My unbifurcated progression

[couyalair]

1960 - 1985 : A Scottish kilt for special occasions.
1985 - TWO kilts !!! -- and then a few more.
2000 - 2002 : Scottish kilts every day except part-time work at school.
2002 - 2004 : Scottish kilts every day everywhere.
2004 - First attempts as turning trousers into non-tartan kilts (the convenience of having a ready-made waistline and pockets), worn mainly at home. This must have been after discovering non-trouser on-line forums.
2005 - Adding rashly to my tartan collection, and wearing homemade non-tartan around and about in summer.
2008 - First purchase of a non-wrap-around skirt. Plain, knee-length, light-weight. Did not feel comfortable wearing it out and about.
2009 - Another skirt, black, that I wore out at night. Normally, I never wear black, and certainly not when the sun is shining. More cheap skirts bought.
2010 - Bought denim knee-length and wore them out and about. Still wearing them, but discovered that some skirts can be difficult to put on if you gain cms round the bum!
2011 - Discovered the comfort and convenience of wrap-around sarongs. How could I ever have worn anything else in summer? In winter, however, woolen kilts still have my preference. Nothing can look better and feel so good to wear. Both of these articles have the advantage of fitting well whether you lose weight or gain it (within reason, of course).

Anybody else made gradual changes to their wardrobe in this way?

By the way, note that the subject was "progression", not "progress" which would imply a value judgement which is not what I'm talking about.

Martin

[couyalair]

Well, that topic died pretty quickly !!!

A further step today:
I needed a short lightweight skirt to go for a cycle ride to enjoy the unexpected arrival of summer. The only available one was one that I had made from a pair of tartan trousers I'd found cheap in the market; made, finished ... and never worn!
Why not? Because of the right over left button closure at the front. The tartan kilt-syle skirt had remained unused for years because of that ??? !!!
Something so insignificant had prevented me wearing my own skirt.
How brain-damaged daft can you get?

But today I unwashed my brain, wore the skirt and enjoyed a lovely ride. The views of the mountains around Grenoble are really wonderful.

Martin

[crfriend]

[... T]oday I unwashed my brain, wore the skirt and enjoyed a lovely ride. The views of the mountains around Grenoble are really wonderful.

Congratulations, Martin!

After a while you'll forget about the left-over-right or right-over-left sillyness, and you should almost be able to bank on other folks not noticing unless they're really studying your attire -- and that's rare.

Grenoble, eh? The company I work for has an office there. Small world!

[Peter]

left-over-right or right-over-left , - i don' even know, what's masculin or feminin.

And: who cares?

Peter

[skirtyscot]

So my skirts which zip up right-handed are made for men?

Grenoble - I'm going near there for my holidays in a couple of weeks time. Will you still be there? Having completely failed to arrange a skirted meeting in Sweden at the start of the month , I should try harder this time!

[crfriend]

Grenoble - I'm going near there for my holidays in a couple of weeks time. Will you still be there?

Nay. Sadly, I will be toilling away at HQ in Massachusetts. I've never been to Europe.

[pleated]

I've often wondered how the convention of "right-over-left" or "left-over-right" developed.
I don't see any point in dividing lower-body garments by gender, though it might be relevant for upper-body garments due to our different shapes.

[janrok]

C&A are a Dutch-based multinational low budget clothing store chain.
A majority of the (jeans) skirts they offer have left over right button/zipper closures at the front and could therefore be considered mens skirts.
Most of the styles fit my body remarkebly well but the pockets are too small to hold a small wallet and that is the least you may expect from pockets!

Jan.

Here's an example of a corduroy C&A skirt well suited for guys:

65573_3.jpg

check out www.c-and-a.com

[couyalair]

Grenoble - I'm going near there for my holidays in a couple of weeks time. Will you still be there?

It looks very likely, various family problems preventing me from fixing a date to get away again. It would be a pleasure to meet you (even if we have to do without Carl's presence!). I could even get a few other local kilt-wearers along, but I think none of them speak English. How is your French?

I'll send you a pm.

Martin

[couyalair]

I've often wondered how the convention of "right-over-left" or "left-over-right" developed.

Did you not know that all men (real men?) were right-handed, whereas women were all left-handed? It's in the jeans... genes!

I have read that it was because men buttoned their own clothes, whereas women ladies had sevants to dress them.

Take your pick.

Martin

[couyalair]

If you come to Grenoble, bring a camera. Mine has remained in Andalucia.

Martin

[Kirbstone]

The second explanation is correct. While men dressed themselves (right handed), ladies had chamber maids to dress them, who were right handed, hence the overlap difference.

T.

[crfriend]

While men dressed themselves (right handed), ladies had chamber maids to dress them, who were right handed, hence the overlap difference.

This would have been the case for the extremely wealthy, but what of the other 99.5% of the population? One would think that sheer practicality would have made some headway.

Then again, left versus right is merely a matter of getting used to it.

[skirtyscot]

Grenoble - I'm going near there for my holidays in a couple of weeks time. Will you still be there?

It looks very likely, various family problems preventing me from fixing a date to get away again. It would be a pleasure to meet you (even if we have to do without Carl's presence!). I could even get a few other local kilt-wearers along, but I think none of them speak English. How is your French?

I'll send you a pm.

Martin

I got an "A" in my Higher French. That was il y a longtemps, but I've been to France quite often and I still manage pretty well. It helps, i.e. it is an incentive to keep my French up to a useful standard, that your average Frenchman is no better at foreign languages than your average Brit. Or maybe it's just that people are quite happy to let tourists speak French if they want to try.

So I'd be up for a meeting with other hommes en jupe.

[skirtingtheissue]

So I'd be up for a meeting with other hommes en jupe.

Have you checked out the site for Hommes en Jupe, http://i-hej.com? It's pretty interesting!