Reactions of our "Nearest and dearest"

[Milfmog]

The following is from another forum of which I am a member*, it's an extract from a thread titled "Skirts for men".

To provide some context you need to know that the forum is for naturists (nudists) and the topic came up as a suggestion for a quick and easy way to cover up while free hiking if one encountered someone who might be offended by nudity. I don't want to get into a discussion about the pros and cons of naturism here, it's way off topic but I thought this part of the conversation might have some resonances here:

As I walk through the village to get to the woods I just wear a pair of shorts, I suspect I would get some funny looks if I was wearing some sort of a skirt. In fact I would feel more self conscious wearing a skirt than being nude. Is that strange or is it just because I am used to being nude and I am not used to wearing a skirt, I am going to have to give this one some more thought. Anyone got any ideas?

As a regular kilt wearer I was initially rather self conscious when I went out in it, but soon discovered that no one really cares what I wear, they are all too wrapped up in themselves to pay attention to me. Once I realised that, I felt more confident and that resulted in even less people paying attention to my choice of attire.

Since kilts, even lightweight ones, are relatively bulky I often choose to wear a wrap skirt I bought from Fat Face instead. This is slightly longer than a kilt and has no pleating but it wraps left over right (like most clothing meant for guys) and has a useful pocket for car keys. It is fastened at the waist with press studs, one on the left and three on the right and so can be put on or removed very quickly without any apparent hurry. This has caused very little comment. < Irrelevant (to Skirt Café) aside snipped >

In many ways this (wearing a skirt as a guy) is analogous to walking naked and worrying what people who might happen to see us will think. The honest answer is that most really do not care how we dress because people are smart enough to respond more to our behaviour than to our state of dress. If we behave respectfully and courteously we will be treated the same way.

So, in answer to your "Anyone got any ideas?" I would say "Yes, just try it!"

Have fun,


Ian.

Thank you for your thoughts Ian, I would love to try it but I don't think I am going to get the chance, I wore my horse riding top and a denim skirt today to wash the car windows while the car was on the drive, to get used to it. I thought it looked ok, but I had only been outside for 5 minutes when my wife appeared at the house window gesticulating and apparently going berserk.

I went inside to find out what was wrong to be told I couldn't go outside like that and she was extremely angry. I couldn't get a rational explanation as to why she was so angry but I took it off to calm her down and put my shorts on. That seemed to be ok to my wife although I thought that the skirt actually looked better with the horse riding top. Ooooo listen to me, must be getting in touch with my female side.

The strangest thing is though that my wife knows I go out walking in the nude and although she always tells me to be careful, she doesn't get agitated about it like she did about the skirt.

There's nowt so queer as folk.

Once again, it seems that it is person closest to the man who wants to wear a skirt that forms the major obstacle.

Have fun,


Ian.

* The forum is only open to paid up members of a naturist organisation, hence the anonymized extract rather than a link to the forum.

[crfriend]

Thanks for pointing that one up, Ian. It drove a couple of points home fairly well.

The first one is how open-minded a lot of you Brits seem to be about the notion of one's own, and others', bodies. If one tried walking in the nude here in many places in the US of A one would get clamped in irons, a hefty fine (if not jail time), and a lifetime on a sex-offenders list. At least that's the in the corner of New England where I dwell, but New England has more than a bit of a puritanical streak in it -- even though in the not-too-distant past, skinny-dipping in summer was considered a bit of a naughty tradition.

The second, and more salient one here, is that I suspect the chap's wife is only marginally OK with her husband's activities "out and about", but since it's at least familiar she can't really say too much about it. It sounds, however, that the skirt idea is a new one, and that may be what she's railling about. If she can mentally deal with the notion of her husband strolling 'round the local wood completely starkers, then she has the mental capacity to deal with a skirt -- it's just that there's been no active thought expended on the matter and she was reacting in a knee-jerk manner. Would she really have wanted him to be out cleaning the car-windows in the nude? (Which, if the temperature is warm enough might make more sense than wearing a skirt that will get stuff on it during such activities.)

[TomH]

I think that's the door I came through to get here... I think I mentioned this early on, but I got more into wearing skirts for that very reason. There are many trails and areas here in the USA that are off the beaten path and lend themselves to a healthy walk in the sun and natural air. When I'm in areas that there 'might' be others about, I had used a pair of lightweight shorts that would fold enough to be almost no cover. However, there was this tightness that was quite unpleasant. It finally dawned on me that a skirt would be much more comfortable for quick cover if needed, especially a wrap. I came to the conclusion that what they thought of my orientation otherwise was of no importance to me. After that bit of fresh air, the rest is history. I'm comfortable every day now.

Yes, many countries on the other side of the earth are less disturbed by what peoples bodies might be doing out in public, but many are more hung up than the US. There are TWO major organizations based in the US that are concerned with humans rights to be free as they were born and it certainly isn't as cut and dry as Crfriend would have us assume is true.

It's to bad that one's nearest and dearest are concerned with what the neighbors will think about some one they care about. Each of us has a certain amount of time on earth and it would be nice if we could live it our way as long as we don't stop others from living theirs or actually endanger society. Imaginations can and do run wild.

I'm going to shorten this more than I planned, just to stay off the soap box about things that don't pertain in this forum. I'm am very grateful to this bunch of guys and gals for helping me to see that my freedom is more available than I thought a few years ago.

Someone here said many of us lurk about without saying anything... HI !!!

[Skirt Chaser]

Getting that reaction from his wife had to be stressful for that husband but I see at least two factors that are different from his walks he may have been unaware of. First, this is something she is present for rather than knowing it goes on but not in her view I am guessing. It is much easier to deal with difficult knowledge that you only hear about and don't have a mental picture, particularly in your own front yard. That very personal location had to be the other shocker for her. It is one thing to have her spouse off on his own doing his thing but when it happens at home it does affect her. It is not some random hiker that might see her husband but a neighbor that would know her too. His activities are no longer anonymous and I think she was reacting to that. While the skirt itself was likely part of the issue (skirts do get into gender issues in a way naturism very obviously would not) I think she would be waving just as frantically had he been nude out there.