skirtcafe.org

I'm not sure how much of an issue this is to those here, especially those in other parts of the world. And I will also come right out and say that I was raised "very backwards". My southern conservative family's view on matters like men wearing garments that might be considered "for women" only are well documented here and need not repeating again, but I wanted to touch on something that I haven't discussed, and in my upbringing, was still considered somewhat of a taboo thing to wear, and it was so simple, it was actually stupid... it was... *gasp* the color purple.

I bring this up here to as I want to point out that I am seeing more and more men wearing purple shirts, even in business professional environments like the corporate office where I work sometimes. I personally think that while it may not be a big deal to us, as we are already GREATLY pushing the fashion envelope anyway (purple? big deal!) but the fact that more and more everyday men are wearing colors like purple and pink I think is a sign that perhaps, men in general are starting to diversify their wardrobe, even if it's just by a color, maybe even eventually leading to the wearing of items like skirts and dresses.

Think about it... the standard attire for a professional man 60 years ago was bland, white, black, and shades of grey. No color what so ever!

It was once said that purple is a homosexual color, however statistics have shown that many women are more attracted to a man who wears purple. The color pink has had a big push all around thanks to cancer awareness, now a man who wears pink is almost regarded as a sort of hero, so much to the point that pink is almost a "mans" color now! In other words, it seems to me that men who wear purple and pink won't be going home alone!

This came into my head today as I was added some different color shirts to my collection, and in the MEN'S section of all places, I found a dark purple t-shirt, and let me just say it looks absolutely STUNNING with many of my skirts, especially the slim black a-line I have. I'm receiving more and more word not just online, but in the real world that more women are starting to find men who wear taboo garments, including skirts to be "hot".

I dare say that my wife may have gotten a bit jealous today (she won't admit it though), with the boho skirts in particular, the younger 20-something girls love them! They compliment them, and smile at me all the time. And I swear as I walked down the sidewalk out of the Dollar General tonight, a woman in her car was just following behind me with her headlights on.... I thought about my wife's comment about my skirt being somewhat see through.....

All I could think was "work it baby"....

By the way, it's no accident that my new avatar has lots of purple in the drawing. My daughter helped me make this. She wanted to create me in "anime" using some program online. So with her help, I put together what I want to see myself as in a year or so. (gotta grow my hair out a little) But oh yes, purple is in the equation..... here is a full size pic: You will note the purple witches hat, shirt, in addition to a few of my other ideas for the future, the archers bow, red wine, shoulder length hair, didn't have a pentacle necklace to choose, so I picked a pendulum instead, not pictured is the skirt.... which you know I will be wearing! (program was only for upper body)

Side note: Long before purple was a woman attracting color, or a gay color, it was considered a "magickal" color. Hence another reason for my attraction to it.
Still it remains my "second" favorite color. Hunter green has been my personal favorite for as long as I can remember.

"Try try try to understand.... he's a magic man mama, oh he's a magic man" - Heart "Magic Man"

PURPLE - did you mean the lighter shade "LAVENDER" ?
Lavender is a cross between pink and blue - a gay - bisexual theme.
Bold Purple is a male liturgical color often used around Easter time.

Since the early part of the last century the color themes for children
have reversed PINK was for boys and (baby) Blue for girls.

Men can still wear PINK as a more pronounced fashion color.
Care must be taken with what it is mixed and matched with
otherwise the automatic assumption kicks in and the person
is deemed to be gay or leaning that way - although the trademark
or essential banner is the Rainbow.
To wear other PINK clothing items without abandon one could
be an entertainer or Hollywood celebrity in that vein.

I have PINK shirts and 1 skort that was recently replaced with
a PINK kilt pictured below for wearing during the Susan G Komen
fund raising program.
PINK is the national color of the breast cancer research program.

Really I think that too much emphasis is centered around the
color that one is wearing rather than that person but even that
seems to fading away - even the ole restriction of wearing white
after Labor Day is getting the boot. (Labor day 1st Monday in
September USA Holiday).

So moonshadow did you mean "Lavender" rather than Purple ?

I LOVE purple! I frequently wear purple work shirts and ties, and I also have an aubergine coloured suit which has generated more compliments than any suit I have ever worn.

I'm currently wearing purple opaque tights and a purple jumper. Navy trousers too It's an awesome colour.

I seem to remember from history lessons that when purple dyed fabrics first hit Britain, they were reserved for people of power and/or wealth, it was a hard to get and sought after colour, too good for the lower classes.

I had never associated purple with gayosity, never crossed my mind, and although I know that pink was once a male colour, it is a colour I would never wear, don't know why, I just wouldn't.
For me, I tend to stick with blues, greys and blacks, very occasionaly green.

I think that being tall, wide-ish and generally hard to miss, as well as growing up being rather self concious and shy, I don't like drawing attention to myself. Maybe dull sober colours are habit forming! This is probably why I still have my limits when it comes to indulging in a bit of skirtery, in colours, lengths and also in where I feel comfortable in wearing a skirt.

Big and Bashful wrote:I seem to remember from history lessons that when purple dyed fabrics first hit Britain, they were reserved for people of power and/or wealth, it was a hard to get and sought after colour, too good for the lower classes.

Purple has associated with wealth and royalty since time immemorial dating right back to the days of the Roman Empire, and likely before. This was due to the fact that the colour was very difficult to achieve with the natural dyes of the day. This was finally rectified with the introduction of the aniline dye "mauvine" in 1856 which finally made a permanent purple dye a reality that the masses could enjoy. Here's an example that I find particularly attractive.

I had never associated purple with gayosity, never crossed my mind, and although I know that pink was once a male colour, it is a colour I would never wear, don't know why, I just wouldn't.

If we all worried incessantly about what colour had/has been/will be "appropriated" in the cause of homosexuality then we'd worry ourselves into a tizzy on the matter and never go outside lest somebody label us that way. The answer to that problem is to not worry about it. In our case here, would-be detractors will latch onto the skirt first before noticing the colour-scheme that goes with it. People -- especially the ignorant -- are going to label you anyway; you have no control over that. Stop worrying about it and get on with life.

I think that being tall, wide-ish and generally hard to miss, as well as growing up being rather self concious and shy, I don't like drawing attention to myself.

I finally figured that if I'm going to stick out anyway (and I do), I might as well stick out in style -- and sometimes that means bright (Do I dare use the word "gay" in its original meaning here? No -- too much baggage.) colours.

Don't fear to wear whatever color you want, especially purple. Although purple was at some time adopted by gay activists, it's history is much richer and more complex; not that it would matter to brainless bigots. The "gay" connotation was not widely perceived until one of your illustrious Virginians, former Moral Majority leader Reverend Jerry Falwell, came out publicly against the children’s show "Teletubbies". He decried character “Tinky-Winky” as gay, stating that Tinky was purple – the color of "gay pride" – and that his antennae was a triangle – a symbol of gay pride. But to paraphrase the Wizard of Oz, pay no attention to the idiot behind the pulpit.

Historically, purple symbolizes wealth and nobility, and those implications extend into Biblical history as well. A man with the rank of Roman Emperor was referred to as “The Purple”, from the color of the robe he wore.

Falwell was surely not unaware that in the Book of Mark, Roman soldiers clothed Jesus in purple before beating him and crucifying him. In this sense, they were mocking Christ's supposed royalty, since he was being hailed by his followers as the "King of the Jews".

And let us not forget, especially this week, that it also stands for bravery and sacrifice on the field of battle; hence the U.S. military Purple Heart award. The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the United States armed forces who have been wounded in action. It is indeed a color rich in symbolism.

I would daresay that it is ingrained in Western males, especially ones like the "Looney of Lynchburg", to regard any man wearing a flamboyant color as being questionable as to his orientation. Perhaps the nobility and bravery in wearing purple would come from casting aside those fears and exercising your liberty to be whom you choose, with security in your own nature, and defying others to define you by their own ignorance. Even I wear purple at times, and I am not known for pushing the envelope with colors (partly because I can never coordinate them to my own satisfaction!)

dillon wrote:... his antennae was a triangle – a symbol of gay pride.

I didn't know that ... so these people who shove a wire coathanger into the stump of a broken-off car aerial (to give an inverted triangle of wire) are unwittingly signalling they are gay?
I have a purple skirt which I wear to contra dances. To make matters worse, it has sequins . They are black ones and I considered taking them off, but they seem to be shedding themselves so I haven't bothered.

Charlie

(Sorry to be picky, antennae is plural of antenna in the insect world, and antennas is the plural in the radio world.)

r.m.anderson wrote:PURPLE - did you mean the lighter shade "LAVENDER" ?

Ehhh.. purple, and any variation of the color.

I also rather like the rainbow, and would most definitely wear a rainbow skirt because I think they look nice. (it has nothing to do with it's association with the gay community).

However, I may not be gay, but I do support gay rights, and generally could care less if people think I'm gay for it.... I would gladly wear pink, purple, and rainbow apparel with pride! (no pun intended)

crfriend wrote:If we all worried incessantly about what colour had/has been/will be "appropriated" in the cause of homosexuality then we'd worry ourselves into a tizzy on the matter and never go outside lest somebody label us that way. The answer to that problem is to not worry about it. In our case here, would-be detractors will latch onto the skirt first before noticing the colour-scheme that goes with it. People -- especially the ignorant -- are going to label you anyway; you have no control over that. Stop worrying about it and get on with life.

Right on!

dillon wrote:Don't fear to wear whatever color you want, especially purple. Although purple was at some time adopted by gay activists, it's history is much richer and more complex; not that it would matter to brainless bigots. The "gay" connotation was not widely perceived until one of your illustrious Virginians, former Moral Majority leader Reverend Jerry Falwell, came out publicly against the children’s show "Teletubbies". He decried character “Tinky-Winky” as gay, stating that Tinky was purple – the color of "gay pride" – and that his antennae was a triangle – a symbol of gay pride. But to paraphrase the Wizard of Oz, pay no attention to the idiot behind the pulpit.

Which may explain my upbringing, as my hometown is Bedford Virginia, which is right next to Lynchburg. Oh yes, that school has suppressed a fair amount of progressive thought in the state (Commonwealth) of Virginia....

Which by the way, has been considered a politically "purple" state (mixture of red and blue).... thank God.

But I digress.

More interesting reading on pink, the triangle, and the homosexual community:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecuti ... _Holocaust

Ya want purple? Here's purple: I think it "pops" nicely. 'Tis a pity the camera didn't really do the ascot justice.

here's purple too (and a touch of blue)

and more purple

moonshadow wrote:I'm not sure how much of an issue this is to those here, especially those in other parts of the world. And I will also come right out and say that I was raised "very backwards". My southern conservative family's view on matters like men wearing garments that might be considered "for women" only are well documented here and need not repeating again, but I wanted to touch on something that I haven't discussed, and in my upbringing, was still considered somewhat of a taboo thing to wear, and it was so simple, it was actually stupid... it was... *gasp* the color purple.

Is the negative attidude to purple for men largely a U.S. thing?
I had a couple of purple t-shirts when I was working in England in the mid 1960's. I now have a purple polo shirt and a purple dress shirt. I also have a couple of caftans that have a lot of purple in them.
I was going to mention the Roman emperors but other people have already mentioned those.

If you are into sports - the VIKINGS take "PURPLE" very seriously.
The football division they are playing in was commonly known as the black & blue (ah er Purple) division.

And the entertainer formerly known as Prince was known for the color Purple.

And beware of the One eyed one tooth dragon Purple people eater.

Slap yourself hard enough and you may not see stars but Purple may be the result.

And a black eye is a misnomer - closer to Purple but just as nasty.

So beware the menace of the color of Purple ah but Lavender is so cool and soothing to the savage beast !

pleated wrote: Is the negative attidude to purple for men largely a U.S. thing?
I had a couple of purple t-shirts when I was working in England in the mid 1960's. I now have a purple polo shirt and a purple dress shirt. I also have a couple of caftans that have a lot of purple in them.
I was going to mention the Roman emperors but other people have already mentioned those.

I'm not really sure if it's really a "negative thing" at all anymore, as I'm seeing a lot of men wear different shades of purple all of the time. In fact, I'm not sure if it ever was, at least across the U.S. Dillon makes a good point, it could be my perspective being born and raised so close to Liberty University, and the influences they project on the surrounding communities.

For all we know, the negative attitude didn't really move past central Virginia.

Sure do wish I was armed with all of this information growing up, I rather like purple, and would have liked to include it in my early practices, however like I pointed out above, it seemed like it was frowned upon growing up.