What goes with what?

[Peter v]

There is a simple way to solve things, just spend some time looking closely at the way well dressed women have dressed themselves, and start thinking what they have actually done, such as the wearing of shirts, blouses that are a bit longer than the skirt is high, and so camouflaging the seam between skirt and whatever is above. etc etc.

Wearing rubber boots with a tuxedo doesn't look good, and so you should also select the right foortwear to compliment you desired look.

With regards to colours, that is a little more difficult, but when tackled in the same way, should be of no great problem. We men have to start thinking ... uhum thinking about our fashion instead of just pulling on the pants and any old shirt / t shirt. And in the event it was too wrong a choice, we would hear it from our prtner.

Men who want to get something more out of wearing a skirt will just have to "go back to school"and learn thjings which women 9 not all ) have been learning all their life. Some having learned beter than others.

Nobody is perfect, so don't throw in the ( towel) skirt if you find you should get more out of your clothing combination but at the moment don't have it quite right.

Another option is ( good for friendly contacts) ask women for advice. on the street, at work, your neighbour. Most often women are flattered that you ask, and enjoy it when men are their true selves, not being macho's all the time. Which at the same time does also not imply that men should be femme.

Peter v

[Sarongman]

I rely on my SO's dress sense quite heavily. It all boils down to, if it looks too "clashing" she'll quickly tell me "that doesn't go with that skirt, you have a (whatever colour/style) in the wardrobe, change into that!" So, if it looks, to you, right off the planet- just tell him.

[toni]

Carl,

Thanks for all the good tips I couldn't have answered all those comments any better..I do believe you are right about the shirts buttoning opposite from each other. It is because the men had someone dressing them. Hard to imagine now a days.

[toni]

To everyone that has replied,

I want to say thank you to everyone. I am taking in everything that you advise and I will put it to good use. Thanks

Most of you seem to be saying.."just tell him if it doesn't go".
My problem with this is ?? What goes together doesn't always feel comfortable???!!!

You know what I mean!
As a young girl growing up one of my moms favorite saying was "you have to suffer to be beautiful". for example...We shave our legs, we pluck our eyebrows we wear sausage tight nylons, high heel shoes... Oh yea don't forget the make up before you go out the door:roll:

Having a great kilt with tennis shoes doesn't work for me but it seems to be fine for most of you. I would have to wear either sandals or loafer type shoes. A lot of the pictures I have seen, the guys are wearing these more cumbersome shoe which I know John would never wear except out in the field. So I have come to the conclusion that "what ever you want to wear , wear." It seems to me that comfort is the reason most of you wear the kilt/skirts anyway, it certainly isn't about fashion and what other people think, otherwise you wouldn't be wearing skirts in the first place. So why should I bother commenting on fashion??

[JRMILLER]

See, this is fun!

[crfriend]

Most of you seem to be saying.."just tell him if it doesn't go".

True. He may whine about it, but if something just doesn't work, it just doesn't work. Guilty as charged; I've "been there and done that".

As a young girl growing up one of my moms favorite saying was "you have to suffer to be beautiful".

I'd like to find whoever said that and hurt him. If it's not comfortable it's not wearable -- it's bad design! Engineers and designers go to great lengths to create things (of all kinds) that are pleasing to the eye, functional, and will stand up; it should be no different for attire. If something isn't comfortable, the wearer will be thinking about the discomfort rather than other things; in extreme cases (like shoes) it can compromise stability. This is needless and should not be tolerated, much less accepted.

for example...We shave our legs, we pluck our eyebrows we wear sausage tight nylons, high heel shoes... Oh yea don't forget the make up before you go out the door

Well, I doubt that many of the guys here use makeup (although there is occasional comment on nail-polish), a few shave their legs, and legwear is tolerated by most and embraced by some. So, we're not the neanderthals we're sometimes be made out to be. As far as (extreme) high heels go, see my previous comment.

So I have come to the conclusion that "what ever you want to wear , wear." It seems to me that comfort is the reason most of you wear the kilt/skirts anyway, it certainly isn't about fashion and what other people think, otherwise you wouldn't be wearing skirts in the first place. So why should I bother commenting on fashion??

You'll get as many different answers to the "Why?" question as there are guys here, and that's actually good. As far as us doing it for "fashion" reasons, that does play into the equation for some of us. One of things I like about skirts is that they're a lot more expressive than trousers -- and if that's not a "fashion"-related comment then I'm not sure what is. I suppose that the "fashion" aspect is anything that's not directly related to either basic functionality and comfort -- sort of like the difference between a gothic cathedral and a Home Depot.

[AMM]

As a young girl growing up one of my moms favorite saying was "you have to suffer to be beautiful". for example...We shave our legs, we pluck our eyebrows we wear sausage tight nylons, high heel shoes... Oh yea don't forget the make up before you go out the door

By coincidence, all of the "beauty" techniques you mentioned are ones that, IMHO, don't add one bit of beauty to anybody. If anybody were to ask me[*], I'd say "Just say NO!"

However, as a man who is trying to wear skirts, I recognize that violating long-established dress taboos is easier said than done.

Having a great kilt with tennis shoes doesn't work for me but it seems to be fine for most of you. I would have to wear either sandals or loafer type shoes. A lot of the pictures I have seen, the guys are wearing these more cumbersome shoe

Maybe they seem "fine" to us because we aren't used to paying attention to how we dress.

To me, only a really casual-looking kilt (e.g., faded denim utilikilt with a frayed hem) would go with sneakers (a.k.a. tennis shoes.) True tennis shoes would only go with a kilt that seemed to be designed for playing tennis at the Country Club. Etc.

My first experience of wearing a skirt "out and about" was when I wore a pinkish-red skirt I had made to a Contra dance. I was also wearing a red shirt. When I got there, a woman told me in no uncertain terms that they didn't go together, and made me dig out a T-shirt whose color was more appropriate. (I've since gotten to be friends with her and her husband, and hang out with them at dance events.) I can't say I've developed a sophisticated fashion sense, but I think I avoid ending up on People magazine's "worst dressed" list.

It seems to me that comfort is the reason most of you wear the kilt/skirts anyway, it certainly isn't about fashion and what other people think, otherwise you wouldn't be wearing skirts in the first place. So why should I bother commenting on fashion??

Maybe because your husband asks you to?

It is true that most men -- at SkirtCafe and in our world at large (e.g., USA) -- want to "be comfortable", and looking poorly dressed and oblivious to how they look is an important part of "being comfortable" for them. (It's not really true that they don't care how they look.)

But some of us do want to dress well. And we appreciate any comments about what works well together and what doesn't. Reasonable people can differ about what looks good, but arguing about what does and doesn't look good is half the fun.

[*] But nobody ever asks me , that's the trouble. For instance, if George Bush had asked me whether we should invade Iraq....