What would you like to see in a man's dress?

[crfriend]

I agree with [Skip] about the rather esoteric fashions that Juan showed us. That styling is not mainstream. Now, how about some skirt suits that can be worn in a business context with perhaps [shudder] a tie. After awhile I would replace the plain shirt and tie with a ruffled shirt that men used to wear.

I find nothing wrong with neckties when properly done. Contrary to popular belief, they do not have to strangle and can seriously jazz up an otherwise dull look. In instances where I've need to make a powerful impression, and was interested in flaunting the "norms", I've worn silk skirts, dress shirts with ties to match the skirt in question and waistcoats (black goes with everything, and 1860s period waistcoats which do not have lower "points" work splendidly with skirts) which make a spendidly masculine take on a blend between men's "power suits" and women's "power suits". I have presented project reports attired so before a worldwide corporate audience before and the response form said audience was all about the content and not one bit about my "odd" attire.

It's not just about the skirt -- it's all about the entire ensemble.

Juan is showing us things that exist mainly for art's sake and for the aesthetic of "high design". These are not looks that are designed to be worn by everyday folks on the street; these are designed specifically to call attention to the "creative genius" of the designer and nothing else. I suspect it's better to look at these creations as "art" rather than anything practical that one would wear, say, to work. Art has its place; art, well done, makes us ask questions about the world around us and how we perceive it. I'll posit that this is healthy, even if it is sometimes a bit jarring. Thanks, Juan!

[JohnH]

Skip, I agree that is would look ridiculous for a man to wear a woman's dress if he does not have the breasts to fill out the "large hollow bust areas". I barely fill out those areas in my dress without the use of breast forms.

You're inferring that you have and use breast forms. Is this true? To me, that's crossdressing, and last I checked, that wasn't what this site was all about. Someone in charge please correct me if I'm wrong and things here have changed.

¡¡¡¡ I HAVE NEVER USED BREAST FORMS AND I WILL NEVER EVER USE THEM!!!!

OK, I came across a little harsh. I'm just pointing out that I do not need breast forms to fill out the bust areas of a dress. In fact, I have B cup size breasts. A lot of men would despair of having "moobs" but I take lemons and make lemonade out of the situation. And if you think that I am testosterone deprived - I am a basso profundo able to sing down to Bb below the bass staff and am able to fill out the bass section by myself in a church choir with two tenors and a lot of women. When I was 14 years old I was able to belt out Eb below the bass staff.

[JohnH]

I agree with [Skip] about the rather esoteric fashions that Juan showed us. That styling is not mainstream. Now, how about some skirt suits that can be worn in a business context with perhaps [shudder] a tie. After awhile I would replace the plain shirt and tie with a ruffled shirt that men used to wear.

I find nothing wrong with neckties when properly done. Contrary to popular belief, they do not have to strangle and can seriously jazz up an otherwise dull look. In instances where I've need to make a powerful impression.
I

It was all in good fun that I write "perhaps [shudder] a tie". I did not mean that the wearing of ties should be abolished; rather I was proposing an alternative shirt style for formal men's wear. In my opinion there needs to be alternatives to ties for men's formal wear. You can see in my avatar that I am wearing a tie.

[crfriend]

It was all in good fun that I write "perhaps [shudder] a tie". I did not mean that the wearing of ties should be abolished; rather I was proposing an alternative shirt style for formal men's wear. In my opinion there needs to be alternatives to ties for men's formal wear. You can see in my avatar that I am wearing a tie.

Please accept my apologies, then. for the misinterpretation. Ties are amongst the things that men rail against most vigourously when it comes to clothing, especially if they are compulsory due to dress codes or local culture. Why so few gripe about trousers is beyond me, other than lifelong conditioning. I was merely pointing up that they have their place as an accessory, and should not be cast aside glibly. I also have cravats as well, which make for a distinctly "different" look.

I like ruffled shirts, commonly known as "tuxedo shirts" in US parlance, and have one (albeit from the "other side of the aisle) that gets decent mileage out and about. It'd get more if it wasn't silk and dry-clean only.

There's a place along the route I travel to/from work every day that advertises custom shirtmaking -- I may have a look in there for something that (a) fits, and (b) something out of the ordinary -- if the price is reasonable, that is.

[Since1982]

Some people like ties. Most people don't know the history of ties though. They go all the way back to the beginning of slavery and were originally used to lead long lines of slaves tied together at the neck. There are pictures of it in the Egyptian paintings. Also pictures of individuals being led by a "tie" around the neck and a length to the "master" doing the leading etc.
I learned that in the Fort Lauderdale High School library in about 1958 when I was a Junior. I've worn one tie since then, for my High School graduation picture, and that was a clip - on. I passed on any ties for both college graduations. In one, I had one of those shirts with a painted tie on the front and the other I didn't bother. But, if ya like them, by all means wear them.

P.S. I do think thin people look better in ties. S.

[Kirbstone]

Apart from the full Scottish Kilt-regalia all my male models for preferred clothes are slim/thin.
Starting formal, it's hard to beat a well cut dinner jacket, or tuxedo, which can be worn with a kilt or black trousers.
Next is the three-peice suit, preferrably pin-striped. I have three of these, and also a striped two- peice skirt suit, (which is a bit femme).
I also like blazers & sports jackets. What is worn on the bottom half here is optional. All of the above would be worn with ties, of course. As a rower I like to attend regattas in blazer, club tie, cap, and off-white slacks.
Next down, we're getting casual, & I like wearing just shirts & slacks, with possibly a light jumper, Vee necked.
Now we're into shorts. I have a stack of well-cut golfing shorts to above the knee, with absolutely no cargo pockets or the like. These always look smart in the Summer/early Fall & I wear them nearly all my leisure time.
At the botom of the pile, I must admit, come my 'unbifurcated' items, which generally I wear at home and around the grounds, which are totally private.
Then for competitions & training I wear a variety of one-peice rowing suits, which are form-fitting shorts/singlet garments worn with or without a tee-shirt underneath. These look very good in context on the right sort of physique. I'm not a runner, and I find running shorts/kilts too skimpy.

[Since1982]

Kirbstone said: Next is the three-peice suit, preferrably pin-striped. I have three of these, and also a striped two- peice skirt suit, (which is a bit femme).

Not if they are worn with confidence and masculinity! About the only (IMHO) dress ever invented that cannot look good on a man is either a typical wedding dress or any one with built in busts and/or spaghetti strings. Thats not to say a man can't wear a white satin suit with a skirt in the place of pants and still look masculine. I believe he can, as long as he doesn't act self-concious of his apparel.

[crfriend]

[...] the three-peice suit, preferrably pin-striped. I have three of these, and also a striped two- peice skirt suit, (which is a bit femme).

Something I'd like to see would be a four-piece suit which had the option of trousers or a skirt in matching fabric for the jacket and waistcoat. This would offer the best of all worlds. The trick would be getting a jacket that would look right with either the trousers or the skirt, and that might well prove problematic.

Personally for such a rig, I'd go long -- likely mid- to lower- calf length; that seems to be my main style choice for professional work and might ease the design problems with jacket length. I suspect ankle or floor length would look strange in a suit configuration, although it's been done for women early in the past century. Men might take umbrage at the amount of attention to management that a floor-skimmer requires, but interestingly from first-hand experience I can walk completely unhindered in either of my extremely long skirts so long as I've got petticoats under them.

Jackets and skirts can be dazzling combinations, and I need to replenish my stock of jackets. The devil however, as always, is in the details and jacket length seems to be tied to skirt length to look right; this is why jackets in kilt-rigs are much shorter than the ones for trouser-rigs.

As has been mentioned before, and I tend to agree, is that minis are pretty much out for the workplace. They can work wonderfully well for casual instances, but personally I'd not wear one anyplace where I wouldn't wear shorts; this means the workplace.

[JohnH]

Not if they are worn with confidence and masculinity! About the only (IMHO) dress ever invented that cannot look good on a man is either a typical wedding dress or any one with built in busts and/or spaghetti strings. Thats not to say a man can't wear a white satin suit with a skirt in the place of pants and still look masculine. I believe he can, as long as he doesn't act self-concious of his apparel.

There are a few men that can fill out the bust area of a typical wedding dress or one with a built in bust and/or spaghetti strings. Granted it won't look too masculine in that case, but it still could look good.

[SkirtedViking]

Skip, I agree that is would look ridiculous for a man to wear a woman's dress if he does not have the breasts to fill out the "large hollow bust areas". I barely fill out those areas in my dress without the use of breast forms.

You're inferring that you have and use breast forms. Is this true? To me, that's crossdressing, and last I checked, that wasn't what this site was all about. Someone in charge please correct me if I'm wrong and things here have changed.

There are many models that do not require female breasts.Especially with elastic fabrics.You think that flat chested women do not wear dresses and tops?Many males have non-flat chests that are not feminine-I am one of them.Just accept the fact that male chest can be accentuated too and it looks different so do not compare it to women.

[Sylvain]

There are many models that do not require female breasts. Especially with elastic fabrics. You think that flat chested women do not wear dresses and tops?

But even those dresses are designed to accentuate their hardly-existent breasts. Men usually don't want that.

[Since1982]

Skirted Viking said: Just accept the fact that male chest can be accentuated too and it looks different so do not compare it to women.

I'm curious and interested why a man with a larger or portruding "chest", perhaps from gynocomastia, would want to "accentuate" his, the most common description of this problem, "Man-Boobs", unless he was a CD or for some other reason wanted to be confused with a female??? I've known perhaps 5 men in my life with limited or large "breasts" from gynocomastia, including to a degree, myself, and none I've known wanted to accentuate that look. All were deeply ashamed of the look and wore all kinds of straps and bindings to flatten them in public until they grew old enough to just not care, like me.

Now a male chest that is larger than normal but made that way with exercise and weight lifting is different completely. If that kind of chest is what you're referring to, I completely agree with you.

[Image deleted. This is not a medical journal.]

[SkirtedViking]

Skirted Viking said: Just accept the fact that male chest can be accentuated too and it looks different so do not compare it to women.

Now a male chest that is larger than normal but made that way with exercise and weight lifting is different completely. If that kind of chest is what you're referring to, I completely agree with you.

Yes,that is what I mean,Skip.

[SkirtedViking]

There are many models that do not require female breasts. Especially with elastic fabrics. You think that flat chested women do not wear dresses and tops?

But even those dresses are designed to accentuate their hardly-existent breasts. Men usually don't want that.

Women have accepted the fact that while wearing items even designed directly for men they do not look like males and do not compare themselves to us.A woman in men's t-shirt,trainers and baggy pants/trousers does not look like the same if a guy with similar weight and height is wearing the above mentioned apparel.I like to accentuate my chest and us males also have good bodies. I posted a picture of Brad Pitt in a dress (look in the same topic,previous posts of mine)- that is what I am talking about, wear whatever you wear with your natural appearance.Finally,two things - when a woman is wearing male garb or shoes no one is expecting her to look as a guy in her physique and I realize there are many stereotypes towards men in terms of appearance compared to women and thus more conservative views and prejudice occur even towards a guy with a "manly" looking skirt.I am talking about my country, if in yours is different, good for you.
P.S.One day I would like to see shoes,clothes and so on designed especially for men (and their natural bodies) with the same variety of styles as women have.Thus there will be fashion equality and we will be able to shop only from the men's section and feel we have equal options with women in this area.

[JohnH]

I'm curious and interested why a man with a larger or portruding "chest", perhaps from gynocomastia, would want to "accentuate" his, the most common description of this problem, "Man-Boobs", unless he was a CD or for some other reason wanted to be confused with a female??? I've known perhaps 5 men in my life with limited or large "breasts" from gynocomastia, including to a degree, myself, and none I've known wanted to accentuate that look. All were deeply ashamed of the look and wore all kinds of straps and bindings to flatten them in public until they grew old enough to just not care, like me.

That is the wrong attitude to take. One should take lemons and make lemonade out of the situation. That is terrible one would ashamed of the shape of his body. One should be reasonable fit, but to use straps and bindings instead of bras is just not the right thing to do. I would use a minimizer bra if I had larger breasts for most of my clothes, unless if course, I wore a dress requiring the filling of the bust areas. And yes, just for the hell of it I would wear a low cut blouse with a push up bra or a see thru blouse with a lacy bra from time to time! I figure that my huge neck (17 inch) and head would count for something for my masculinity, as well as my stride and deep voice. {Yes, it would be fun to appear feminine and then speak with a Joe Friday [Dragnet] kind of voice. It would be even more fun to do karaoke and sing a Johnny Cash song in the bass register!}.