What makes a skirt masculine?

[Sinned]

Cltrn, left to myself I would wear what I like when I like including a dress but MOH slings words at me such as "moving out" and the dreaded "D.I.V.O.R.C.E.". Now whether she would go that far I'm not at present willing to make the test. We have a lot of assets and the division of them could prove interesting and I could have a lot to lose. She did get VERY angry because I wore a skirt to see my mum the other day. As she put it ".... for all the neighbours to see ...." It is just about 10 yards from my front door to the car door I don't think the neighbours hang out their windows just to see me going out. We're not on close enough terms with most of them - only what I call nodding terms. She plays the ".... and I don't suppose that you care how embarrassing it would be for your granddaughters at school when the other kids taunt them ...." My eldest granddaughter is about 11 and starts secondary school in September. See my dilemma?

[Caultron]

Spousal opposition certainy can be a problem.

But if she's that opposed to dresses, skirts, and (I suppose) kilts, how does the gusset OK / no gusset not OK thing come in?

[Milfmog]

...how does the gusset OK / no gusset not OK thing come in?

I suspect it is her best attempt to rationalise an emotional response; never an easy thing to do.

Unfortunately no amount of rational explanation will get past a purely emotional reflex. I feel that the only way that Sinned will get past that reaction will be if/when Mrs Sinned starts to think about why she reacts to him in a skirt as she does. If she starts to think about that, a small chink will appear in her armour, but until then all that can be done is to wear skirts etc in situations where they are not opposed and hope to slowly break through the mental conditioning by making the sight less unusual. It can be a very slow process

Have fun,


Ian.

[skirtyscot]

Does Mrs Sinned think it is OK for you to wear tights? They have a gusset!

As for the granddaughters, if anyone makes fun of them because of their weirdo granddad, all they have to do is agree "Yeah, he's weird" and laugh along. Do you care? But actually it's not likely to happen, based on my children's experience. Either nobody cares, or your choice of clothing is too far removed from the girls for anyone to want to make fun of them because of it.

Mrs Sinned is just looking for excuses.

[Caultron]

Milfmog: That's been my experience as well: keep taking what you can get at the moment, meanwhile applying gentle pressure to expand. With that strategy, my wife has gone in six months from angrily opposed to grudgingly tolerant and now to resigned acceptance.

The current position is that I can wear kilts as much as I want at home or out, except for two occasions: (1) taking my daily walk around the neighborhood and (2) being out with her.

I suppose she doesn't want to be seen with me kilted because she thinks it'd reflect on her. She can't get over the idea that everyone must be laughing at me, even if they don't show it, and so they'd be laughing at her as well. All not true, IMHO, but that's how she feels.

Why it's OK for the neighbors to see me in local stores but not on local sidewalks, I can't explain.

She does accept my being kilted when tradesmen or the cleaning woman come to the house. How that's different from being in a store together, I can't explain either, but I guess it's progress.

One other strategy that's worked for me is not directly asking permission. It's like the old adage, "Don't ask the question if you might not like the answer." Instead, I send out trial balloons, like being skirted around the house before we're scheduled to go out, and then seeing if she asks me to change. The trick is for such actions not to trigger backlash or arguments.

[Sinned]

I accept that her response is purely emotional and illogical. She did say something like "Don't come to me when you get beaten up." during her rant. Now that is illogical because I would never go anywhere I did not feel safe skirted or not and why someone would want to beat me up just because I am wearing a skirt I can't imagine. I do wear a skirt when I can and as for seeing if she asks me to change before going out, that always happens. I will take what you say and try and find out the reasons WHY she is so against me being seen out in a skirt. But gently and rationally and when she is in a good mood. Things are just harmonious at the moment. Keep you posted on developments. I don't have any kilts as such but I do want to make a utilikilt and have seen some material in her sewing section that is enough to make two so maybe if I can show her one and get her involved in making them then that may be a chink in the old persuasion.

[crfriend]

I will take what you say and try and find out the reasons WHY she is so against me being seen out in a skirt. But gently and rationally and when she is in a good mood.

It's worth noting here that since it's an emotional response and not a rational one she may not be able to elucidate the answer. Just be prepared for that.

This "battle" can, I believe, be won to the benefit of both parties, but it may be a long hard slog and painful in the process -- and sometimes one needs to compromise on things even if they make no intellectual sense. And sometimes the pain isn't worth enduring.

Things are just harmonious at the moment.

That's good. I hope it remains so.

Recall that it is not the clothes that make the man -- it's the man who wears the clothes.

[skirtingtheissue]

... The man's skirt has a zipper fly to maintain compatibility with the one zillion male urinals out there. ...

REALLY?? In over a year of skirt wearing I have never used the fly at a urinal and don't think I ever will. I just lift the front of the skirt! I think a fly does provide a slightly more masculine appearance than, say, an elastic waist, but in terms of function, I only use a fly to loosen the waist to put the skirt on or take it off.

[the_scott_meister]

What would make a skirt look more masculine? How about:

- hanging a sword from it.

- strapping a .45 to your hip (perfectly legal here in Arizona).

- displaying the shrunken heads of your vanquished enemies on the belt.

- or maybe painting some skulls or something really manly like baseball bats, footballs, or golf clubs (pictures of golf clubs would make anything look manly).

I could go on.

[Kirbstone]

Roman soldiers were a case in point. They all wore short tunics/skirts, reinforced with leather vertical straps ending at the hem with belts from which hung all sorts of weapons of the period, but mainly swords. To protect their exposed legs they bound them in stockings with leather straps up to just below the knee. Such kit was very practical for the climate throughout most of S. Europe, allowing them to march long distances and fight effectively.

Such garb is not remotely feminine. The ladies of the period draped themselves in light flowy materials in various colours which were very feminine.

T.

[skirtilator]

It isn't made to women's specs. Rugged and practical by contemporary standard - otherwise the scottish traditional kilt was a women's garment.

[Grok]

the word for men is "practical". I suppose that garments that will become popularized in the future will be practical/workable for a particular function/setting.