The arguments for and against men have been made so many times that the idea of even beginning to try and persuade the obviously non-persuadable he-man skirt hating club bores me to the point of almost not wanting to write this post at all. But I will.
Clockwise from top left: Pelayo Diaz, Tune Magazine, H&M via Hypebeast, The Sartorialist (2x), Marc Jacobs via T Magazine
And because I have nothing more to say other than ‘here’s a bunch of guys in skirts,’ here’s a list of places where guys wear skirts:
caftan (middle east)
cassock (members of the clergy)
dashiki (africa)
djellabah (north africa / morocco)
fustanella (greece / albania)
galibayah (egypt)
gho (bhutan (himalayas))
kikoy (kenya / west africa)
kilts (scotland / ireland / usa /
kimono (japan)
lungi (india)
Mannerrock (germany)
(numerous names for skirts/robes) – (native american (n&s) indians)
***
Sarong section:
kain (malaysia)
kekapa (hawaii0
lava-lava (polynesians, esp samoans)
pareo or pareu (tahiti)
sarong (indonesia, malay archipelago, and the pacific islands)
sulu (fiji)
tupenu (tonga)
end of sarong section
***
tunic (numerous, including europe, until recently)
yukata (like a kimono)
hijacked tastelessly from a TFS post by genebujold
Any thoughts?
you know, that first picture (the guy with the plaid kilt) undoubtably proves it IS possible to wear a skirt and be manly at the same time. 😉
I think it depends on the person. I for one couldn’t pull that off but the guy in the top right picture looks great. It’s really eye catching and quite chic. I love your blog… If you are interested I’d love to swap links. 🙂
Oh, it’s all about how they wear it! “katelovesme” definitly pulls it off! its not for everyone tho.
you know, that first picture
Q, some women look bad in trousers and still are allowed to wear them. Why permission to wear skirts by men is questioned by using phraze “how it looks?”. Fact is that skirts better fit male’s anatomy, so are comfortable and healthy. Also skired garment was worm by men through history. Every woman and man should decide himself what to wear, it’s question of personal taste, own style etc.
Great looks really like how different pieces were used to pop off their outfits a smarter way to dress good job!
“WORD on The Street…FRUITION
SHOP.FRUITIONLV.COM
I’ve been wearing skirts and kilts for years and find them very comfortable and stylish. I prefer ankle-length skirts because they are so much fun to dance in. I realized many years ago it was time to break with tradition and put on a skirt! And I haven’t regretted it one second. Check out my link to my blog which is all about guys who rock skirts and kilts.
oh MY God! The last 2 photos are so funny! Ican’t imagine that they wear this kilts
Mike, maybe because these are not kilts? 🙂
Seems to have Asian roots (one is Hindu dhoti, second is similar to sarong).
As You can see, kilt isn’t only one skirt made for men in the world. Anf, finally why are You thinking it’s funny?
It’s not a question what men CAN wear, it’s all about what they wear today. Uniform and stereotyped clothes, that’s all.
Men looking fabulous in skirts (and kilts are skirts), so why is there any question. A man must know what he want to dress, that’s all.
Women do the same, so men have to go forward… skirted.
Tine, yes, it’s question what men can wear because men are allowed to uniformed and stereotyped clothes only. Too much stereotypes about skirt&fetish or gay were produced and we have a lot of work to crush these. Also look at the fashion’s designers, they don’t want to help us. The designer’s fashion, even contains skirts for men is totally unwearable, so we must rely on the kilts offered by some kiltmakers like Utilitykilts, SportKIlt, MIdas Clothing or Aderlass.
Who is telling you what you can wear? Who “allow’s” what men can wear? Words like fetish &gay in that connection were produced by men, not society. Just ignore and wear what you like.
Bravo! Nothing to explain more.
@Tine wrote: “Who is telling you what you can wear? ”
Other people including my boss for example.
Also wrote: “Words like fetish &gay in that connection were produced by men,”
However it no matters who has producet that stereotype. Maybe You’ve got any suggestions how to liberate men from it?
“Just ignore and wear what you like.”
It’s impossible to do in such narrow-minded society like Polish.
I don’t know how narrow minded Polish society is or could be. But all is a question about education, and education begins with be an example. And reading your comments I think you are a very good example.
Liberating people from their own cage is hard to do, but again be an example …. and find followers.
You have not to look for followers, just wear what you like. You’ll have followers after you showed up with an new style, but waer it with confidence and be proud about it.
I am doing it since two years, and I never had a bad experience with it. Strange people greeting you, want to know hoe does it feel (mostly men), but one lady in a museum asked me if I am doing it like Scots (she want’s to know what was ‘under’ it) got her answer as the saw that I was wearing a pantyhose. “You are phantastic”! she said and went away to tell this to a colleague, which later tried to talk with me too. We were interrupted by a elderly couple, the female asked me how come that I was wearing a skirt. “I like it” was my answer and she went away with her husband with “good for you”.
That means, just wear your skirted garment, and don’t care what other people might think. “good for you” I like that, because skirted garment are good for me and all men.
Skirts are typically a men’s garment. Of course they can wear it, and it takes a real man to do it. Just stop with all prejudices and treating men like disposable commodities in case of dressing.
There is a skyrocketing grew of typical men’s diseases related to wearing of pants, and men should just wake up and see the reality.
Unexpected fashion choices by men are starting to be accepted and seen in mainstream fashion. Skirted garments for everyone were the norm for more than two millenia. There is no reason why they shouldn’t be again.
Yes, Tine, is about education. The polish society is open-minded enough to accept the tartan kilt, not enough to accept kilt made of solid colour fabric still. So we have to do the education and we should base on both “examples” wearing skirts in public and Web actions. Also we should not exaggerate with high heels, not “masculine” colourts etc, if somebody is attempting to pass as a woman, have entered the wrong discussion. I’m the good example that man can wear kilt instead of shorts in narrow-minded society and get compliements (mostly from women, men, usually ignore clothes I’m wearing).
I think men which attempting pass as women are already strong enough in their mind what they do, and they are really confident with that.
Shown up with confidence and pride is a part of education, and what you said about men is absolutely correct, because men usually don’t care because they don’t want be involved in new kind of fashion. They are educated as warriors or something like that – men do not have the ability to express their own personality through cloth or kind of dressing.
High heels can be masculine too, and I do not agree that we should exclude it in this discussion.
Saying high heels – formerly worn only by men – are already put in the drawer “feminine” and got the touch that men can’t use it. That is wrong! Talking about education means not to sexualize clothes and all what goes together with it – of course, basic standards raw always what women are doing/wearing – education is de-sexualization without any prejudice, we have to start on the point “0”. I can understand the Polish society because they did not see anything else what they previous learned, so the reaction is sufficient. But I read last year about an Polish professor which is wearing all kind of skirted garments, students love him like he is and nobody cares because everybody accept his protest against dressing norm for men. Also that is education.
Okay strikemaster, I’ll turn it a little bit and you tell me how does it work, okay.
“A new fashion craze! They put men in PANTS!! Are they out of their mind? What’s about their lower body, squeezing their reproduction organs. Is that what they want? And how does it look. Oh my gosh, watch a man in pants from the back side, there is nothing what will fill a pair of pants compare to women. And how about comfort for the body, air (as everybody know air heals, brings comfort! etc.) flow is gone, that must create diseases, not only for the skin, also for testicles and prostate. And all is so tide which will for sure create a lot of uncomforted feelings which will make a man sick or brutal”.
This fashion designers should think more innovative and future oriented. We can not allow that men must wear pants, they must stay with their skirts, dresses, robes!
We measure with very different scales . I have seen seldom wearing her traditional outfit. If men’s traditional would be pants, so why women wear it. In other words: pants are not a men’s garment anymore, nor skirts are women’s. Easy to understand??
Nobody has the right to criticize men when wearing different kind of cloths. They are just make a difference, a positive one.
There is also no problem at all to stay behind or back when this movement pops up, it isn’t a fashion crazy it is just a way to go back to healthy and comfortable dressing, the roots of male clothes.
You are right King Arthur, but you will be not heard everywhere.
One thing I learned that there are many more men out there which are waiting for the possibility to wear skirts. But I also know that this movement goes only throughout the men, only men can carry this idea.
As long men are influenced and want to do that, they can. The idea and maybe fashion will die out when men do not react. Nobody needs an excuse to be different, because we are all unique, so everybody can express their own personality, in skirts, pants, dresses or suits. That’s just not in our hands.
No dictionary will tell you that skirts and dresses are female garments. What they will tell is that a skirt is a garment around the waist hanging down and mainly used by girls and women. So why are you talking about men’s garment history.
Yes, everybody knows that skirts originally men’s clothes, but we are talking about the situation today.
And when men starting to wear skirts again they are back on track. That’s it.
That’s correct, indeed no dictionary can change the history. The only problem I can see is that most people do not pay attention how a skit is described, the truth lies in the words and sentence.
How long do we have to wait for more men going out skirted in public
Iike me?
Just to understand some facts. Men wore originally skirts and this garment was first introduced for women 1795 in Europe, 1822 in USA.
Women wore only long dresses in past. The change for women came with the women’s rights movement, officially opened in New York 1837.
That’s the truth and history we can’t change, and I do not see any reason why men can’t go back to that garment which is most comfortable for them in case of their body shape. Forget all sexualized comments of men and women which make the skirt as a symbol of sexuality and provide a gender role, it is just false.
Rethink and go with a little bit common sense on that point and support men in skirts.
Why are you discussing about that issue. It doesn’t matter because men wearing their skirts, women theirs. The same way goes for pants. Where is the problem, please?
In the year 2011 we should above that minimum level to understand that skirted garments are the most comfortable wardrobe ever. Just common sense, or – form follows function. We forgot that in past. Skirts for women were introduced 1822 in USA, did you know that? Before it was just a male’s garment (and it is in a lot of countries today, women oly wearing dresses).
So, men have to decide what they want to wear, not women. Men do not decide what women can wear, so we are on the way of equality.
I don’t see the issue skirts on men not as a fashion craze, it is a “rebel-ution” against the stereotype dress code which is unchanged since the Victorian-age in Britain. And this is a movement which has their roots in the timeline of the French Revolution when men were forced to drop skirts for pants.
It needs time to understand that men were in case of fashion always behind since that time. Before F.R. Men were always very well dressed and women were very restricted. Since we know that pants are
Continuing:
Really bad for men’s bodies and unhealthy as well, men want to change. It is the best way to do it with showing up what they want, fashion comes with different styles not just by changing styles.
I support this movement, just wearing skirts in different styles, and people give me always very nice and positive comments and complements. That the truth today.
It is nice to read that men supporting men in wearing skirts. So, solution would be for men wearing skirts instead pants (which would make sense anyway) but where are to buy this new “men’s skirted stuff?” I just wonder why so little men wearing it.
I wear a skirt everyday,to work and when im not at work.I am just the same person as if i was wearing jeans,which i dont wear but maybe once a month at most.I feel totally “normal” or at ease when in public when i wear a skirt.wearing a skirt feel about as normal as brushing my teeth.Dont really think much about it.You should try it some time guys,then you would know why guys do like wearing a skirt.And just a FYI,women adopted the skirt from the mens wardrobe,AND it wasnt until the 1930’s or so til women wore pants when women first started wearing pants,and they had the risk of being arrest.Do a google search on the history of the skirt.Dont be affraid.And most women like to see a guy in a skirt.As of last night i was standing in line at the cash register,there was a woman behind me and she said,” i really like your skirt” i then said ” thanks”.I told her “im was tired of just wearing pants all the time”,she then said
“i dont blame you,skirts are much better”….so guys, give it a try,you will see what i am saying…