Point of no return

[Dale]

I went out in public for the first time a few days ago. It was late in the evening, I had gone to Taco Bell to eat. Not many people there, it went well. No stares except for two children (A boy and a girl), that could not stop looking my way. Today I had to take care of a lot of personal business. I had to go to the county office building, the state Department of Education, post office, grocery shopping, the hardware store, got petrol for my SUV, and several other miscellaneous tasks really to numerous to mention. The public exposure was considerably greater than before, and it was during normal business hours (daylight), I was busy all morning and into the early afternoon in fact I had forgotten I was wearing a skirt at one point. Most people seemed not to even notice. Those that did notice that I was a man in a skirt, did not seem to care one wit. I was dressed in a tweed sport coat, tie, black Oxford shoes, ankle length socks, and a grey skirt that came to about the bottom of my knees. All went very well. At the hardware store the sales person addressed me as mam at first until she noticed I was a man and then apologized. As if seeing a man in a skirt is a everyday thing. Amazing!

After all that, I went to visit a friend that I had not seen for a couple of months. I was there for more than an hour before he had even noticed I was wearing a skirt instead of pants. I believe that if his wife had been home it would have been noticed sooner. I truly believe that the fears that I had about wearing a skirt in public are all in my own mind. The general public does not seem to care. That is why I say I have reached the point of no return, from here there is no turning back. There is nothing to fear about going out and about in a skirt. I will be wearing a skirt in public nearly all the time from here forward. I have never been a good fit for American society any way, why change now? I have always charted my own course no matter what people think. People are going to think what they will, we have no control over that. For those that are fearful of public skirt wearing, I say do you own thing and go for it. There is nothing to fear but fear itself. Besides men have wore skirts for most of recorded history. My own fears were entirely overblown.

I will close with the litany against fear:

LITANY AGAINST FEAR

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.



Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear - From Frank Herbert's Dune Book Series
© 1965 and 1984 Frank Herbert
Published by Putnam Pub Group
ISBN: 0399128964

[Big and Bashful]

Good for you! Go for it...

[r.m.anderson]

Well damned that is another one that flew over the cuckoo's nest !
Carry On !
Oh well never mind !
See I told you it would be easy !
It is all in your mind !!!!!
You won't be last one to skirt around breaking the ice !
So you did it - put a feather in your cap and call it macaroni !
You maybe were expecting an Oscar for best performance in a Skirt !

Now if we can get a million man march not down Wall Street but Fashion Avenue ..... ?!

Glad you are now one of us - and passed the solo public test.

"Kilted-Skirted-Either-Is-Correct"
rma

[couyalair]

Dale wrote :
" I was dressed in a tweed sport coat, tie, black Oxford shoes, ankle length socks, and a grey skirt that came to about the bottom of my knees."

I think that is the ideal combination/style, if you want to be seen as just a regular fellow (which is what most of us want, I suppose).
For the very young, I imagine you'd have to replace the tweed with some sort of zip-up fleece and the tie with ?
But that's their problem -- my teenage is way behind me, and although I don't often wear a tie, my winter style is usually just what Dale has described.

Martin

[skirtyscot]

I can never get those lengths of skirt and socks to go well together. The relative proportions of skirt, leg and sock just seem wrong to me. So I go for no socks or extremely short socks or (rarely) tights. However if you follow the link from the thread "depeche vogue trend alert" in the News section here, you will see that Marc Jacobs disagrees, which I suppose just shows how little I know about it!

Maybe it's one of those looks that we just aren't used to seeing because women don't do it, but in time that will change if men's skirts catch on. Wear it with confidence and it will look fine, and it will start to look normal!

[couyalair]

Small correction :
I misread the length of Dale's socks. I normally wear long socks in winter (none in summer), which I find the most acceptable since they go traditionally with Scottish kilts and army shorts, and of course, they do provide some warmth. For a smart look, I think long socks are best.
I have however been wearing ankle socks from time to time, since that is what lots of men wear with shorts, but, like Skirtyscot, I'm no really keen on them.

Martin

[Dale]

In response to sock length; I have been trying to find good wool socks of approximately knee length, it is starting to get cold in New Mexico, but have been unable to find such a critter lately. Before I started wearing a skirt I had no trouble finding long socks! Go figure. Unfortunately all my long socks have been worn out. I suppose I will have to look for them on-line.

[chrisinkilt]

I found some great kilt socks. Target has over the knee socks, and by folding over the top. They turn into great knee socks. I've got another pair from sockdreams.com. They have so many different socks, you won't know what to buy first.

[Kilted_John]

Dale,

Try Sock Dreams out of Portland, OR. A lot of the knee-high socks they sell also work fine for guys. I've been buying their socks since 2005... Currently am wearing a pair of the MP Coarse-Knit wool knee-highs, which you will find on their site. Very warm.

www.sockdreams.com

-J

[Dale]

Thanks for the link to sockdreams. i ordered 6 pair today. Next month when I have a little more money I will order some more.

[skirtingtoday]

Dale,

Good for you! You certainly went for it. I too find that when you wear a skirt for a long time, you forget you are actually wearing one! That has happened to me a few times.

Once last year I had to attend a "Driver Awareness course" - I had been snapped at a little above the speed limit and it was either take this course or we'll add penalty points on my licence. I travelled from home wearing a 17" cargo skirt (and fairly thick tights as the temperature was just below freezing) to get a bus into town, followed by a short walk to catch a train then a 10min taxi at the other end. The course was 4hours long and there was the journey back. I walked back to the train station (about 1 1/2 miles), took the return train and finally a bus home. Total time skirted was around 9hrs and there were no adverse comments or even any funny looks or double-takes that I saw. There were no comments or looks either at the coffee break whilst on the course itself.

BTW Loved the Dune quote! - think I have read all of the Dune series, several times. And how true it is in this instance. The fear is in ones own mind.

I always thought I would be or get a but no reaction at all is fine with me.