Comfort/discomfort

General discussion of skirt and kilt-based fashion for men, and stuff that goes with skirts and kilts.
Midas
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 190
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2021 3:52 pm

Comfort/discomfort

Post by Midas »

Skirts are more comfortable than trousers.

Dresses are more comfortable than skirts.

Some people are more comfortable than others when wearing skirts or dresses while out and about.

Some have the discomfort of a spouse who is hostile to male skirt wearing.

I am fortunate to have a supportive wife, so I wear a dress more or less all the time. I enjoy wearing a dress or skirt out and am comfortable in my own skin. Despite this I am still reluctant to wear a skirt in my own village, although a lot of locals have seen me so attired. While I will do jobs outside or drive out, I still haven’t gone walking down my own street. It will happen some time, but somehow it seems like a bigger step than the first time I went out in a skirt. Our own restrictions can be strange things.
Stu
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1314
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 8:25 am
Location: North Lincolnshire, UK

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by Stu »

I would say I wear trousers 90% to 95% of the time as I find them more convenient, warmer and there is less messing with them. But I should have a free choice and not be limited by unreasonable sartorial conventions.
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14431
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by crfriend »

Stu wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 3:37 pmI would say I wear trousers 90% to 95% of the time as I find them more convenient, warmer and there is less messing with them. But I should have a free choice and not be limited by unreasonable sartorial conventions.
As Midas points up, a whole lot of those restrictions are in our own heads, and the old lyric of "We are all just prisoners of our own devise" rings very true.

However, the external restrictions are the most pernicious as those tend to come at us from family and significant others -- and that's tragic.

I also do not see a "magic bullet" anywhere around. So we need to push at it as best we can.
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
User avatar
denimini
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 3224
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2015 2:50 am
Location: Outback Australia

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by denimini »

I kept reiterating that skirts were more comfortable, which recently was confirmed by wearing pants to a board meeting which I hadn't done for a few months. Particularly walking or bending, feeling pants dragging on my knees, flapping at my ankles and tightening at the crotch. A good reminder. I am mentally comfortable and completely at ease wearing skirts in public nowadays.
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
Fear i Sciorta Dubh
Active Member
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:03 am
Location: Ireland

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by Fear i Sciorta Dubh »

Midas wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 11:59 am Skirts are more comfortable than trousers.

Dresses are more comfortable than skirts.
In the 15 odd years I have been wearing skirts, I have never once worn a dress. Given my preference for straight skirts, I don’t see how it would be possible to find a dress that would fit me both above and below the waist without having one specially made to measure.

That said I obviously agree that skirts are a whole lot more comfortable than trousers.

And although my wife is more than happy for me to wear skirts around the house, she is the only other person who knows about my preference so in the event of having to execute a quick change of clothes due to, for instance, an unexpected visit from family etc. (which has happened), I would imagine slipping out of a skirt and into trousers/shorts is a good deal quicker than getting out of a dress and into both a top and trousers/shorts!!!
Fear i Sciorta Dubh
Active Member
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:03 am
Location: Ireland

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by Fear i Sciorta Dubh »

Fear i Sciorta Dubh wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:32 pm
…in the event of having to execute a quick change of clothes due to, for instance, an unexpected visit from family etc. (which has happened), I would imagine slipping out of a skirt and into trousers/shorts is a good deal quicker than getting out of a dress and into both a top and trousers/shorts!!!
Has this ever happened to anyone else who is not out as a skirt wearer to family/friends etc.
FLbreezy
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 490
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2021 12:40 pm
Location: Florida, USA

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by FLbreezy »

Fear i Sciorta Dubh wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:48 pm
Fear i Sciorta Dubh wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:32 pm
…in the event of having to execute a quick change of clothes due to, for instance, an unexpected visit from family etc. (which has happened), I would imagine slipping out of a skirt and into trousers/shorts is a good deal quicker than getting out of a dress and into both a top and trousers/shorts!!!
Has this ever happened to anyone else who is not out as a skirt wearer to family/friends etc.
I've only done the "quick change" once that I can remember. The woods behind our house was on fire, turns out it was a prescribed burn, but the place was swarming with forest service firefighters, etc., and I just felt like I should put on pants instead of the kilt I was wearing when I went out to chat with them. Probably didn't need to.

If that happened again today, I don't think I'd bother. I'm not doing anything wrong, why hide it?
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14431
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by crfriend »

FLbreezy wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 12:31 amI've only done the "quick change" once that I can remember. The woods behind our house was on fire, turns out it was a prescribed burn, but the place was swarming with forest service firefighters, etc., and I just felt like I should put on pants instead of the kilt I was wearing when I went out to chat with them. Probably didn't need to.

If that happened again today, I don't think I'd bother. I'm not doing anything wrong, why hide it?
Had that happened to me, I'd have gone out to greet them in whatever skirt I was wearing, so long as there was no danger of it "catching".


"G'day lads! Controlled burn?" If so, then it'd have likely been, "Good on ya. It needed doing! Thanks." (Note that I know how to approach and deal with fire, so skirt or no, I'd have been fine. After all, safety first!)
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
User avatar
Kirbstone
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 5571
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:55 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by Kirbstone »

Not having worn skirts publicly with my family/progeny/neighbours/friends I value the lightning quick change option afforded by Sportkilts, with their wrap-round design and velcro waist fastening. This can only be accomplished in Summer/Autumn when underneath there are presentable shorts.

The trick is to have by one's person a bag into which the kilt can speedily be folded. This little trick was in my plan when some ten years ago I arranged rendezvous with Ian Milfmog at Henley Masters' Regatta. I wore a T and shorts, but had a Sportkilt 'Kilt-on-Fire' in my bag. To my slight disappointment, when Ian did show up, he was clad in biking body-hugging lycra, no skirt anywhere, so the sportkilt stayed in the bag.

That didn't stop him downing a few pints, jolly chap!

Tom
Carpe Diem......Seize the Day !
User avatar
r.m.anderson
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 2601
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 6:25 pm
Location: Burnsville MN USA

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by r.m.anderson »

Aye matey Kirbstone - those SportKilts are the quick perfect change act from-to the skirted mode !
Another similar design is the in-expensive Stillwater Kilt - it is that velcro closer that does the trick.
There are other copy cats skirting around this design

Most any skirt that wraps closed can be converted from the belt & buckle brigade to a velcro closing.
No belt buckle leather straps braces or other devilish design needed or required.

As a piece of history the SportKilt was originally designed for a quick change at the beach.

Care must be taken to not over do the kilt accessories - as for mentioned belt straps -
peasant shirt - no flashes - cable kilt hose - brogues required keep it simple unless
the mystery of how does he change all that - that quickly !

The blazing fire designed SportKilt you have is something else.
"YES SKIRTING MATTERS"!
"Kilt-On" -or- as the case may be "Skirt-On" !
WHY ?
Isn't wearing a kilt enough?
Well a skirt will do in a pinch!
Make mine short and don't you dare think of pinching there !
FLbreezy
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 490
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2021 12:40 pm
Location: Florida, USA

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by FLbreezy »

crfriend wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 12:44 am
FLbreezy wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 12:31 am If that happened again today, I don't think I'd bother. I'm not doing anything wrong, why hide it?
Had that happened to me, I'd have gone out to greet them in whatever skirt I was wearing, so long as there was no danger of it "catching".

"G'day lads! Controlled burn?" If so, then it'd have likely been, "Good on ya. It needed doing! Thanks." (Note that I know how to approach and deal with fire, so skirt or no, I'd have been fine. After all, safety first!)
Oh for sure, if that happened today I wouldn't have bothered changing, but it was my first time seeing the forest on fire a mere 30 feet from my vegetable garden. If they had pre-announced the prescribed burn I'd have been out there with a lawn chair and an adult beverage and reached peak Florida Man by roasting some gator nuggets over the fire.
User avatar
Fred in Skirts
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 3988
Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2016 6:48 pm
Location: Southeast Corner of Aiken County, SC USA

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by Fred in Skirts »

FLbreezy wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 12:43 pm Oh for sure, if that happened today I wouldn't have bothered changing, but it was my first time seeing the forest on fire a mere 30 feet from my vegetable garden. If they had pre-announced the prescribed burn I'd have been out there with a lawn chair and an adult beverage and reached peak Florida Man by roasting some gator nuggets over the fire.
As I wear skirts all of the time I don't worry about what others think about the clothes I have on. I answer the door in a skirt even if I do not know who is there. To me clothes are just clothes. Period!

It has been several years since I had gator tail nuggets. I love them deep fried in a light batter sprinkled with a little salt and pepper and pickeled onions.
"It is better to be hated for what you are than be loved for what you are not" Andre Gide: 1869 - 1951
Always be yourself because the people that matter don’t mind and the ones that mind don’t matter.
dressedbrewer
Active Member
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:00 am

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by dressedbrewer »

Fear i Sciorta Dubh wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:48 pm
Fear i Sciorta Dubh wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:32 pm
…in the event of having to execute a quick change of clothes due to, for instance, an unexpected visit from family etc. (which has happened), I would imagine slipping out of a skirt and into trousers/shorts is a good deal quicker than getting out of a dress and into both a top and trousers/shorts!!!
Has this ever happened to anyone else who is not out as a skirt wearer to family/friends etc.
Yes! Simple life things happen too often. Neighbours kids kick a ball or toy into the back garden, have to open door and then go out the back to retrieve it. Courier delivery on a rainy day, having to open the door so nothing gets soaked. Those kinda things happen to me. And too often means more than zero times, probably count on one hand the number of times a year.
Baggy jeans that a skirt can be hidden in and a manly (shudder) top nearby help.
FLbreezy
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 490
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2021 12:40 pm
Location: Florida, USA

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by FLbreezy »

A few evenings ago my wife and I were relaxing out on the patio as sunset approached, and she looked at the shorts I was wearing and said "You look uncomfortable, you should go put something else on." She said she's so used to seeing me in skirts that she assumes I must be less comfortable when I'm not wearing one. She's not wrong! 8) I'm glad she's used to it, and I daresay she kind of likes it now.

I've been reading "Skirts; Fashioning Modern Femininity in the 20th Century" by Kimberly Campbell lately, it helps me fall asleep. :lol:

Last night there was this quote of Coco Chanel talking to a Vogue editor in the 1920's:
"I make fashions women can live in, breathe in, feel comfortable in, and look young in. You see this skirt?" She shoved her hands deep ino her pockets. "It doesn't cling to me in any place. I can move. I can even run quickly if I want to."
The author continues:
A skirt you can run in, with deep pockets? Buy it in every color, but especially black.
Barleymower
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1297
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2022 10:28 pm

Re: Comfort/discomfort

Post by Barleymower »

Sometimes I think I (we) moan about our lot. Boo hoo, I can't wear a skirt, nobody likes, everybody hates I'm going eat some worms.
Ok we do, most of us are out there, braving the world and sharing our experiences.

I thought I would ask my wife, who like all women has clothing freedom for her opinion (my wife is chubby, she hates it and struggkes with her weight).

What would you rather: Clothing freedom or be thin?
Answer
Thin, no question.

I'm not saying "put your trousers on". In fact the opposite. Its no big deal, wear the clothes you feel comfort from, enjoy them, meet the disapproving looks head on. They don't matter anyway.
Post Reply