skirtcafe.org

Somebody recently challenged me to write down exactly why it is I wear a dress. Being as its around the 6th anniversary I first wore a dress in public it seemed an appropriate time to write on the subject of why exactly I wear a dress? I think some people think I’m some anarchist type rebel who does it purely to the finger to convention & authority. I’d not deny that there might be an element of that as to why I wear a dress but there are other reasons besides.

The chief reason as too why I wear a dress is one of comfort as I never found trousers at all comfortable to wear. Due to the libertarian in me I do believe one must do what is comfortable for them so long as it’s not harming another & in no way is wearing a dress physically harming another person. Yes it might challenge people’s perceptions it might threaten conventions people hold about the gender fashion apartheid but it’s no bad thing to make people think.

The next reason as to why I wear a dress is the issue of equality. Why should it be acceptable for women to wear trousers & their hair short & it not acceptable for men to wear a dress & make up? In western society there does seem to be something of a gender fashion apartheid, women have a far greater choice then men when it comes to fashion. Some might say that gripe such as mine is pathetic yet I wonder if those same folk would think that issues of gender equality & freedom of expression are so pathetic & it not being socially acceptable for men to wear a dress or make up very much highlights the issues of gender equality & freedom of expression. I’m very much in favour of the liberal view of a free, fair & just society & to acquire that one needs ironically maybe highlight how unfair & unjust society is. Plus there is a lot to be said about what Ghandi once said "Be the change you want to see in the world", its no good one talking & talking about the philosophy of Men’s Fashion Freedom one must demonstrate it.

Okay some might of a conservative & conformist mentality might say okay what you’re saying has some truth to it but why are you so loud about it in reference to my choice of style. Sure the philosophy of Men’s Fashion could be practiced far more conservatively then I practice it but ever since I can remember I’ve been an individualist. My natural state is being individualistic & so obviously I’m going to choose a style for myself which is far more individualistic.

Maybe part of being individualistic to me is giving the finger to society’s conventions but I’d argue I’m not giving the finger but challenging those conventions which I think are unjust. I don’t just this by wearing a dress day in day because I’m not just concerned with the unjust conventions deriving from the gender clothing apartheid. I don’t just challenge convention just for the sake of giving the finger the reason I challenge convention derives from disruption to me being able to live my life in comfort, it derives from not being able to live the life I want to.

Sending you a round of salutations! Keep on being who you are!!

sasq

Great stuff! And now for all others to follow, but of course there is the partner, , the boss. and just being able to live independantly of others to make our skirt / dress wearing possible. I wear skirts / dresses EVERY day 24/7, but at the moment have no job, no boss, no need to go somewhere to and fro in all weathers, ( on a bycicle as I have no car ) so that makes it easier than others may have it.

Never the less, having the attitude makes much possible. And luckily for the bennefit of others, some of us are able to be seen very often in of course our unconventional clothing. ( actually being very conventional, in our fashion freedom but new to many ) Going about our buisness but making a strong statement at the same time.

being yourself is always worth it, there is no other choice.

the partner & the boss

Don't have those worries

peter wrote: I wear skirts / dresses EVERY day 24/7

You sleep in skirts and dresses?? Wow, that's different. I take mine off, hang them up, put on my PJ's or nightie depending on what time of year it is, and go to bed.

Since1982 wrote:

peter wrote: I wear skirts / dresses EVERY day 24/7

You sleep in skirts and dresses?? Wow, that's different. I take mine off, hang them up, put on my PJ's or nightie depending on what time of year it is, and go to bed.

No problem on this. I put my nightshirt on

I don't even do that I sleep naked

Since1982 wrote:

peter wrote: I wear skirts / dresses EVERY day 24/7

You sleep in skirts and dresses?? Wow, that's different. I take mine off, hang them up, put on my PJ's or nightie depending on what time of year it is, and go to bed.

Yeh, right.

Ziggy that was a great post. I love dresses and I wear them often in public. Dresses are the prettiest of all clothes and are extremely comfortable.

The dress, far more then the skirt is an almost perfect garment.
It hangs from your shoulders and doesn't ride up or bind you in un comfortable spots.
But it is far less acceptable then even a skirt. It is more recognised by our culture as being in the catagory of a "woman's only" garment. It is a further up hill battle then skirt wearing and even kilt wearing. I've worn all three garments as an adult male and out in public too. But the dress always and I mean ALWAYS draws more comments about it. Not all are bad. But my wife doesn't go anywhere with me if I have on a dress.
She does go with me when I'm kilted. She's gone with me when I'm skirted. But not when I'm in a dress.
It's much harder to make a dress look masculine. Maybe it's impossible.
But the dress is the better garment to wear.
Especially a style with pockets in them. It's easier to carry things in the pockets of a dress then in pants pockets. The pants are always pulling down as I walk around. Not with the dress.
So if you can pull it off more power to you!
Dennis

I second DALederle's comment. I have four dresses, 2 jumper or pinafore style in denim and 2 ankle length overall dresses. I also find them extremely comfortable and practical, however I cannot venture outside wearing same garments as my S.O. would be most upset. Strange looks in the street, rare as they are, upset her more than they do me. Dresses would pull far more strange looks than the skirts that are almost ignored. By the way Dennis

Historically speaking, men have worn dress like garments -- check out the Roman tunics as an example. They looked masculine enough. Problem is the only thing available today is on the other side of the aisle, so, if you run around in one of "those", then of course you are going to raise some eyebrows.

From a historical perspective pants are the "new kid on the block" compared to robes, tunics, skirts, dresses, sarongs and caftans. Pants have only been around for a 1000 years. The rest have been worn since the day of the cave man.
But they have grabbed a hold of our entire collective culture like no others.
At the same time the dress has become a symbol of women. That sign on bathroom doors is of a women wearing a dress.
So wearing a dress becomes becomes a symbol of oppression to women.
It scares me to think how ridgid our culture can be about things that are non issues.
What clothes a person wears is of no importance compared to what the person does.
Our actions and thoughts should be what people judge us by. Not the garment we wear, which is at best momentary.
No one wears the same garment 24/7/365.
We take off our clothes at night and put on other clothes in the morning. So why judge anyone by what he or she wears right now which is a tick in time that will not last.
Mo matter I put on today I'll wear something else tomorrow.
Dennis

DALederle wrote: So wearing a dress becomes becomes a symbol of oppression to women.

With all due respect, but that is just plain nonsense! Why should a garment that 'allows' so much freedom be regarded as 'oppressive' to women? The stock answer most women (here in the UK) would give to a question such as, "Why are you wearing a dress today?" would invariably be along the lines of, "Because I can!" Whilst there does appear to be a strongly US-based 'vendetta'(?) against dresses (or skirts, even), why do so many US females, when appearing on UK TV programmes choose to wear a dress? Because they feel they have the 'freedom', so to do? "Tr*user Tyranny" (sadly) is seriously affecting those of the female gender too, you know.

Merlin:
I have talked to women who have told me that they feel wearing a skirt or a dress is a form of oppression. They said that pants represent to them the freedom the Women's Lib movement have been trying to achieve.
Granted they were only a few who vocalised this point of view.
But, as with skirted men too, only a few speak out. There are far more lurkers on the web on any web site, then there are posters.
So if a dozen or so, and this is the number I talked to, including my own wife and friends wives, think pants are freedom and skirts or dresses are oppression how can we think otherwise.
Do women still wear skirts or dresses? Yes! But my own experience has shown that this is declining. The one thing that I have noticed in the last few years is that skirts and dresses come "out" far more in the good weather, late spring, summer and mid fall. Mid April to about mid October here.
So it is becoming a seasonal thing too.
But women themselves have told me they see, especially a dress, as a sign of the oppression that has held women down.
What men think is something else though.
Dennis A. Lederle