Hope Alexander: How Men Can Wear Women's Clothing, But ....

[ChrisM]

How Men Can Wear Women's Clothing, But Still Look Masculine

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-Men-Can-Wea ... -Masculine

How Men Can Wear Women's Clothing, But Still Look Masculine

By Hope Alexander


This is a question from a reader, it's taken me three months to answer, mostly because I'm not very good at reading the little hidden questiony bits they have here. It's a very good question however, and it is most worthy of an answer.

The Question: You have some interesting pages such as power-skirts for men. Now I don't want to pretend to be a women, or pretend to be Scottish. How does someone pull off, for example a skirt, in the context of an otherwise complete manly outfit, especially with respect to shoes/boots, career wear, hose, body-hair, and I suppose underwear, just in case of strong wind?

The Answer: Most of this really comes down to your own personal sense of style, so take this with a pinch of 'just somebody's opinion' salt, but here's what I reckon when it comes to integrating a skirt into a male outfit.

First off, you have two separate challenges as I see it. You have your business outfit, and your casual outfit. Let's start with the business one first, as there's a greater than even chance you'll be spending 40 + hours a week trying to look professional.

For a business look, I reccomend a long, dark, A line skirt. An A-line skirt is one that starts at the waist, as they all do and flares straight down into an A-line, ie, the lines of the skirt flare out consistently on the way down, but not so much that you look like a fairy princess, and not so little that you're hobbled by the skirt. I'd avoid tight or fitting skirts designed to accentuate the butt and thighs, I'm personally of the opinion that very few women can really pull these off successfully, and though you should feel free to wear such a garment in your free time for a touch of glamour, highlighting your ass isn't exactly professional.

So, a nice, straight, long a line skirt that comes down no more or less than a couple of inches off the floor. Not so long that you will trip over it. Not so short that you will be exposing a great deal of ankle. I don't know why, but ankles seem to look awkward under long skirts, almost as if you belong to some sort of cult.

Underneath the skirt, some dark opaque stockings or pantyhose. This will ensure that if you do flash some skin, it won't be hairy leg, it will be smooth stocking.

Footwear wise, traditional business footwear will work well. Ensure that it is black or dark, not blue or brown. Up top, a neutral shirt and tie and, if necessary, dark blazer that matches the color of the skirt will create a seamless professional look that incorporates the skirt.

When it comes to casual attire, you can give yourself more free reign. Denims and more fanciful fabrics are appropriate for men, though if you do not wish to look feminine, I would keep the length of the skirt below the knee. There's just something about a shorter skirt that screams 'feminine', which is fine if you're looking for the feminine look, but not so much if you want to make a manly outfit. A loose denim skirt with a hooded sweatshirt and skate shoes will look fine on a man. Again, if you want to avoid the feminine look, stick with the A-line types of skirts, they allow a better range of movement than their more fitted cousins and they are less uber feminine, if you know what I mean.

Of course, it is important that you incorporate women's attire into the sort of clothing you already like to wear. It's usually quite easy to find women's skirts that will match men's tops, and if you really want to take things up a notch to the northern part of the body, men can usually wear a great deal of women's tops. T-shirts and tanks lend themselves to unisex wear quite well.

Have fun and play around with different styles and different kinds of clothing. Style and fashion are all about personal choice and in spite of what the snotty little fashion writers like to imagine, there's really no such thing as 'in' or 'out', if it compliments you, its in.

[PatJ]

This was a very interesting article.

I forwarded the web site to my wife just to tease her a bit.

But the important part is that the the question was given due consideration and the answer does make sense and sounds like good advice.

[Brandy]

Hope has a lot to say about skirts, etc for men. She has lots of good ideas for example:

Formal Skirts For Men
http://hubpages.com/hub/Formal-Skirts-For-Men

[Bryan]

A good article. The question was answered in a very positive way, with very good helpful advice.

Bryan

[Since1982]

I read it and referred Hope to the Skirt Cafe's pics and looks forum under my name so she could see an overweight man who gets compliments every day for his skirts when, back in the day in pants, he only got insults about his size.

[Pythos]

Oh my god how refreshing!!!! AAAAAAAAA!!! I am doing sommersaults at the potential of this.

About fraggin time!!!

By the way I want a black or dark blue version of that pink number. Wow.

[nicothoe]

Interesting, although I don't see what's wrong with flashing a hairy leg!

If I'm to wear something on my leg, then I prefer short socks.

[Pythos]

I think the point is, if you want to flash a smooth leg, or a hairy leg, that should be your choice. You should not face ridicule except for the typical catty comments, and your job status should not be threatened.

Those that have jobs that are open to this, That is terrific, most jobs though, that is not the case.

[kiltsrawesome]

Aw there's some manly looking short skirts! lol In my mind I've always viewed shorter skirts as actually suiting men better because I think of the ancient Greek and Roman outfits and their skirt like thingys were pretty short, but very masculine, and the women always wore long white robes. (at least in the movies I've seen, I may very well be wrong)

Did I make sense? *_*

[nicothoe]

It's all a matter of aesthetics. While women don't like seeing a man's hairy legs, many men in the US or UK would would frown upon a woman with unshaven armpits. So much of our tastes is a product of our culture, and that's why western male dress is often sombre. We are still influenced by the prim and proper way of dressing as established by the Victorians.

Personally, I find myself pushing the gender boundaries in what I am comfortable wearing or how I look. One of my resolutions for this year, in addition to wearing skirts more often, was to wear skirts of all colors and prints - from bright blues to yellows to pink. I want to celebrate color! I paint my toenails, often in alternating colors, not because it's feminine but because it is fun! Why can't I wear a flowery skirt? The answer is....I can!

[Milfmog]

...While women don't like seeing a man's hairy legs...

I'm pretty confident that some women won't like hairy legs, but it seems a bit glib to lump half the worlds population together with an assertion like that.

I do not shave my legs (or my face come to that) and wear skirts that vary in length from brushing the tops of my shoes to 15". Nobody has ever commented about my hairy legs, although cries of "nice legs" are not uncommon. I do not wear tights (pantyhose) since I just don't like the feel of them, maybe that is part of the reason people don't object to the hair. Hairy legs in tights would be pushing the aesthetic too far for my taste and, I suspect, for many others.

Have fun,


Ian.

[nicothoe]

Ooops! When I edited my initial sentence, I accidentally deleted the "some" that was in front of the "women". Believe me, I am not in the habit of making sweeping generalization of the entire planet. That why I said "many men" and not just men.

[Pythos]

No worries, I run into that problem of conveying a general sweep, even when I am sure I have put a word such as "most" or "many" or "some". If the weight of the statement is enough many people miss those words, and rip into me. Women usually.

[jeanfor]

Aw there's some manly looking short skirts! lol In my mind I've always viewed shorter skirts as actually suiting men better because I think of the ancient Greek and Roman outfits and their skirt like thingys were pretty short, but very masculine, and the women always wore long white robes. (at least in the movies I've seen, I may very well be wrong)

Did I make sense? *_*

Agree 100%

[Sylvain]

Aw there's some manly looking short skirts! lol In my mind I've always viewed shorter skirts as actually suiting men better because I think of the ancient Greek and Roman outfits and their skirt like thingys were pretty short, but very masculine, and the women always wore long white robes. (at least in the movies I've seen, I may very well be wrong)

Did I make sense? *_*

Women mostly always wore long robes or dresses in order to hide their legs, which could give some ideas to men... Men had no such problems, and were those who had to walk through bushes while at war, hunting etc. So shorter clothing (kilts or knickers) made more sense.