Thoughts concerning silhouettes

[Grok]

Skirt lengths. Chart above, descriptions below.

[Grok]

First chart that Uncle Al posted to Common Terminology.

[Grok]

Re-read the robehickman article. Thought about how it applied to me. Decided to look at myself in the mirror, wearing my favorite skirt-an (original) Macabi in bright red. Standing still in front of the mirror, I noted how the long skirt gently flares out as you look from top to bottom. The bottom, when I stand still, hangs so it is about the width of my shoulders. Proportionally, it works for me. It is not actually ankle length on me; using a metal tape measure I determined that the bottom of the skirt was 3" above my ankles. But close enough.

The skirt is comfortable and practical for me. (It was originally designed for fishing). Visually, it looks good on me. I now realize that, through experimentation, I have found a rig that works for me.

One thing, though...I believe that the length on me would be called Ballerina. Which seems odd to me, because I don't look anything like a ballerina.

[robehickman]

Re-read the robehickman article. Thought about how it applied to me. Decided to look at myself in the mirror, wearing my favorite skirt-an (original) Macabi in bright red. Standing still in front of the mirror, I noted how the long skirt gently flares out as you look from top to bottom. The bottom, when I stand still, hangs so it is about the width of my shoulders. Proportionally, it works for me. It is not actually ankle length on me; using a metal tape measure I determined that the bottom of the skirt was 3" above my ankles. But close enough.

The skirt is comfortable and practical for me. (It was originally designed for fishing). Visually, it looks good on me. I now realize that, through experimentation, I have found a rig that works for me.

One thing, though...I believe that the length on me would be called Ballerina. Which seems odd to me, because I don't look anything like a ballerina.

Thanks for sharing, I'm glad you found the article helpful in understanding why your favourite skirt works for you.

[Grok]

Thanks for sharing, I'm glad you found the article helpful in understanding why your favourite skirt works for you.

I expect that, if we were to go back through images posted by members, we would see many rigs that work aesthetically. Probably the result of experimentation, people trying different rigs until they find ones that work for them.

[robehickman]

I suspect a lot of why skirts can look odd on men is due to how 'boxy' men's clothing is. I posted a picture of a fitted sloper I made in the pictures section on here combined with my red circle skirt a while ago, and to me the fitted top looks much more natural because it creates a nice curve that leads the eye smoothly into the skirt.

Most of the shelf clothing targeting men is not fitted at all, which creates harsh visual angles where the top meats the skirt.

[Grok]

Reposting link to skirt silhouettes.

I suspect that, it is easier for men to pull off a look when a skirt has straight rather than curvy lines.

[Barleymower]

Reposting link to skirt silhouettes.

I suspect that, it is easier for men to pull off a look when a skirt has straight rather than curvy lines.

I think it woukd be more accurate to say that men better conform to modern expectations with straight lines. There are a lot of examples of curvy masculine looks.

[robehickman]

Reposting link to skirt silhouettes.

I suspect that, it is easier for men to pull off a look when a skirt has straight rather than curvy lines.

I think it woukd be more accurate to say that men better conform to modern expectations with straight lines. There are a lot of examples of curvy masculine looks.

As far as I can tell, the key is that if curves are used, they need to visually flow together without discontinuities, and the whole of the outfit needs to be proportionate and have consistent visual language. It very frequently looks weird if you just take a skirt and combine it with 'menswear' tops because the lines don't make sense. It also tends to look disproportionate because most skirts are designed to be flared by female hips and don't hang as intended on a male figure.

A ruffly circle skirt would probably pair well with a gathered sleeve head 'pirate shirt' because they have similar visual language. They also look good with a fitted top (fit and flare) on some body types.

There are curved skirts in some Chinese male 'hanfu' costumes that look fine to me, and again I think visual balance is the key. For example some of the product images on this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005147983689.html

A good example of disproportion is the male 'skant' dress in early star trek. If you look at the women wearing the garment, the 'hourglass' of their body means that the lower part of the dress is visually balanced with the bodice. On the men seen in them the shoulders are much wider than the skirt at the hem making it look very top heavy. Just making the dress somewhat longer and a little more flared would have made the male version look 'right' I think.

https://everybodyskirts.com/blogs/posts ... ived-skant

[Grok]

Mens shirts are intended to go with trousers.

As for the Star Trek "slant," I doubt that many people have experience designing dresses for men.

[robehickman]

Has anyone tried a godet skirt, a straight or slightly flared skirt, which has been slashed vertically and additional triangles of fabric added?

I'm thinking that could possibly work well on a man as it would allow retention of the 'clean lines' silhouette that often seems to visually work, as the godets close up when the skirt isn't moving, but having that extra fabric there would not constrain movement as much as a purely A-line skirt.

One can also do fun stuff with godets from a design perspective, like making them in very bright colours that show when the skirt moves.

[Midas]

You can’t beat a dress. Fitted top and coordination in one piece.

[GerdG]

Mens shirts are intended to go with trousers.

If that implies, that women's tops are intended to go with skirts (and not trousers), I have to disagree. Wenn women started wearing trousers, they kept their tops, their shoes etc. All that changed were trousers instead of skirts and dresses. Therefore, men can/should stick to their own tops (and shoes) when in skirts - just my opinion
Unless, of course, they have other objectives than appearing manly. By all means, not every skirt shall fit or suit a manly silhouette.

[MrSoapsud]

Mens shirts are intended to go with trousers.

I'd also disagree. I often wear a skirt with a men's shirt as a sort of compromise look. The legendary "Mark as in Mark" regularly display that look as well.

[Seb]

I have to agree aswell, my suit jackets/shirts look a lot better with a skirt then any trousers I own. I never liked suits, but combined with a skirt I actually quite like the look for a special occasion, everything else the same just having those slacks or suit pants instead of a skirt makes the entire getup mentally uncomfortable - like wearing a clown costume.