What makes a skirt masculine?

[Big and Bashful]

Cornish kilts are a solid colour as well.

Oh, Skip, the reason I have heard of for boys wearing skirts in the past was more for maintenance of the child. It was easier for a mother to access the various nozzles on the child for various cleaning routines when said child was skirted/dressed, as this sort of clothing has a pretty obvious access hatch. Pants/trousers etc. of course need to be removed so that the child can be serviced. i hadn't heard of the hand-me-downs reason, but it also sounds valid to me.

[Since1982]

B&B, isnt that what I said? Please re-read what I said about the difference between putting a man child in a tent (skirt or dress) instead of a series of tubes (trousers) etc.

[Big and Bashful]

B&B, isnt that what I said? Please re-read what I said about the difference between putting a man child in a tent (skirt or dress) instead of a series of tubes (trousers) etc.

No it isn't, you said they couldn't tell what sex, often used hand-me-downs. I said it was more for ease of mainteneance of the child because of easy access. Read my posts properly before making accusations.

[Sinned]

I was just looking through a child's book called "Victorian Children"by Eleanor Allen and just to confirm what has been said previously here's a excerpt from it:

"Little boys were kept in dresses with girlish underwear until the age of four and their hair was kept long too. When they were breeched ( allowed to wear trousers ) they felt very grown-up indeed."

[skirted_in_SF]

"Little boys were kept in dresses with girlish underwear until the age of four and their hair was kept long too. When they were breeched ( allowed to wear trousers ) they felt very grown-up indeed."

I see a woman and her maybe four year old with long, wavy blond hair on my bus in the morning every once in awhile. I looked up from my paper once when she told the driver that 'he's a boy'. He wasn't in a dress or skirt, just non-gender specific children's clothing and with a face that could go either way. Obviously, the driver tried to comment on the child and missed on the gender.

[Sarongman]

Interesting to think of those dreadful dictators Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin et al, as toddlers with long hair and dresses. Or, say, the great minds who gave something to society, such as Einstein,
My nephew, in the early 70s was posed with a violin by his Aunt (my sister) as a long haired pre school child and was constantly mistaken for a little girl, as he was in non gender specific clothing. Also there is a picture of my late Father, taken at about age 3 so, I assume, a century ago, with long wavy hair and a dress and people have often asked who the little girl is.

[PatJ]

'He's a boy'; 'I'm a boy'; 'She's a girl'; or 'I'm a girl' are some of the most delightful responses I have heard when teasing children.

"How are you doing today young man?" "I'M NOT A YOUNG MAN, I'M A GIRL!" "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know for sure." Or, "How are you girls doing today?" "WE'RE NOT GIRLS, WE'RE BOYS!" It goes both ways, and it always is a delightful way to interact with children.

They may not know much about the world, but they know what they are. It is so curious that it gets ingrained into them at such a young age. Unfortunately, so does clothing choices - I would tend to think that in our modern age, we could understand that the drapings we use to cover our body, do not determine who or what we are.

[SteveB]

I was raised on hand me down clothes at the early age due to costs, rationing, and convenience. Even the clothes my mom did buy were skirts. Much easier to deal with nappy (diaper) changing. I did not get my first trousers until I started public school. Even then, as soon as I was home changed into a skirt or a dress until about ten years old. I was then introduced to short pants. I was eleven and had reached 1 meter 85, when dresses were no longer practical and skirts scarcer. Today I wear mostly skirts and kilts. With a face full of beard and standing just shy of two meters, it is unlikely that I will be mistaken for a woman, no matter what I wear.

Steve

[Don]

Gentlemen,

This is the crux of the question, and has been for as long as I've been around! Our inability to answer it in any kind of coherent fashion is holding back "the movement".

Consider the "pants test". Suppose you and I snuck into a department store after hours and performed a test. I would gather up every pair of pants and put them into a big pile. You would take that pile and sort it into two piles - Mens and womens. When the sort was complete, we would review the score. What percent of your calls would be correct?

I say that intuitively, you would be right maybe 85-90% of the time! THIS SUGGESTS THAT THERE IS A LOGICAL DIFFERENCE, WHETHER OR NOT WE CAN DEFINE IT!

I'll toss my two bits onto the table, FWIW!

The men's skirt is tailored to the men's body, i.e. broadest at the shoulders, tapering down to narrowest at the ankles;

The men's skirt has belt loops to help with the suspension issue;
The men's skirt has pockets so that he can carry his wallet in the same manner he does at Macys.
The man's skirt has a zipper fly to maintain compatibility with the one zillion male urinals out there.

Beyond this, it's a question of fabric and print choices. in things like fabric choice, the men's skirt somehow reflects mens pants, i.e. the same fabric is used, Etc.

Wear a skirt "skillfully" and you will be perceived as "attractive". Do it poorly, and you'll look like a jerk! Which is which?

Also remember, "It ain't what you wear, it's how you wear it! Good advice then, good advice now!

[Caultron]

Pockets and belt loops, OK.

Shoulder measurements affecting the cut of a skirt, not so much.

And I can't imagine needing a fly in a skirt. It's so much easier to just lift the hem.

Ultimately, a men's skirt is whatever a man will wear. I don't think there's any perfect design that'd cause millions of men to look and then say, "Now *that* I would wear."

[Lawrence de Grande]

I recently discovered that wearing a sporran with a skirt will make it skirt look more masculine.

[Sinned]

According to MOH removing the gusset removes any idea of masculinity. Sore point between us at the moment.

[Milfmog]

According to MOH removing the gusset removes any idea of masculinity.

Does the converse also apply? Or is masculinity only introduced by the gusset in mens clothing?

Did she enjoy "Gladiator" or "Braveheart"? Must have been tough for her with all those effeminate men on screen...

Have fun,


Ian.

[Sinned]

The garments in Braveheart or Gladiator are fine because that was then and the fashion meant that they were applicable dress for those times whereas this is now. But I feel like buying a pair of culottes with voluminously wide legs ( the sort where you could get both legs into one of the culotte legs and some ) and wearing them as they would be bifurcated garments. But then MOH would only say that I was being sarky and I suppose that I am above that sort of behaviour.

[Caultron]

The garments in Braveheart or Gladiator are fine because that was then and the fashion meant that they were applicable dress for those times whereas this is now. But I feel like buying a pair of culottes with voluminously wide legs ( the sort where you could get both legs into one of the culotte legs and some ) and wearing them as they would be bifurcated garments. But then MOH would only say that I was being sarky and I suppose that I am above that sort of behaviour.

Wear what you like. And actually, skorts or culottes (if there's a difference) do solve the exposure problems that arise when sitting down in a short skirt.

Although tartan culottes are a bit hard to imagine...