skirtcafe.org

This post will have no right or wrong answer for it. It's is the opinnion of each us as individuals. No one can be right or wrong.
So waht is the perfect skirt for a man to wear. That includes what each of us likes best.
My own thoughts has nothing to do with the skirt I like or wear the most. I'm thinking of smoething, other then kilts, that would acceptable to regural, on the street guys.
It would need belt loops to hold a belt, of course. Then the usual number of pockets to put things in. It is one thing the average man to wear a skirt sometime but another to expect him to carry a purse too. Though "fanny packs" come close and won't be too far a stretch.
But it should still be able to seem "macho" enough not to scare men too much.
It will propable end up being a blue jean or denim skirt that's modest enough, below the knee length, so a man doesn't have to worry about "southern" exposure when sitting down. It would also have to be fairly full too, for the most freedom of movement.
My own personal favorites are any one of three cotton twill skirts that are calf lengths on me. They have belt loop and two, side, slash pockets. They are close to being full and give plenty of movement freedom.
I also like a tan, denim/twill that is a full skirt. Followed by a pleated skirt. But the pleated skirt (not a kilt) requires a fanny pack since it has no pockets.
So what is your favorite skirt to wear?
And what kind of skirt do you think could be a "cross over" garment to relate to other men?
Dennis A. Lederle

DALederle wrote:So waht is the perfect skirt for a man to wear. That includes what each of us likes best.

There you go- question answered. The best skirt is one that you like and feel comfortable in

Personally, I think I agree with you on most aspects- something with decent-sized pockets to keep your wallet/keys/whatever in, fairly full for ease of movement (which would also solve the exposure problem when sitting down) I have in mind something similar to those canvas-y shorts people tend to wear in summer, pretty much a cross between those and a kilt.

Dennis, you have summed up my tastes pretty thoroughly. Except for the pleated skirt without pockets, that sounds like my wardrobe contents. When we moved to a warmer climate, I started with Indonesian batik sarungs ( correct, spelling there for Indonesia) and amassed a large collection. These are a lovely fine cotton but rather fragile for work wear and also had me adopt a shoulder bag for the things one has to carry. I found a bum bag irritating to wear for any long period of time and could find quite masculine shoulder bags with a degree of searching.

About three years ago, whilst trolling through eBay I saw a dark olive Old Navy ankle length cargo skirt. I'm probably wearing it now as I type, though it's hard to say as i bought another identical one not much later. I now have 21 long, mostly cargo, style skirts and 15 short,knee length and a bit longer. All these skirts, except for a couple of mistaken purchases, have good serviceable pockets. I just realised that I now have more skirts than trousers. I still however, have a drawer full of sarongs of various styles for beach wear! Most of my skirts have come from American vendors as my tastes veer towards what they have to offer.

This is a highly subjective question, as tastes and opinions will vary quite wildly! There are some on this board who are far more adventurous with colour, pattern and material than I would venture to adopt.

"What's the 'perfect skirt'?" That's a tough question, indeed. It's tough because not only will it vary from bloke to bloke, it'll likely vary per bloke depending on him whim at the time he's asked!

I know that in my case my "perfect skirt" can vary between ankle length to a mini and range in colour from black to vivid reds and blues to white. I even borrow a green one from time to time from Sapphire that looks splendid (and comfy!) with a yellow-based Hawaiian shirt.

I don't have the hangup about pockets than many have; when I first started wearing skirts I figured out how to "travel light" and can make do with a shirt-pocket and little else.

As far as weight goes, I'll wear the heavier skirts in the winter, along with tights if it's really cold, and the lighter stuff makes a triumphal appearance (with ceremony!) in springtime for when the weather is nice and I don't need to worry about freezing my kiester off, and the heavier ones go into the closet for a rest until it gets nasty outside again (or I'm going to be somewhere with industrial-strength air-conditioning).

So, there you have it from this bloke's perspective, and, as I mentioned, it's all over the place. I like long skirts, short skirts, heavy ones, light ones, dark ones, and bold ones. Call me "unpredictable" (or "confused"; take your pick).

I'm also "all over the map" as far as skirts go. The only constant is that my skirts are all fairly full, at least by the standards of most people here.

In winter, I tend to wear longer (ankle-length), heavier skirts, in the summer, mostly knee-length broadcloth with a voile lining. I once made a knee-length denim skirt with a lining out of "lining fabric", but it is really too heavy for hot weather.

For dancing, I generally wear 30" or 25" long skirts, in brighter colors. They're mostly broadcloth, too, to make them cooler, though I do have a satin one and plan to make a taffeta skirt at some point.

As for colors, I like bright colors for dancing, but haven't gotten into patterns much yet. My "everyday" skirts are so far more muted -- black, dull blue, forest green, etc.


I must say, I take issue with your title, though. Why "for a man"? Despite your disclaimer, it sounds like you're dividing the world of skirts into "for men" and "not for men." I may be a man, but why should one imagine that my taste in skirts has any more in common with a randomly chosen man (or even random skirt-wearing man) than with a randomly chosen woman? Rather the opposite -- I've had any number of women express envy of my skirts, but nobody here has indicated they wished they had a skirt like any of mine.

The reason I titled this post "The Perfect Skirt For A Man" was that I was thinking of a type of skirt, other than a kilt, that would most be accepted by other people when a man was seen wearing it out in public. It was for the purpose of searching for that skirt that could be a cross over in acceptance out on the street. As "normal" (whatever that is) wear.
Let's face, there are some skirts, kilts and sarongs that can get "frilly" and cause some people problems when a man is seen on the street wearing them.
But there are other garments, skirts, most kilts, sarongs and even dresses that have a conservative look, almost a masculine look to them and would be more accepted.
That was the focus of my post. What would the public accept as being more suited for men to wear?
Denim and with belt loops and pockets, I firmly believe, could be the break-out type of skirt that most men could wear in public. It's only a small step from denim pants to denim skirts.
Of course, just going out in any skirt you have the courage to wear will always help.
My own, personal, experiences is that the more you wear a skirt the easier it is to be accepted in a skirt.
Dennis A. Lederle

DALederle wrote: Of course, just going out in any skirt you have the courage to wear will always help.
My own, personal, experiences is that the more you wear a skirt the easier it is to be accepted in a skirt.

I'll agree with that. While I haven't had much chance to wear my skirts this year (owing to the recent spell of cold weather) the more you go out in a skirt, the more people will adapt to it, and the more comfortable you become wearing it.

Well, This is just my oppinon, but I feel a denem skirt about knee length. I have one from old navy that I have worn out a few time's and never had a bad word said to me. I have actually gotten a few complament's. I feel the reason it works is becuase it looks like short's. It's about the same length as shorts. If you look back at some of the picture's I have posted You will see the pictures. Here is a picture of the skirt I am refering too! As you can see it would work really well for a guy it doesn't look to fem and is what I feel is a good length.

DALederle wrote:The reason I titled this post "The Perfect Skirt For A Man" was that I was thinking of a type of skirt, other than a kilt, that would most be accepted by other people when a man was seen wearing it out in public. It was for the purpose of searching for that skirt that could be a cross over in acceptance out on the street. As "normal" (whatever that is) wear. Let's face, there are some skirts, kilts and sarongs that can get "frilly" and cause some people problems when a man is seen on the street wearing them.

This sort of idea keeps coming up in one form or another here at the Cafe, and I think the people who propose it are barking up the wrong tree.

For one thing, what do you mean by "accepted"? I go all kinds of places in all kinds of skirts, and nobody has said anything negative. Nobody calls me "ma'am". In fact, a number of times I've had people -- both men and women -- tell me they think it's great that I'm wearing a skirt. Young people (in their teens and twenties) seem particularly intrigued with the idea. That's one kind of acceptance.

I haven't worn my skirts around my family (brothers and sister, etc.) -- e.g., at a family reunion or a wedding. If you do that and nobody bats an eye, that would be another kind of acceptance.

I don't see men in my everyday life (outside of Contra dances and dance festivals) wearing skirts, or people in the mainstream seriously considering the idea of men wearing skirts. If we ever got to that point, it would be yet another kind of acceptance. (Actually, I do see this in the Contra Dance community.)

For another, your question assumes that what kind of skirt you're talking about really makes a difference. I'm not convinced it does. Unless the whole look gives the impression that the man wants to be mistaken for a woman (cf. Peter V.), for most people, a skirt is a skirt, and one kind of skirt is as unlikely a thing for a man to wear as another. Any kind of skirt on a man is so unusual, it's off the charts, anyway. That's why people don't say anything when they see you in a skirt, not because they don't see it. In my experience, the people who are going to give you a hard time for wearing a skirt will do it even if you're wearing a kilt (or, say, tartan trousers, for that matter.) The people who don't mind will accept pretty much anything that is reasonably presentable.

As for the idea of a "transition path" to skirts on men being seen as "normal": I don't think we can predict it. It's worth looking at how trousers for women became accepted. A century or so ago, a small group of women was promoting the idea of bifurcated garments for women, and, feeling that men's-style trousers would be seen as too un-feminine, they invented bloomers. The idea never took off, and bloomers remained a niche garment, the way kilts (outside of Scottish events) are for men. When women started wearing trousers in significant numbers (the 1950's?), the most common kind they wore were men's jeans, which were (by the standards of the time) about as masculine and un-feminine as you could get. The clothing manufacturers tried to distinguish "men's" from "women's" by using side zippers, but basically, women's jeans looked pretty much like the jeans that the men were wearing. It was only after men's-style trousers were established as women's wear that things like pants suits and the like began to appear (the 1970's or so.)

If skirts-for-men took the same sort of path to acceptance, it would be the more feminine skirts that would become accepted first. For what it's worth, that's what I'm seeing. Most of the men at Contra Dances that wear skirts wear flowery, full skirts, the sort that would look quite feminine (whatever that means) on women. And when I see (non-crossdressing) men in other settings wearing skirts (e.g., Deadheads), they tend to go for things like the loose, brightly-colored Indian skirts, rather than the "masculine" skirts people at the Cafe tend to promote.

Finally, you can't exclude kilts from the discussion. Kilts are still not seen as "normal" wear, even though they don't have the associations of femininity that any kind of skirt does. Most men wouldn't consider wearing one. If you wear one to a wedding, unless it's a Scottish-themed wedding, you'll usually be seen as trying to take attention away from the bridal couple. Very few workplaces will allow them. I have gotten a few negative comments when wearing a kilt. Etc. I find it hard to believe that a "masculine" skirt will be considered "normal" wear before a kilt will.