Are Denim Klts Cloaked?

[skirttron]

Since getting my fantastic denim kilt some weeks ago, I am dumfounded in the face of one astonishing fact: This kilt must have a Klingon cloaking system - I have not received one single comment about it from anyone except my wife, who was there to unwrap it.
I would not be surprised if I had spent the whole time in an abandoned coal mine or a Trappist monastery, but the fact is, I have been in and out of shopping malls, superstores, busy high streets and cafes. The drop is not so long that I could be taken for a kind of Rock n' Roll ,Levi-clad High Court Judge or a Bishop, so I guess it's something about denim - the rugged outdoors ideal maybe, or the utilitarian nature of the cloth?
Any other theories?

[matman]

So which kilt is it? Where did you get it?

[iain]

I think it's the nature of denim. Denim is so far enmeshed as "acceptable" inside the brain that people just can't find an immediate discrepancy! It may look like a skirt or kilt but I guess maybe people think that if it is denim, it must be something acceptable but in a form they haven't heard about somehow. Perhaps they're even afraid to reveal their ignorance.

It just proves that when skirts on guys are an everyday occurrence and have even permeated so far as to reach that tepid, insipid barometer of acceptability, Hollywood--nobody is going to look twice unless you're wearing a tutu, and even then, they'll assume there is some good reason for it.

[Since1982]

Skirttron, you figured it out, I've known for years that denim skirts were brought to earth by the Klingon Empire and they ARE cloaked. Hence the "invisibility" factor. People "see" denim shorts even though they are looking at a denim skirt. Those Klingons are very crafty people.

[Stu]

I have said so many times that denim skirts are invisible that people must get tired of seeing me say it. You would get far more reaction if you wore, say, mascara, or an odd-looking hat, than you would wearing a denim kilt or skirt. Check out my account on a day I spent in the city of York just over a week ago at the bottom of this page:

http://www.skirtcafe.org/forums/showthr ... 96&page=10

This is completely typical. We can argue about whether men can or cannot wear skirts or kilts, but if it's made of denim it just isn't an issue. You may as well be wearing jeans for all people notice or care.

Stu

[geegee]

I often wear my traditional kilt out and about, but lately it has been a bit warm in the UK for a wool kilt. So, I thought, what the heck, let's test this theory about denim skirts being "invisible" and can conclude that IT IS TRUE. A sortie around our local shopping parade in a denim skirt just above the knee only produced one remark. Standing in a queue at the Post Office (It was very warm) the lady behind me looked down at the skirt and then said "At least one bloke has some good sense." I smiled and replied that it surprised me that so many women chose to wear trousers in this hot weather, to which she agreed. (Despite the temperature, at least 40% of women were still wearing trousers!)
So, it's true......denim doesn't count!

[AMM]

Are all demin skirts "cloaked"?

Or only certain kinds?

I ask because most of the demin skirts I have seen in pictures here have been about knee length and rather tight, to the point that they could be mistaken for shorts.

I recall that the one time I was '"out and about" with a denim skirt, I did get a look from someone that suggested it was anything but invisible.

This was as I was pumping gas, getting ready to come home from NEFFA (see my post on NEFFA.) I was wearing an ankle length dark blue denim skirt with a substantial flare starting below the knees. Another fellow went past me on the way to pay for his gas, came back, looked for a few seconds, and then went on.

OK, it wasn't a nasty incident, but I definitely didn't feel "cloaked".

-- AMM

[Since1982]

I think the only "invisible denim" is exactly those short, straight (usually converted FROM shorts so look like shorts) ones usually pictured in various threads. I think those are the ones that are most likely to be considered "invisible or cloaked". Sorry you had a negative experience with your long one. I have 4 denim skirts converted from shorts and have never had a negative comment when wearing them. Of course in the 15 months now I've been skirting publically, I've only had one negative comment at all. At Bingo by tourists. They got asked to leave by the management.

[Stu]

I was wearing an ankle length dark blue denim skirt with a substantial flare starting below the knees.

Now that WOULD BE noticable! I stick to straight denim skirts that come to just below the knee, but they aren't made from shorts and could never be mistaken for shorts.

Another fellow went past me on the way to pay for his gas, came back, looked for a few seconds, and then went on....OK, it wasn't a nasty incident, but I definitely didn't feel "cloaked".

He made you feel uncomfortable - but you were wearing something unusual - something he hadn't seen a guy wearing before - so he stopped and gawked. Is that so surprising? Did he insult you? Humiliate you? Threaten you? Did you not think to look him straight in the face, smile at him and say "Hi!"? Perhaps if you had done that, you might not have found the experience so unpleasant.

I have worn denim skirts at dozens of places and have been seen by thousands of people - literally! It's just not an issue.

Stu

[Departed Member]

Now that WOULD BE noticable! I stick to straight denim skirts that come to just below the knee, but they aren't made from shorts and could never be mistaken for shorts.

He made you feel uncomfortable - but you were wearing something unusual - something he hadn't seen a guy wearing before - so he stopped and gawked. Is that so surprising? Did he insult you? Humiliate you? Threaten you? Did you not think to look him straight in the face, smile at him and say "Hi!"? Perhaps if you had done that, you might not have found the experience so unpleasant.

I have worn denim skirts at dozens of places and have been seen by thousands of people - literally! It's just not an issue.

Stu

My experience with denim (just above the knee or ankle length) has been similar. The vast majority don't notice, of those that do, most don't seem to care and a small number may stare, glance twice, or, in one case, fall off their bike trying to get a better look (young, female j*ans-wearer!). But then again, it is still an unusual sight in this day and age. In some places, to see anyone wearing a skirt, I dare say.

[AMM]

He made you feel uncomfortable ..

I would not say he made me feel uncomfortable.

I didn't mean to complain about the incident.

In fact, it gave me a little confidence that nothing unpleasant happened -- that, in fact, not much of anything happened. (Maybe I'll walk the block or two from the motel to the shuttle bus and back next NEFFA, instead of driving. Maybe, in a few years' time, I'll go into the Dunkin' Doughnuts in the skirt....)

My point was, it was not invisible.

Evidently, it's not sufficient for a skirt to be denim for it to be "cloaked".

It has to be a particular kind of denim skirt, if my experience is any guide.

-- AMM

P.S.: The denim skirt in question is one of the least -- noticable -- skirts I own. The main place I wear skirts in public is when I go dancing, and when I go dancing, I want to stand out. It gives me a lift when someone (esp. a pretty lady , and they're all pretty) says "I like your skirt."

If I'm going to wear a skirt, I want to have fun doing it. I want my last thoughts on this earth to be of the wild and crazy (non-harmful) things I have done.

As far as I'm concerned, if I felt I had to restrict myself to a faded denim, knee-length pencil skirt (not that anyone has suggested I should), I might as well wear shorts.

[Stu]

As far as I'm concerned, if I felt I had to restrict myself to a faded denim, knee-length pencil skirt (not that anyone has suggested I should), I might as well wear shorts.

I absolutely agree that we should be widening our choices rather than confining ourselves to just one style and fabric. The issue raised was whether denim skirts are invisible and, if you want to wear a skirt that nobody notices, straight, knee-length denim is the way to go. If you deviate from that precise formula, you will stand out far more and be more likely to provoke a reaction.

Personally, I don't want my attire to be an issue in any way. I don't want to attract comments, positive or negative. I just want to wear what I like and get on with my activities. But I realise we all have different aims and expectations.

Stu

[crfriend]

I absolutely agree that we should be widening our choices rather than confining ourselves to just one style and fabric. [...]

Personally, I don't want my attire to be an issue in any way. I don't want to attract comments, positive or negative. I just want to wear what I like and get on with my activities. But I realise we all have different aims and expectations.

Well, I think that anyone that wears anything very far outside "the uniform" always runs the risk of notice and, sadly, ridicule in the lesser-civilised parts of the world. That said, if those boundaries don't get pushed by somebody (preferably lots of "sombodies") they'll never widen.

Most of my skirts are long and very flowy; some are dark somber colours (blacks and navy blues), but some are bright and flashy (reds, cream, and a couple of prints). Predictably, I attract more attention in the flashier ones -- and that's usually OK. If I'm feeling glum and just want to blend into the crowd, I wear my tr*users; this is predictable enough that if I don't put a skirt on when I get home my wife asks if I'm feeling OK.

Eventually, the world will come 'round to the place that Stu mentioned above -- where it just doesn't matter. For some of us, that'll be a terrific relief; for others of us, a bit of a letdown. Sometimes it is nice to be the center of attention.

[Since1982]

In 1968 at a bar called the 8 Ball Bar, a pool playing establishment, I, when young owned a nice 850 cc BMW motorcycle and rode it to the bar to play 9 ball for small bets like $1 on the 5 and $2 on the 9. There was a semi-rowdy rednecky group that was in there late every afternoon and by 7pm were mostly too drunk to drive anywhere. One day in particular the rednecks got together and came over to my table. The biggest one said in a slurred voice, Hey Fatso, get a hair cut or we'll give you one with our Buck knives. My hair at that time was shoulder length and I wasn't about to get a hair cut. The next day, after playing pool for 6 hours, I decided to leave. My motorcycle was purposely laid over on its side in 90 degree heat on a blacktop parking area...It had sunk into the tar and by the time I saw it, it was nearly evening, it had gotten cooler and everything was stuck in place. It cost me $150 to get a wrecker to pull it out, take it to my home and unload it, it took me 3 days to remove all the tar from it.

Today, nearly 90% of all southern accent people, if they can, have long hair..You can't go to a square or contra dance without seein lots of men with long hair. its completely accepted now for any male of any persuasion. Things DO change and will continue to do so. I really believe that in 40 or less years skirt wearing for men will be as commonplace as long hair for men is today.

[binx]

Went out in a multi-pocket above-the-knee Old Navy light faded denim skirt, with the small slit in the back. What was amazing was what happened when I stopped by the mall to find a "super closeout" sale going on. There was this calf-length crumpled black crepe skirt for 90% off ($80), so I wanted to try it on. I asked the woman attendant there if I could go into the dressing room. "Well, I'd really like to see that!" she said sarcastically to the other attendant, but then I proceeded to point out what I was currently wearing! She promptly responded "oh" with a pause, then that the men's dressing rooms were "over there"...:sarcastic: Alas, was too small. But the light denim was cloaked for sure.

binx