice. I have enough boring pants in my wardrobe.

Someone mentioned the "requirement" of having great legs to wear a short skirt, or else covering the legs with hose or tights. That seems very strange, considering that many men (and women) who do not have "great legs" don't hesitate to wear shorts, usually with bare legs. If that is ok, then what is different about a short skirt?
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Milfmog »

I have to say that I'm not particularly taken by any of those styles, however that is probably more a reflection of who I am than of the styles themselves.
Davy wrote:Someone mentioned the "requirement" of having great legs to wear a short skirt, or else covering the legs with hose or tights. That seems very strange, considering that many men (and women) who do not have "great legs" don't hesitate to wear shorts, usually with bare legs. If that is ok, then what is different about a short skirt?
This I absolutely agree with. I'd also extend it to say that those who insist that wearing a skirt requires shaved legs are falling foul of the same logical inconsistency. My own personal aesthetic would require shaved legs with sheer hosiery, but to be honest I'm not sure whether that is just me recoiling from the unfamiliar.

Have fun,


Ian.
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Big and Bashful »

Juan,
I have to hand it to you, your photo collections are really good at stimulating debate on this forum, keep at it, at least someone is stirring up debate without mentioning anything apart from clothing.
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Since1982
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Since1982 »

I just fervently hope that at no time in the future SkirtCafe turns into just another Crossdresser or Transvestite site. There already are hundreds of sites specifically FOR those groups of men that like to look like women. I have absolutely nothing against this mentality, it's just not MY mentality nor (I hope) the basic mentality of the majority of the members of this site.

There are plenty of sites for Crossdressers, Trannies, Transgendered people, and kilts only men. I believe Skirt Cafe is and has always been since the days of Tom Manuel, a site filling the needs of a completely different type of mentality. Basically, men who want to wear skirts or other MUGs for health and comfort reasons, not to look like anything except men who wear a skirted garment for comfort and health and never to look like or pretend to be anything other than a man. I hope I haven't dissatisfied anyone by what I've said here. :D :D :D
I had to remove this signature as it was being used on Twitter. This is my OPINION, you NEEDN'T AGREE.

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I've been skirted part time since 1972 and full time since 2005. http://skirts4men.myfreeforum.org/
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Stu »

I agree with the last comment. The desire to achieve a "girly" look is a personal matter for the individual, but the topic is akin to crossdressing and not to what I think this site is all about.

I like being male, I like people to know I'm a man and I want to look masculine. I have no inclinations towards dressing in any style which compromises that. I want to see an end to all skirt-like garments being associated with the feminine and to be embraced as potentially masculine items of dress.

Stu
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Re: As girly as it gets

Post by Davy »

Since1982 wrote:I just fervently hope that at no time in the future SkirtCafe turns into just another Crossdresser or Transvestite site. There already are hundreds of sites specifically FOR those groups of men that like to look like women. I have absolutely nothing against this mentality, it's just not MY mentality nor (I hope) the basic mentality of the majority of the members of this site.

There are plenty of sites for Crossdressers, Trannies, Transgendered people, and kilts only men. I believe Skirt Cafe is and has always been since the days of Tom Manuel, a site filling the needs of a completely different type of mentality. Basically, men who want to wear skirts or other MUGs for health and comfort reasons, not to look like anything except men who wear a skirted garment for comfort and health and never to look like or pretend to be anything other than a man. I hope I haven't dissatisfied anyone by what I've said here. :D :D :D
Let me try to address this if I can. I do not conside my self a crossdresser and am certainly not trying to "look like a woman". If you scan any of the types of sites mentioned above you find many guys trying to look like women will wear bras, high heels, excessive jewelry and makeup, and many other "feminine" items, along with decidedly "feminine hairstyles. Many succeed to such an extent that they feel obligated to use the women's rest room when out in public. None of this has any appeal to me; I also enjoy wearing skirts because they are comfortable, but the idea of being "different" and a bit outlandish also has appeal. I appreciate this may be a minority opinion.
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