Out and About -- In the World at Large

[greenboots]

On a magical mystery tour of foreign climes I have slipped into a skirt in the hotel in the evenings. At various times have been to reception, arranged laundry and picked up a food delivery, all with no comment (not even from my wife)

[Barleymower]

On a magical mystery tour of foreign climes I have slipped into a skirt in the hotel in the evenings. At various times have been to reception, arranged laundry and picked up a food delivery, all with no comment (not even from my wife)

It's a big problem and no problem all at the same time. Therefore it's really no problem and should be treated as such.
Keep doing what you are doing GB and bit by bit you will get there.

[Coder]

Well folks, this was a new one for me. I needed a crochet hook, and rang up the local store that sells such things. The person on the other end of the line confirmed availability, and said, "Oh by the way, we have an open knitting session from.... today, feel free to come.". Well, I did, and went skirted. It was a bit surreal, I'll say that. I felt wholly out of place (there were no men besides myself). Not sure what one says or talks about at these things, it was mostly generic small talk between people. Might go again next Sunday as I'm trying to finish up a project. Towards the end I got a compliment on my skirt - I wore that blue boiled wool skirt I imported from Germany via etsy.

[FLbreezy]

I was tending to an ornamental flower garden out by the street yesterday, and one of my almost-neighbors passed by walking his dog and came up to me to chat. I was wearing a black pleated utility kilt that was a little above knee-length. Up until this time we'd only exchanged a polite wave of the hand in passing and I generally just let him be because he had some rather misguided/offensive signs in his yard about a year ago. At any rate, we had a nice long chat for at least 20 minutes about all sorts of things (home renovation, pets, kids and grandkids) and he never mentioned what I was wearing. I expect he came away from it thinking I was an otherwise pretty normal dude, and I did about him as well. I related this to my wife and she said "all this happened while you were wearing a skirt?" Yep!

[Coder]

Went to the yarn store to buy a row counter, also stayed for their knit together. I wore a heavy canvas green below knee skirt, grey marled tights, black boots, and a mustard/cream striped jumper. Was very welcoming as before, no odd stares or reactions even though I go by my name - which is unambiguously male. Got some help picking out some embroidery floss, and the shop keeper even remembered my name after our transaction, and chatted while she was winding up balls of yarn for customers. All in all a good experience. One interesting thing I overheard. The last time I went, one of the women was wearing an ankle-length skirt, which in this day and age for her younger age was peculiar. Well, this time she was in jeans, and was talking to the person next to her (these are all public conversations - you sit in a circle of sorts). She said, "Oh, I didn't wear a skirt today because I was running later earlier, but I like to wear skirts on the weekends because I have to wear pants for my job all week and it helps me (disconnect?) keep work separate in my mind.". I find this utterly fascinating - but can relate to some extent. I reject khaki's / ties because I was forced to wear them in school, and heavily associate them with when I was growing up, and not necessarily the best memories.

[6ft3Aussie]

Earlier this month I was travelling with my wife and 14 month old son, so 3 flights wearing my Oz Kilts hybrid utility kilt (purple insets in the pleats), I did not have any trouble from airport security apart from forgetting to remove my belt before the first flight and having the buckles etc keeping the metal detectors working, but no problems just wave the wand show what it was and on we went, no further comments from security folks or strange looks that I was aware of.
I probably got more looks on one of the flights when I was trying to calm the little one by walking up and down the aisle carrying him in flight a couple of times, but it looked like any attention received was because I was carrying him, not because I was wearing a utility kilt.

Not one odd look that I noticed, and not one comment about the kilt from anyone. A case of nothing to see here, next please.

[FLbreezy]

Spent a few days in Mickey Mouse world as a mid-week get away with the Mrs, and I only packed a few utility kilts to wear to remove the "should I or shouldn't I" anxiety that sometimes crops up when deciding what to wear. My main complaint with kilts is that they tend to stand out a bit rather than be stealthy/normal, but somewhere like Disney that can be fun at times. I noticed some subtle attention my way, of course, but I'm used to that and just let myself be happy being how I want to be. My favorite moment was getting a pint outdoors at the UK pavilion in Epcot and a pretty young waitress called over to me and said "I love your kilt!" in a Scots accent. The way she said "k'aelt" was musical to my ears and I was quite happy.

[Charlie]

Mrs C and I went to Torremolinos (Spain) in early February for a contra dancing in the sun event. Skirted all the way of course: knee length denim skirt on the budget cattle truck flight out and ankle length skirts in the hotel and for dancing.
There were two reactions.
We walked along the promenade in the sun. I wore an ankle length gypsy style skirt and got a thumbs up from a guy sat in a bar.
The other reaction was from the dance organiser who asked why a man would want to dance in a skirt. A woman provided the answer "Because its fun!"

There was also a Rockabilly 1950s event going on at the same time, with lots of loud rock & roll music and people dressed in 50s outfits. The girls looked fabulous and I rather envied their skirts
Charlie

[Modoc]

Just out and about runnimg errands shoppong and such when lady who was in the market said "I really like your style. This is what I was wearing.

20240305_162502.jpg

Something I wear pretty regularly.

[Myopic Bookworm]

Went to pick up the kids from scouts, where they had been at a skittle alley in a local pub. Expecting just to sit in the car park, or maybe loom in the background, I just stayed in the black denim skirt I was wearing (over black tights and black suede shoes). Sure enough, they were running late, and not only did I have to go into the pub, but also take a group photo of the whole lot of them, so if any of them had initially missed the skirt, they were all looking at me then! As usual, the sky did not fall and no one gave any hint that they had noticed. (Scouts is a pretty inclusive space: there's at least two non-binary identifying kids there, and they had a mtf transitioning assistant leader at one point.)

[GerdG]

... so if any of them had initially missed the skirt, they were all looking at me then! As usual, the sky did not fall and no one gave any hint that they had noticed.

Great, Myopic Bookworm, and were your own kids ok with their father wearing a skirt in front of their friends?

[Barleymower]

Went to pick up the kids from scouts, where they had been at a skittle alley in a local pub. Expecting just to sit in the car park, or maybe loom in the background, I just stayed in the black denim skirt I was wearing (over black tights and black suede shoes). Sure enough, they were running late, and not only did I have to go into the pub, but also take a group photo of the whole lot of them, so if any of them had initially missed the skirt, they were all looking at me then! As usual, the sky did not fall and no one gave any hint that they had noticed. (Scouts is a pretty inclusive space: there's at least two non-binary identifying kids there, and they had a mtf transitioning assistant leader at one point.)

I gasped when I read your story MB! It's up there in worst nightmare territory.
Don't get me wrong I'm out there but I like to know in advance what I'm doing and not get caught out by the unexpected. There's certain situations I still avoid.
Like you say scouts is very inclusive so panic over. Well done and an MIS bravery award is in the post.

[prw230]

I don't wear skirts in public around home, but like to when out of town. We recently went on an RV vacation, staying at several places in Florida. I wore skirts most of the time. We went to see Manatees at a state park, strolled the gardens at BOK tower (an amazing place!), and did up Old Town in St. Augustine. I love the freedom I feel in skirts.
We usually take an evening stroll around the RV park. RV'ers are a friendly bunch & most people said hi, or waved to us as we went by. We stopped to talk with several people & always stop to pet their dogs. We even invited our next door neighbors over to enjoy our campfire.
The only comment I got was one store owner in St. Augustine said she liked my skirt.

[Myopic Bookworm]

Great, Myopic Bookworm, and were your own kids ok with their father wearing a skirt in front of their friends?

They're used to it now. I've been wearing a kilt since before they were born.

[Mouse]

An adult wearing a skirt shows that it is OK to be different, which is a valuable lesson for some kids who aspire not to follow the standard but at the moment are unsure. Well done Myopic Bookworm for flying the MIS flag.