"Anybody can wear anything they want"

[pleated]

Another very positive article about a small boy who has chosen a skirt.
His mother got good advice first from a friend about preparing him for possible negative reactions at school. Overwhelmingly very positive comments too underneath the article.

Letting My Son Buy -- and Wear -- a Skirt
http://www.blogher.com/my-son-and-his-skirt

[Stu]

We have seen a number of stories lately about boys being allowed to wear skirts and dresses and we should not under-estimate the significance of this. I have seen the beginnings of this trend here in Sweden with shops like Polarn o Pyret which, in theory at least, regards all its children's clothes as unisex up to age 12, including skirts and dresses. In their UK stores, so far two dresses are specifically marketed as unisex:

http://polarnopyret.co.uk/polarnopyret- ... der-unisex

The move to bring about acceptance of male unbifurcated clothing will never succeed if it is only led by the high fashion designer youth market - their offerings will either remain on the catwalk and, if they ever get onto the High Street, they will be prohibitively expensive. Nor will it occur only through the kilt variants - these are garments which are generally worn by a small number of middle-aged guys. What will cause the seismic shift in the public's view of males in skirts is when there is a simultaneous assault on the "trouser tyranny" which occurs across all generations. Then, and omly then, will the barriers to male skirt wearing crumble.

Stu

[SkirtRevolution]

I agree stu, even though these stories are often hijacked by the LGBT community, it is, I believe doing a lot in regards to fighting for our cause. Although I am afraid at times that society may begin to accept skirts and dresses on guys only in the context of transgenderism, I am also very optimistic that it will also challenge society’s attitude about masculine men in skirts in general. These articles are bringing up various discussions about clothing and gender which I believe will be beneficial to us. The good thing is that these are hot topics at the moment and any news is good news as it gives us a chance to bring our cause to the foreground. Moreover, with every article, people are starting to get desensitized to the “shock” of a guy in a skirt and hopefully society will soon not see it as an issue anymore.

[Grok]

Considering the rigidity of "trousers tyranny" (scroll down to taboo), it may be easier for society to accept men in skirts if it is considered an indulgence of a tiny minority.

[skirtyscot]

Grok, I think it is not so much the smallness of the minority that matters. If people can find some convenient label, such as transvestite or transsexual, or even Pacific Islander or Scot, the idea of a man in a skirt becomes easier to deal with. They create in their minds a new group of people for whom different rules apply. But what we at SC are doing is harder to fit into any nice neat category. We don't claim to be different in any way; we don't want to look like women; we just want to break that skirt taboo. When we say "why not?", trousermen have no answer, and they don't like it! In some ways it's a bigger challenge to the accepted order of things.

[crfriend]

When we say "why not?", trousermen have no answer, and they don't like it! In some ways it's a bigger challenge to the accepted order of things.

That's an interesting thesis, but I think that the notion of, "Why not!" is easier for many, if not most, folks to get their heads around than we may give credit for. To be sure, there will always be that die-hard trousers only if you're a guy faction and those characters are inconvertible; they will never understand (or feel) the allure of small zephyrs cooling bits that they are accustomed to having tightly cloistered. However, from my personal experience, a very confident, eloquent, and genteel bloke in a skirt is a positively massive force for positive change in this regard; he shouldn't be cocky, for that will turn folks off; he can't always be on the defensive, as that will engender questions that are irrelevant; and he, perhaps most importantly, cannot be shy as timidity will likely be misinterpreted by those around him. He needs to be approachable, affable, and interesting -- interesting in person enough to make his "unconventional" choice of lower garment almost tangential, and in so doing make it look absolutely natural that a bloke can wear a skirt.

I just got back from a couple of days on Long Island (New York state, USA) where Sapphire was liking back up with one of her cousins that she hadn't seen in 30-odd years. Part of the adventure was spending a day at a music festival on Sunday -- and I very deliberately wore my Macabi, mainly because of the vast pockets. One guy got confused and called me "ma'am" (and stumbled over that, so alcohol or other intoxicants may have been involved) but that was it as far as anything "bad" was concerned. "Good" on the other hand involved quite a few very approving looks from the lasses. I'm rather sad that I didn't grab a page or two of poetry and have a go on the "Poetry Porch" which was very much an "open mic" affair. Oh, well.

The innkeeper was a bit brusque about my attire when we arrived, but after a couple of nights that calmed down and things after that were perfectly fine. All in all, we can call this a large-scale "win". The weather deck on the ferry over and back was a bit of a challenge, but I managed to keep all in check and not frighten the other passengers.

It is, however, very, very good to be home.

[Sinned]

For the past three afternoons I have had to collect my grandson from his Primary school and being the observant person that I am what I saw was disturbing but not surprising. Out of the hundreds of women there ( from the noise it certainly seemed like it! ) I only saw THREE, yes THREE women in skirts - one yesterday and two today. The forest of jeans and legging clad limbs was rather depressing. And it's not as if it was cold - clear and temperatures of about 8 or 9 degrees. So the answer is "Yes, anybody can wear anything they want and for women it seems to be jeans or leggings." Sigh!

[Grok]

I have to wonder if female Skirtonians are starting to feel like the odd man out. Conformity seems to be the general pattern of human existence.

[Chris Webb]

Grok, I've wonder if you are right. I see fewer and fewer women in skirts ... in fact I am often the only person in a skirt, even in a large crowd.

I do think that many men don't wear skirts for the very reasons they tell me: They lack the courage or they lack the legs or both ... many who want to wear skirts are simply embarrassed by their legs.

[crfriend]

I do think that many men don't wear skirts for the very reasons they tell me: They lack the courage or they lack the legs or both ... many who want to wear skirts are simply embarrassed by their legs.

That one "needs good legs" to wear a skirt is a bit of a fallacy, and one that bites into our own self-esteem needlessly -- and, besides, who is the arbiter of "good legs"?

It's worth remembering that legs, just like the rest of our bodies, tend to take a bit of a beating over the years, so will, generally, look less and less "good" as time progresses; however, we should wear those scars with pride as it shows that we've accumulated some mileage on the old carcass rather than sitting at home and pampering it. Don't let somebody else -- much less a perceived somebody else -- tell you what your body-type faults are: just don't. Because, when you do, you surrender an important piece of self-determination.

A lack of courage can sometimes by cured by upbeat interactions, and the admonition of, "If you're nervous, at least don't let on" can be helpful. Keep in mind that other cultures embrace skirt-like garments for guys, and when it's hot out, comfort is always a good argument in the "for" category of skirts.

[couyalair]

I hâve been in France nearly two weeks now and hâve seen just four women in skirts. The streets, stops and buses are full of sad black clothing, no variéty at all.

STrangely enough, I have Also seen a man in à kilt -- on Tv in a waiting room. I was not réally watching, but hé was singing in what appeared to be talent show-- in France !

As usuel at this time of year, I have had the usuel comments: 'Are You not cold?' 'You should get à pair of tights!'

Martin

[Sinned]

Grk,

Discrete observation didn't detect any discomfort in any of the three women wearing skirts - they seemed to be chatting quite amiably with other mothers. Interestingly they were all wearing thin black tights and black high heels so looked fairly similar. But they did stand out in the crowd.

As I have had to go down into the city centre a few times recently I also have noticed a distinct lack of skirts. I used to cycle in but I left my Bike outside my house the other night and someone nicked it ( the bike, not the house ). I have to go back into town on Monday and I'm going to go in skirted.

[Grok]

Of course, if there is one thing rarer than a woman in a skirt, its a woman in a dress. Such is now seen only at the most formal of occasions, or the hottest days of summer.

I'm tempted to say that dresses are becoming historical costumes.

[partlyscot]

Strange, I've been seeing numerous women in skirts around here. True, they are outnumbered by pants wearing females, about 80/20 I'd say, and they have pretty much all been wearing tights or leggings, usually fairly thick. But then it hasn't cracked -15C (5F) for a couple of weeks. I did see a girl on the train in a miniskirt and bare legs the other night, though I suspect she had dumped her escort and his car. (She looked severely pissed off, maybe he dumped her? Ungentlemanly git if so)

[ethelthefrog]

It's cold in Cambridge, but there's still plenty of skirting going on. I tend to keep my own skirting to the warmer months, as I feel the cold and tights aren't an option for me. In my new workplace, there are lots of women, about half of whom wear skirts. Most common is the pencil skirt, which I have no time for, but there are some more interesting garments on display.

Paul