Skirts to dresses

General discussion of skirt and kilt-based fashion for men, and stuff that goes with skirts and kilts.
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Jetblasted
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Re: Skirts to dresses

Post by Jetblasted »

oldsalt1 wrote:So let me get this straight your wife actually made skirts for you to wear. That is definitely a major plus . Enjoy the acceptance
Yep. She made two & bought two more. I’ve had the same four for five years. Haha
Jetblasted
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Re: Skirts to dresses

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>At my age and financial position I get to make my own rules now.

Exactly.
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: Skirts to dresses

Post by Fred in Skirts »

Shades of John here this is the dress I am wearing today as it is in the lower 100 degrees F.

me 2.jpg
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Re: Skirts to dresses

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partlyscot
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Re: Skirts to dresses

Post by partlyscot »

mishawakaskirt wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2019 1:57 pm I'm no psychology major, most likely the jump from skirt to dress difficulty is because with a dress it is just you and the dress.
You don't have a male shirt to hide behind.
Hence why some of you feel comfortable covering the top half with a jacket.
Dresses are made for womens proportions. So the fit is almost never right on a guy.

You figure, how can you go wrong with a skirt. Two holes, one for your waist and one for your feet.

As long as it fits your waist. It will fit the rest of you.
No matter what sex you are. The only exception would be too long of a skirt on a short person might pose a tripping hazard.

While I have a few dresses.
I find I rather wear skirts.


The top portion of the dress is all wrong 97 percent of the time. Two low of a neck line, snug sleeves and or shoulders, too much fabric in the chest, too tight at the belly. So not worth the hunt.
I wear a size 18 skirt on average. The dress would likely have to be 24 to 26 to fit the upper half of me.
Then the rest of it would look so baggy.
I missed this post. It is very close to the way I think. I had never thought of a jacket with a dress, I may try to find a very light summer jacket that I can try it with.
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greenboots
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Re: Skirts to dresses

Post by greenboots »

I once picked up a dress in the sale at Sainsburys. It was very comfortable but in the heatwave at the time, it was shorter than I was willing to go with bare legs. And MOH would have got really worried about me!
new2skirts
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Re: Skirts to dresses

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partlyscot wrote: Tue Mar 24, 2020 1:45 am
mishawakaskirt wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2019 1:57 pm I'm no psychology major, most likely the jump from skirt to dress difficulty is because with a dress it is just you and the dress.
You don't have a male shirt to hide behind.
Hence why some of you feel comfortable covering the top half with a jacket.
Dresses are made for womens proportions. So the fit is almost never right on a guy.

You figure, how can you go wrong with a skirt. Two holes, one for your waist and one for your feet.

As long as it fits your waist. It will fit the rest of you.
No matter what sex you are. The only exception would be too long of a skirt on a short person might pose a tripping hazard.

While I have a few dresses.
I find I rather wear skirts.


The top portion of the dress is all wrong 97 percent of the time. Two low of a neck line, snug sleeves and or shoulders, too much fabric in the chest, too tight at the belly. So not worth the hunt.
I wear a size 18 skirt on average. The dress would likely have to be 24 to 26 to fit the upper half of me.
Then the rest of it would look so baggy.
I missed this post. It is very close to the way I think. I had never thought of a jacket with a dress, I may try to find a very light summer jacket that I can try it with.
I have tried dresses, there's only one that fits me (with a very floaty skirt that is above my knees), but the majority aren't suitable for a wide upper body which is common to most men. I'm like a size 16 / 18 on my top half, but 10 in a skirt. So the dresses mostly look like tents on me... I'll post a pic of my black dress one day. I prefer a fitted skirt (I've just preferred them), and it means no contortion to get into the damn thing :lol:
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Re: Skirts to dresses

Post by GothScot »

Glad to see this thread revived as I either missed it the first time or wasn't interested initially. Bought a maxi-length knit tank dress from one of the many heads of the Lane Bryant hydra. Tried it on with a t-shirt and half slip and felt the same confusion I did when I first pulled on a skirt at fourteen. It felt right but I also had this moment of "Uh-oh."
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Re: Skirts to dresses

Post by Fred in Skirts »

I now have many dresses and wear them out and about. Today I am wearing an off the shoulder light weight smock dress that is very comfortable. It is white with red and pink oddly shaped dots all over it in a floral motif.
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nzfreestyler
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Re: Skirts to dresses

Post by nzfreestyler »

mishawakaskirt wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2019 1:57 pm I'm no psychology major, most likely the jump from skirt to dress difficulty is because with a dress it is just you and the dress.
I agree completely - I found wearing a dress a harder transition than a skirt. Although in hind sight its an easier garment to coordinate and its faster etc...

mishawakaskirt wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2019 1:57 pm Dresses are made for womens proportions. So the fit is almost never right on a guy.
Definitely - although the tailoring between brands and the body shape they must intend to fit is not consistent either...
I have the body shape for a dress (I wear a US 6-8 mostly - AUS 10, some 12's in tops) and I find some dresses fit and others don't - but I do find some brands do not have enough room in the bust (some iconic Aussie brands), or others are longer in my torso, so my underbust/waist are quite low and not snug - some have larger hip area than shoulders - so you feel like its swimming on your hips...to name just a few issues.
Dresses are tricky for everybody.....regardless... and you've got to try them on. They are more figure-punishing - at the same time as figure-enhancing if that makes sense,

mishawakaskirt wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2019 1:57 pm You figure, how can you go wrong with a skirt. Two holes, one for your waist and one for your feet.

As long as it fits your waist. It will fit the rest of you.
No matter what sex you are. The only exception would be too long of a skirt on a short person might pose a tripping hazard.

While I have a few dresses.
I find I rather wear skirts.
This sums it up. Skirts work for us all. And there's so many styles....yippee...


The only down side is I find that the whole coordinating top/bottom is another chore. At least with a dress its decided for me! Thats why I wear a large number of dresses now. I like the tailoring and fit (when you get it right) but I like that its a one stop shop outfit.

cheers
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Re: Skirts to dresses

Post by partlyscot »

I've mentioned this before, but eshakti.com does custom alterations to their dresses for not much money. I've not bought from them, but have been in contact, and they have done dresses for male customers. My ex bought a couple from them, because she had never had a dress that fitted without a few hours at the sewing machine. When the delivery arrived, she was over the moon! "Look! Look! It fits! And pockets!" Did indeed fit very well, she has long legs, small bust, and an ridiculously short waist, almost no distance between pelvis and ribs. She went a bit nuts after that, and I'm pretty sure she bought more dresses in the next year than she had done in her lifetime up till then.
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Re: Skirts to dresses

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partlyscot wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 6:07 pmI've mentioned this before, but eshakti.com does custom alterations to their dresses for not much money. I've not bought from them, but have been in contact, and they have done dresses for male customers.
There are at least two male e-Shakti customers on the forum, and I am one of them.

I have two dresses from them, both riffs on the same basic shirt-dress design, but one executed as a long-sleeved maxi and the other as a cap-sleeved mini. The maxi has been to work on me a few times (at least before we went into lock-down) and the mini gets mileage on weekends (as I've been enjoined from allowing the hemline to rise above the knee). Both are "custom-fitted" to my measurements -- bespoke -- because I lack anything to fill the top half with save a moderate barrel-chest.

I also have a jumpsuit from them that I like, but find a bit of a pain for the inevitable "bio-breaks".
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Re: Skirts to dresses

Post by moonshadow »

crfriend wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 6:35 pm
partlyscot wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 6:07 pmI've mentioned this before, but eshakti.com does custom alterations to their dresses for not much money. I've not bought from them, but have been in contact, and they have done dresses for male customers.
There are at least two male e-Shakti customers on the forum, and I am one of them.

I have two dresses from them, both riffs on the same basic shirt-dress design, but one executed as a long-sleeved maxi and the other as a cap-sleeved mini. The maxi has been to work on me a few times (at least before we went into lock-down) and the mini gets mileage on weekends (as I've been enjoined from allowing the hemline to rise above the knee). Both are "custom-fitted" to my measurements -- bespoke -- because I lack anything to fill the top half with save a moderate barrel-chest.

I also have a jumpsuit from them that I like, but find a bit of a pain for the inevitable "bio-breaks".
Whoo... that's a cool website. Lots of dresses in my style. It seems to many dress sites I find are either too formal, or too short. This website has a wide selection of midi-dresses with top halves that seem basic and not too "over the top" like so many dresses tend to be.

I'll keep that site in mind for the future... right now I just can't justify that kind of scratch though with everything going on. There will be some serious belt tightening in the coming months I'm afraid.
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Re: Skirts to dresses

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moonshadow wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 8:53 pmI'll keep that site in mind for the future... right now I just can't justify that kind of scratch though with everything going on. There will be some serious belt tightening in the coming months I'm afraid.
You and about 80% of the population...

The quality is good, although I've had to reinforce button-stitching on both of my shirt-dresses in several places (and may just do it on all of them the next time I find myself having to do one), but that's not really all that much of a "biggie". If seams had failed, that'd be something else altogether.

The cotton poplin does seem to shrink in the wash a bit, so when getting and specifying measurements add an inch or so (or more, vertically, if you're tall) to what you spec out. I need to revisit my measurements because of that.

I've got my eye on a few styles there and will likely be posting another order in the coming weeks/months.
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Re: Skirts to dresses

Post by Pdxfashionpioneer »

To get back to the original question; my default outfit for ALL purposes: shopping, going to my wine bar, the movies, getting the car worked, going out, hanging out, church, even work is a dress.

As far as I’m concerned, Carl’s time line is completely whack. I toyed with going out in public in skirts that looked much like pants. LOTS of social opprobrium. Even from crossdressers. When I started going out in public in dresses, the only people who noticed were supportive. Well except for one stranger per year, my brother and his fundamentalist wife. That’s it.

Nonetheless, every time I went to another kind of place, I was scared. But nothing bad has happened. The world isn’t half the dark, scary, dangerous, ill-intentioned place we’re afraid it is. My fear at those times I attribute to the basic instinct of the fear of the unknown.

Most of the people you would expect to get upset at our unconventionality actually admire us, because they consider themselves to be unconventional so, they admire anyone who’s also got the guts to be unconventional.

So, if you want to wear a dress in public; just do it! You don’t need to be “on guard”; aware of your surroundings? Of course, but that’s true no matter where you are and however you’re dressed! Don’t be stupid about it nor impose yourself on others, but everywhere I would normally go, I go in a skirt or dress.

Wherever you go and whatever you wear, make sure you’re comfortable and confident in it. Or close enough thereto that you can put on a good appearance thereof.

Good luck. Have fun.
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