Curiosity?

[toni]

Okay guys here is a question for you just because I am curious. Do you have friends that wear kilts/skirts with you? I mean do you go down to the local pub and have a beer? Or do you go out on a date with these items of clothing? Do you wear them to your nieces wedding reception, or your friends’ funeral? I just am trying to figure out wear and when you guys wear these. And if anyone else in your neighbor hood wears them? I know that you are some what of a “movement” that you should be able to wear them when ever the fancy strikes you but I just want to know when that is? Or do you want to be in Kilts/skirts all the time? And you feel frustrated that you can’t or don’t? My main question is do any of you have friends or piers that have and wear skirts/kilts out in public?

[crfriend]

Hi Toni,

Okay guys here is a question for you just because I am curious.

I'll do my best.

> Do you have friends that wear kilts/skirts with you?

Only Sapphire, but since she's a woman, her wearing skirts isn't any more unusual than any other woman wearing them.

> I mean do you go down to the local pub and have a beer?

Very frequently, either alone or with my wife.

> Or do you go out on a date with these items of clothing?

I'm a bit past the "dating scene", but I go out with my wife, with me wearing skirts, very frequently.

> Do you wear them to your nieces wedding reception, or your friends’ funeral?

Well, I can't say I'd wear one to my niece's wedding reception simply because I don't have any nieces, and fortunately all my friends are healthy. That said, I'd make the decision based on how comfortable they might be with me wearing a skirt; those are their days, after all, not mine (well, at least in the former case; in the latter, the "guest of honour" is in no place to complain), and I would not get my nose out of joint because of what to wear. There are more important things to worry about after all.

> I just am trying to figure out wear and when you guys wear these. And if anyone else in your neighbor hood wears them?

Well, none of the other guys in my neighbourhood wear skirts, although everybody with eyes in their heads knows that I do, so I'm a bit of a loner in my little part of the world. As far as when and where I dress "alternatively", that pretty much amounts to the time I'm "off the clock" from work and wherever my usual travels may take me.

> I know that you are some what of a “movement” that you should be able to wear them when ever the fancy strikes you but I just want to know when that is?

It's not so much as "whenever the fancy strikes", but rather "whenever it would be appropriate" (i.e. whenever it would be acceptable for women to wear such a garment); I suspect all the guys here know that there are certain things that just don't mix with skirt-wearing, but aside from those activities, the act should be acceptable. Really, it's all about common sense.

> Or do you want to be in Kilts/skirts all the time? And you feel frustrated that you can’t or don’t?

Nope. I want the choice of being able to wear skirts; I don't want to wear them all the time because, as I've mentioned before, sometimes they just don't make sense. I'm also not frustrated in the least when I'm not wearing a skirt because when I'm not it is by active choice on my part.

> My main question is do any of you have friends or piers that have and wear skirts/kilts out in public?

Aside from here, sadly no. Most of my peers are at work, and whilst many know that I wear skirts whilst "off the clock" I don't at work (save for last Halloween); my pals in Providence, although they're almost all subculture types of one ilk or other (artists, an astronomer, writers, engineers, you get the picture), don't wear skirts (although one has expressed an interest but lacks the courage to actually do so in public), everybody is perfectly accepting of my eccentricity.

By the by, have a safe and happy holiday.

[AMM]

Do you have friends that wear kilts/skirts with you?

Kilts: my brother wore a kilt for a while, and when I was in Scotland (about 30 years ago), I bought one for myself and wore it to social occasions where I would otherwise have worn a suit and tie. I also do Scottish country dancing, where it's common for men to wear kilts.

Skirts: I started wearing skirts to Contra dances because I saw other men wearing skirts there, and now I seldom go Contra dancing in trousers. At my usual dance venues, I'm usually, but not always, the only man in a skirt. I also go to music and dance festivals (e.g., NEFFA), and the rate of skirt-wearing among men is a lot higher. (There are men who will wear skirts to festivals but not at their usual group.) I've taken to going to a dance camp for 1 week each summer, and I wear nothing but skirts the whole time, including driving to and from.

I mean do you go down to the local pub and have a beer? Or do you go out on a date with these items of clothing? Do you wear them to your nieces wedding reception, or your friends’ funeral? I just am trying to figure out wear and when you guys wear these.

I have worn a skirt or a kilt most places around my village. Almost everyone in my apartment complex has seen me in a skirt, though some call it a "kilt." However, I have two sons, ages 14 and 17, and am divorced, so I try not to do stuff that would cause negative consequences for them. I wear my (Scotish) kilt and my Utilikilt pretty openly, including with my sons around, but have avoided going out in public with my children while wearing something that most people would call a skirt. I don't want their mother or their friends or friends' parents to have a meltdown because they think my kids have a weirdo for a dad. In particular, I would not wear even a kilt to school functions.

Dating: I'm still recovering from the divorce, and have not seriously thought about dating. But since skirt-wearing is a central part of who I am, I would not want to be dating someone who wasn't comfortable with me wearing a skirt around them. I see it this way: if I were a Yankees fan to the point of having season tickets every year, I would have a hard time dating someone who was bothered by my going to baseball games and talking about how the Yankees are doing.

As for weddings/funerals/etc., I'm with Carl: if the people there were OK with it, I would wear an appropriately dressy skirt or maybe my kilt; if not, I wouldn't.

And if anyone else in your neighbor hood wears them? I know that you are some what of a “movement” that you should be able to wear them when ever the fancy strikes you but I just want to know when that is? Or do you want to be in Kilts/skirts all the time? And you feel frustrated that you can’t or don’t? My main question is do any of you have friends or piers that have and wear skirts/kilts out in public?

Other people: except for dancers, I have not seen any other men wearing a kilt or skirt around where I live. I occasionally see college-age men wearing skirts -- occasionally = O( once a year ).

Frustration: if I didn't have to worry about social consequences, I would probably wear skirts almost all the time. They're more comfortable and they're more "me" than trousers. When I wear trousers, I feel like I'm in disguise or in a sort of armor. When I wear a skirt, I feel more open and exposed (actually, I feel "naked from the waist down.") At work though, I'd stick with trousers, like Carl -- I would not feel comfortable at work without my "armor."

Movement: I'm too old and disillusioned to believe that anything I do or believe could become part of a "movement." I have much the same core values I had four decades ago, when we believed there was a "movement" to make the world better. And I watched as most of the members of that "movement" sold out all those principles for a trip to the mall and voted in and cheered on people who were far more amoral and corrupt than the people they marched and demonstrated against. (Remember Animal Farm?)

I'll be satisfied if my neighbors are willing to see me as a decent guy who's earned the right to his eccentricities.

[Colin]

Places where I wear a kilt are:

Going for a walk round the streets (with or without my wife).
Visiting relatives.
Shopping.
Church some Sunday mornings (trousers or shorts on other Sunday mornings).
Some days on holiday.

I don't (so far) have other friends who dress similarly to make up a kilted group of men.
My wife has just ordered a "Scotland National" tartan 8 yard kilt for my (belated) birthday. It should be more comfortable than my denim kilt.

[Milfmog]

Hi Tony,

You've already had most of my answers from others but, just so you can get a sense of scale, I'll repeat them anyway.

Do you have friends that wear kilts/skirts with you?

Yes, lots! But they are all female

I mean do you go down to the local pub and have a beer?

Yes, regularly and many of the other regulars take the mickey but we're ALL happy with that, there is no malice involved and more people have bought me beers than have made me feel uncomfortable about my clothing choices by a huge margin, I'd guess 50 to zero. (Actually zero is NOT a guess).

Or do you go out on a date with these items of clothing?

Carole and I have just celebrated (and I mean that) our 20th wedding anniversary - spread a rumour that I've been dating and I WILL find you

Do you wear them to your nieces wedding reception, or your friends’ funeral?

So far, no. But if the circumstances feel right and I do not anticipate stealing someone else's thunder or causing ructions then sure, why not? Carl pretty much covered this and I have no way to improve on his answer.

I just am trying to figure out where and when you guys wear these.

Fair enough. The answer is anywhere I feel comfortable to do so. If we are out for a "dress up" event I tend not to wear skirts or kilts but that is basically because I'm a fairly casual dresser and my skirt collection reflects this, whereas I have plenty of formal sheeple outfits. This is an area where I tend to bow to Carole's (unspoken) preference that I should make an effort to dress well. In time I feel certain I will own a few more dressy skirts and this will probably change.

And if anyone else in your neighbourhood wears them?

Not as far as I'm aware. Once or twice I've spotted a kilt in London or at an airport and on a couple of occasions I've seen guys in sarongs but this is a rare event. Then again I've met very few folks who really dress to suit themselves with no regard to fashion or societal norms.

I know that you are some what of a “movement” that you should be able to wear them when ever the fancy strikes you but I just want to know when that is?

A movement? No, not really, just a bunch of regular eccentrics (actually, I'm not rich enough to be eccentric, I suspect I'm just a harmless nutter) who "know" each other via the internet and are sufficiently comfortable in their own identities not to worry how others think of them (unless it impacts on folks who REALLY matter to us).

Or do you want to be in Kilts/skirts all the time? And you feel frustrated that you can’t or don’t?

Not all the time, just when it suits me. Mind you it suits me most of the time. The only place I don't wear kilts or skirts is at work during regular hours. If I'm in on my time I figure I can choose what to wear. I have asked our HR department about kilts and received a tentative "OK", based on UK gender discrimination laws, but the unwritten response was "try it if you're brave enough". Maybe, if we have a summer in the UK this year, I will try it and see what happens, under our dress code guys are not allowed to wear shorts but the girls can wear skirts, that is illegal as one gender is being treated more favourably than the other but, if push comes to shove, I suspect I need the job more than they need me and my CEO is very conservative.

I do not feel frustrated that I can't wear skirts since it is always my decision what I wear or my decision that I will defer to another authority, be that my CEO, Carole, my son...

My main question is do any of you have friends or peers that have and wear skirts/kilts out in public?

No. None of my friends are that self confident, though one friend did wear a sarong to a dive trip (as a wind up / mickey take) I did not react and everyone else took the mick out of him, he's not done it since. A couple of friends turned up in kilts at a bar-b-que we held last year but neither of them has been seen kilted again since. Does a lack of skirted peers bother me? No, not a bit and from Carole's point of view it just underlines my uniqueness .

One thing I did find interesting last year was when I was wearing a knee length skirt in a pub on the evening of a diving trip. Two lads in the pub (not a local so not folks I knew) started to try and take the micky, a couple of my fiends jumped in and suggested that they drop it before I had a chance to answer. They were very defensive (I almost said "protective" but the word seems to carry too much baggage) even though I was not the least bit intimidated and would have happily engaged them in conversation and probably poked gentle fun at the football team whose shirt one of them was wearing.

The bottom line, Toni, is that most folks don't give a monkey's cuss what I choose to wear, even if they notice they usually only comment to the folks they are with and after a few seconds they have forgotten all about it.

Your unasked question was "How do your SO's react to your clothing choices?" Carole just sort of accepted me wearing what I want, so long as it did not reflect badly on her or on our son (13 yo). I did not push hard, just tried things that felt right to me and looked to see how folks reacted. Those I did not know generally either completely ignored me, gave me a few confused or amused looks or asked me why. No hassle (ever) but loads of excellent, hugely enjoyable conversations that I'd never have had otherwise (roughly 50 / 50 males / females). The only bad vibes from Carole have come when attractive females have started conversations but she got over that as there is nobody (I'll say that again louder - NOBODY) on this planet I could compare with her; even after 20 years, looking at her is still almost physically painful for me. Our son does not care how I dress, he just regards it as part of Dad's general weirdness (probably something to do with being old ). He did tell me that one of the older kids at school thinks it's really cool that his Dad wears skirts and "does not give a f*ck" what others think; apparently that makes me "one scary dude", though that is hardly an adjective anyone who knows me would be likely to apply.

Have fun,


Ian.

PS Apologies for any edits to your text, my spell checker insisted in "translating" your post into English, as opposed to American.

[gshubert]

Here's my two cents:

Do you have friends that wear kilts/skirts with you? My main question is do any of you have friends or piers that have and wear skirts/kilts out in public?

A couple of my high school students wore kilts occasionally to school a few years back. I was actually encouraged by their example to consider wearing kilts and skirts more often. But these days, no, no other guys I'm out with are pants-free.

I mean do you go down to the local pub and have a beer?

I wear skirts/kilts when I'm shopping, or to church. Not at work, except on special days when the dress code is relaxed.

Or do you go out on a date with these items of clothing?

My wife admits to some uneasiness at first when I wore a kilt or skirt. But she's also been very supportive, having been through struggles of her own to get the right to wear trousers in school. On a separate note, my 16-yr-old son is uncomfortable if I'm skirted when we're out in public together, and I'm glad to accommodate him.

Do you wear them to your nieces wedding reception, or your friends’ funeral?

I'm with Carl and AMM and the other previous responders there.

Or do you want to be in Kilts/skirts all the time?

The past two summers I've spent taking college courses in Santa Fe, NM, and I've worn a few kilts but mostly skirts the whole time. I plan to do so again this summer.

And you feel frustrated that you can’t or don’t?

Sometimes I'm frustrated. One of my hopes is that my being out and about in skirts helps give other people the idea that it's all right to express themselves and be different (whether in their clothing choices or anything else).

[cessna152towser]

Next door neighbour owns two kilts and wears them quite often. Next again neighbour bought a kilt and I've seen him out walking his dog while wearing it but he doesn't wear it regularly. There are a group of about six of us meet up and go for a kilted meal and pub crawl about six times a year. Plenty of tartan kilt sightings here in Scotland, though I rarely see any other guys in single colour kilts or denim skirts. When I wear a plain denim skirt out in town I never have any adverse comment; occasionally, someone will stop me and comment favourably on the denim "kilt". I always wear a black kilt if I attend a funeral.

[toni]

Thanks guys for your honest replies to my curiosity questions.I am still pondering your answers.

[Big and Bashful]

Okay guys here is a question for you just because I am curious. Do you have friends that wear kilts/skirts with you? I mean do you go down to the local pub and have a beer?

No, not even here in Scotland.

Or do you go out on a date with these items of clothing?

I haven't, don't do dates.

Do you wear them to your nieces wedding reception,

Yes I would, always a kilt at a wedding.

or your friends’ funeral?

Never even thought of wearing a kilt at a funeral, perhaps if I had a black one.

I just am trying to figure out wear and when you guys wear these. And if anyone else in your neighbor hood wears them?

Kilts yes, at special events and weddings, never seen a bloke in a skirt apart from once in Glasgow, this is why I can't get the courage up to try a skirt in public myself.

I know that you are some what of a “movement” that you should be able to wear them when ever the fancy strikes you but I just want to know when that is?

Just around the house or wlaking the hills at the moment.

Or do you want to be in Kilts/skirts all the time?

I would if I felt it was a normal thing to do, I don't want to stand out as somebody odd, or odder!

And you feel frustrated that you can’t or don’t?

Extremely frustrated.

My main question is do any of you have friends or piers that have and wear skirts/kilts out in public?

No. The ones that do have kilts never seem to wear them, I do quite regularly now, but I seem to be the only one.

[crfriend]

Thanks guys for your honest replies to my curiosity questions.I am still pondering your answers.

Please do let us know what you come up with. We're curious, too!