Andy_G wrote:Hi, I'm Andy and new to the board.
I'm interested to hear about genuine reactions to wearing a skirt in public in the UK. ...
Most of the time there is no reaction at all, they are all too tied up in their own thoughts to notice.
Friends have tried following me from a distance to observe any reactions and say they have very occasionally noticed someone staring at me, or a child tugging at their mother's hand and pointing. Once, in a fashionable shopping street, a friend overheard "Those boots don't go with that skirt", from a woman who hadn't even realised I was male.
The strongest reaction I can remember was when I was helping at a public meeting: a woman was asking me about something; while I was explaining I could see, out of the corner of my eye, her husband standing mesmerised with his mouth open, looking me up and down. He tried to turn away but compulsively kept turning back and looking me up and down again and again.
Very occasionally I have been asked about the skirt - a simple explanation that it is more comfortable or cooler or just fun to wear, was all that was required. Only once did I feel the situation was a bit threatening, so I turned and walked into a nearby shop to terminate the encounter (it would probably have happened no matter what I had been wearing).
I always try to dress in the way a woman of my age and build would dress if she had decided to wear a skirt that day. Denim or sober colours and a top to match; nothing too short or too long for the weather and no frills or 'evening wear' for going to the shops. The exception to this is at folk dances where I can experiment with more flamboyant styles and colours; people often comment on my skirts on those occasions and the comments are invariably positive.
