why we wear skirts and kilts

General discussion of skirt and kilt-based fashion for men, and stuff that goes with skirts and kilts.
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Happy-N-Skirts
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why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by Happy-N-Skirts »

An interesting question was proposed by Kilted Musician under "Advocacy in the news"

It sparked my interest to ask the members: Why do you choose to wear skirts and kilts?

As for me I was recovering from surgery and skirts were more comfortable than pants, trousers, or shorts. After recovery they are still more comfortable so I still wear skirts. I started with a tennis skirt to wear around the house and then became more curious about what the most comfortable skirts are and bought some more. I like to shop for skirts and try them on to see which are my favorites. I wear them every day to most places I go. No problem with neighbors, they just think I am an eccentric old man (the secret is out). I have never had a negative response and the sales persons in stores are very helpful.

And you? Please reply.
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by Fred in Skirts »

I wear skirts and dresses because I like them and I can.
I started because of medical reasons and never stopped. I believe skirts and dresses are the proper clothing choice for men, we once wore them in times passed and should have never stopped.
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crfriend
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Re: why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by crfriend »

Happy-N-Skirts wrote:Why do you choose to wear skirts and kilts?
I've explained my motive before, but that's in the distant past now so I'll give it another go here.

I'd been enchanted with the vast array of options open to girls and women since I was a child, and always chafed somewhat under the restrictive nature of what boys and men got jammed into. This thought persisted over the decades and finally I gave it voice in the early 2000s -- and the first words out of my mouth upon stepping outdoors in a home-made skirt and into a gentle breeze and felt it on my legs were, "I've been cheated all these years!"

My late wife expressed some initial surprise at the matter, and subsequently spent what she once said was the "worst waste of 15 seconds ever" on pondering what it might mean. What happened after that was miraculous -- and she loved the result: I went from not giving the slightest whit about what I looked like to actually not just caring about it but actively experimenting with it and making it vastly better. Both of us benefited from that greatly.

Now single again, I continue to refine my own sense of style and it's a heck of a lot of fun. I've got more options open to me now than I could have imagined 30 years ago, and I'm happier and richer (save for the pocketbook) for it.

So, for this bloke, nothing more than curiosity and the ability to craft a truly personal style.
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Freefrom
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Re: why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by Freefrom »

Why do I choose to wear Skirts and Kilts?
Rather like crfriend's remark above I'd always held a longing eye for the type, style and fabric of the clothes that women wear. Opposite and equal to the mundane, Lemming like choices which are acceptable as menswear. Combine the yearning with the physiological fact that some parts of my body are not comfortable being hot, squished and sticky, the word choice gradually becomes replaced with the word compulsion.
I'm of the opinion that the probability many men have similar thoughts, is very high and that it's the taboo of stepping over the line into what might be viewed as some sort of fetish that prevents them from wearing 'women's' clothing. That was certainly how I felt, I used to feel ashamed.
The Skirt Cafe was an enormous help in helping me to decide that I'm not particularly unusual. Personally I needed to go through a phase of self understanding before venturing out in public because, at least for me, self confidence is the key; I don't give a fig what others think so long as know myself.
MOH was a different matter. Naturally I am very sensitive for her. Wishing to cause her as little anguish as possible I gradually put in place little signals over a period of many years before explaining my wish to wear a skirt (Kilt at first). In the event, and I will never know if it was my strategy that came into play or if it were entirely her own reasoning (probably a mixture of both), she is rather 'matter of fact' about it all and proves to be extremely encouraging and helpful in practical matters such as style and deportment. Things which a 57 year old bloke finds difficult, things which he never had to learn before. Things like sitting down, standing up, climbing a fence or getting into her sports car without embarrassing anyone!
Why do I choose to wear a skirt? It suits me and I like it. :D
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JeffB1959
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Re: why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by JeffB1959 »

No complicated or involved reason, I wear skirts (and dresses) because they look nice on me, plain and simple. I particularly like short skirts which puts my long legs on display, and that's a tremendous rush. Wearing skirts is great fun and I enjoy it immensely.
I don't want to LOOK like a woman, I just want to DRESS like a woman.
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Re: why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by moonshadow »

I like the style, I like freely expressing femininity from time to time, some skirts can be more comfortable than pants though they can be more cumbersome. I like the way I look in them. The final reason I can not say because I promised I'd drop it. But suffice it to say...

... it sends a message....
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Sinned
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Re: why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by Sinned »

There was a thread on this topic a while ago. Ho, hum.
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Big and Bashful
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Re: why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by Big and Bashful »

I like the feel, I like the improved comfort over sticking each leg into solitary confinement, I also like the way skirts move and the way you have to manage them. I would love to go public in more flowy swirly skirts but can't get my brain to agree!
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dillon
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Re: why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by dillon »

While I feel pretty sure that my affinity for wearing skirts and certain other garments considered the exclusive territory of the XX chromosome is largely the result of misdirected and harmlessly fetishistic sexual attraction for the aforementioned fairer sex, I will admit a bit of a “Boy Named Sue” complex as well. I may even overcompensate when skirted, in terms of counterbalancing my appearance with a bit more gruffness and swagger. It pleases me that I confuse people, and that I represent the idea that things are not always as they may appear, that immediately being able to size me up for a label is not an entitlement, and, as the old song goes, “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” I can only hope the confused onlookers obtain as much enlightenment from the crossing of our paths as I do pleasure.
As a matter of fact, the sun DOES shine out of my ...
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denimini
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Re: why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by denimini »

Sinned wrote:There was a thread on this topic a while ago. Ho, hum.
I know, I know ................ but I don't mind repeating: They feel great to wear.
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
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Sinned
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Re: why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by Sinned »

Ok, Anthony, skirts are easy to pull on, even without undoing any zip if the skirt has any elastane in it. Mostly they look good even when not worn and better when worn. There seem to be an infinite number of accessories, colours, fashions, lengths, patterns, styles and textures. Contrast trousers which are infinitely boring in all those characteristics. Skirts provide ventilation where it is needed. They look good with decent legs. When worn by a man they screw up people's perceptions and go against the grain of societal expectations. Moreover I do love them and love wearing them. I'm just saddened that MOH can't get over her prejudices. Dresses also but I'm not into them yet so can't really comment. What more can I say?

BTW, in contrast I have a pair of denim shorts, knee length, chosen out of some clothes discarded by one of my grand-daughters. Waist 34" but importantly they have elastane in them and are very stretchy. Unusually for shorts they are eminently comfortable, button fly, room around the legs and not tight in the crotch. I'm wearing them now and they will be going on holiday with me in just over a month's time.
I believe in offering every assistance short of actual help but then mainly just want to be left to be myself in all my difference and uniqueness.
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greenboots
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Re: why we wear skirts and kilts

Post by greenboots »

I have never liked drab clothing. Years ago, it was possible to obtain a wider variety of menswear. I remember purchasing black trousers with coloured flecks so that I was not too drab when I went to something reasonably formal. Whilst at Uni I had a brown shirt and trousers (perhaps not the best combination, although its connotations were probably forgotten by then) with fluorescent yellow accessories: thin leather tie, socks, and fingerless mittens. Some years later I wore what was described as my ice-cream seller's outfit: white cotton blazer with white trousers, mint green striped cotton shirt and white shoes. I also had some other very bright outfits. All this to say that by choice I am not boring in my dress sense.

As a teenager, I envied an outfit my art teacher wore, and also tried on a caftan belonging to the woman of a family I lodged with. I also developed a love of boots (though I've never got to wear them). My real interest in skirts was peaked when I first wore a kilt. The freedom and yet (at least for an 8 yd 16oz wool kilt) warmth was incredible. I also began to notice women's skirts. As menswear became duller, my interest in skirts grew. Finally, we spent a day with friends and the wife was wearing a simple gingham check wrap skirt I thought, "why can't I wear that, it's effectively a sarong, a unisex garment.) I searched on eBay and found a denim wrap, which proved to be very comfortable for mooching about the house. I also bought a mid-calf straight denim skirt but didn't wear either beyond the bounds of house and garden. I have had a variety of skirts over the years but only went outside in one about 5 years ago. It's an amazing feeling.

If I'm honest, the starting point was also at a time when we were going through some difficult personal experiences, so there may have been some existential factors at play. more recently, the KiltWalk became an excuse to buy a casual kilt, but even this is not always well received at home. I hope to get some utility kilts and make them more common wear. I still like skirts for their variety of colour, style, and feel. Maybe there'll be a day when I can wear them routinely.
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