How to normalise skirts for men: proactively reduce the barrier to entry

[Yaun]

I definitely go along with this list:

0. No miniskirts. Must be at least knee length.
1. Solid, muted colors. Black, Navy Blue, Green, Tan, etc.
2. Symmetric, unadorned hemline
3. No slits (except for a short one at the back)
4. Thick enough to be opaque
5. Goes well with a unisex T-shirt/polo shirt. Bonus if you've seen a woman wear the skirt with a unisex T-shirt or polo shirt.
6. Bonus if it has belt loops that can fit a man's belt
7. Bonus if it's twill, has a zipper fly, snap brass button, and decent-sized pockets
8. Wear skirt with a fitted unisex Tee/polo shirt and male/unisex shoes.
9. Refrain from wearing any cosmetics/piercings while wearing skirt
10. Make sure skirt is only "femme" thing about your entire outfit

I even would add some points:
11. No dress
12. No tights or pantyhose
13. No high heels or knee high boots

I totally agree that everybody should be able to wear, what (s)he would like to, but "to normalise skirts for men", the flaring skirts in shouting colors or fancy materials (latex, ...) don't help at all in my (!) opinion (!). This opinion might offend some people here, but for those the beginning of the former sentence is valid and it's fine, too.

[Grok]

Yes, I see such items as dresses, leggings, heels as something for more experienced people. The people who have moved beyond baby steps.

[STEVIE]

Skirts in menswear WILL NOT be adopted insofar as the outfits people are putting together look like clown suits! The majority of people copy things that they think look cool / interesting, not like a practical joke.

I have a question for you.
Exactly where do you derive the authority from to make such sweeping statements?
Fashion history is awash with examples of trends that range from humorous to the positively deadly.
Skirts in menswear may be adopted when there is money to be made from such a move. If you honestly believe that it will be when the rule of thirds and such like is cast in stone, you will be very disappointed.
Steve.

[robehickman]

If you honestly believe that it will be when the rule of thirds and such like is cast in stone, you will be very disappointed.

Fashion designers are already aware of and either follow rules like this intentionally, or break it in ways whereby they know what they are doing, and are doing so for a reason. There are established guidelines, please learn about them.

Yes, I see such items as dresses, leggings, heels as something for more experienced people. The people who have moved beyond baby steps.

'Dresses' in the form of long coats, are already everywhere in menswear.

[Barleymower]

I am getting sick to death of saying the same thing over and over again, and people here seem to be completely and utterly blind, have never seen a woman before, have zero awareness of visual harmony, or have paid no attention to body shape. Male and female bodies are not the same shape! Clothing that works harmoniously with one or the other is simply not the same due to this. Yes there is *some* possibility for overlap.

Skirts in menswear WILL NOT be adopted insofar as the outfits people are putting together look like clown suits! The majority of people copy things that they think look cool / interesting, not like a practical joke.

Please, read the article I shared, and google 'rule of thirds in fashion', 'visual line in fashion', and 'fashion optical illusions'.

How rude.
Surely the best way for you to demonstrate the finer points of your wisdom is to post up some pictures of you in your outfits and let people make their mind up?

[Mouse]

I definitely go along with this list:

0. No miniskirts. Must be at least knee length.
1. Solid, muted colors. Black, Navy Blue, Green, Tan, etc.
2. Symmetric, unadorned hemline
3. No slits (except for a short one at the back)
4. Thick enough to be opaque
5. Goes well with a unisex T-shirt/polo shirt. Bonus if you've seen a woman wear the skirt with a unisex T-shirt or polo shirt.
6. Bonus if it has belt loops that can fit a man's belt
7. Bonus if it's twill, has a zipper fly, snap brass button, and decent-sized pockets
8. Wear skirt with a fitted unisex Tee/polo shirt and male/unisex shoes.
9. Refrain from wearing any cosmetics/piercings while wearing skirt
10. Make sure skirt is only "femme" thing about your entire outfit

I even would add some points:
11. No dress
12. No tights or pantyhose
13. No high heels or knee high boots

I totally agree that everybody should be able to wear, what (s)he would like to, but "to normalise skirts for men", the flaring skirts in shouting colors or fancy materials (latex, ...) don't help at all in my (!) opinion (!). This opinion might offend some people here, but for those the beginning of the former sentence is valid and it's fine, too.

I weirdly like that the list starts at 0.

I think I violate all 14 points on a regular basis, even my working outfit violates at least 4 points on the full list....

However, I am a very independent guy, marching to my own drum beat, towards the tail end of my life, having an absolute ball of a time, wearing an entire wardrobe full of skirts of every shape, length, colour and material.

At a recent party, an actual New Your fashion designer, pulled me aside to tell me how much she liked my style. Considering I had made the clothes I was wearing, I was totally shocked and so pleased. I think the outfit broke 13 points, only complying with point 3. (The skirt did not have a slit, didn't need one since it had a petticoat)

I think I should butt out of this thread, since while I want to help any man wear a skirt (and I am actively doing this). My personal skirt wearing journey direction is in the opposite direction to the thrust of this thread. I apologise if I disappoint some members, but I have to be true to the small boy who lives inside me and was so disappointed at a young age.

[Barleymower]

I understand but, you missed my main point:

IMHO, for starters, substituting a skirt for shorts, especially in the summer heat,
is the best way to go. ( The KISS method. )

The key word here is STARTERS

A guy may be comfortable wearing a kilt yet, in very high temperatures, a kilt IS hot.
The body can't cool off quickly. What's a person to do
Swap out the kilt for a plain skirt, similar to shorts, and wear a plaid shirt.
This changes the colorful bottom part, the kilt, up to a shirt - and moves the plain part,
solid color shirt, down to the bottom. This is great for "First Timers". They may feel
more comfort with the outfit looking like shorts yet, have a greater cooling of the lower
half of the body, with the skirt.

Once they (first timers) find no problems wearing a skirt, it will become second nature
to make this change. Kilt for Skirt. This is an example of a Baby Step, building self
confidence that wearing a skirt, instead of a kilt, can be done as a man.
(I know this from personal experience.)

Uncle Al

Your ideas are a great confidence booster for the uninitiated.

However, rather than taking baby steps, something more fundamental is needed because at the moment the movement is not getting off the ground let alone taking baby steps.

[STEVIE]

Exactly where do you derive the authority from to make such sweeping statements?

I ask you again!

'Dresses' in the form of long coats, are already everywhere in menswear.

How exactly does a long coat equate to a dress?

Finally, do you really believe that pretty much every theory of clothing design that you expound has not been tried before?
Well it has, and failed!
Men in skirts will become mainstream when society allows and the fashion industry can exploit it, make money!
Finally, like all of us you have opinions not hard facts, remember that!
Steve.

[Myopic Bookworm]

I am quite conscious of the differences in body shape that can make women's garments look wrong on men; but women are also highly variable in shape, and I am constantly experimenting. I do violate the man-box rules, because I don't care whether I appear masculine at first glance.

[Grok]

Of the skirts discussed in this thread, I believe that the Walker skirt of blue denim has the best chance to gain traction. It more or less fits the 13-14 points, and, as has been mentioned, may not even look like a skirt to someone not paying attention.

[GerdG]

OK, now for my take. To normalize skirts for men, wear skirts that match the following criteria:

0. No miniskirts. Must be at least knee length.
1. Solid, muted colors. Black, Navy Blue, Green, Tan, etc.
2. Symmetric, unadorned hemline
3. No slits (except for a short one at the back)
4. Thick enough to be opaque
5. Goes well with a unisex T-shirt/polo shirt. Bonus if you've seen a woman wear the skirt with a unisex T-shirt or polo shirt.
6. Bonus if it has belt loops that can fit a man's belt
7. Bonus if it's twill, has a zipper fly, snap brass button, and decent-sized pockets
8. Wear skirt with a fitted unisex Tee/polo shirt and male/unisex shoes.
9. Refrain from wearing any cosmetics/piercings while wearing skirt
10. Make sure skirt is only "femme" thing about your entire outfit

This is exactly what I do when I wear skirts. And it works! Every stranger still calls me "sir" without hesitation. Even my friend didn't notice I was wearing a skirt until I pointed it out to him.

Face it: men would find wearing a no-frills, calf-length tan twill skirt with a guy's polo shirt, unisex sneakers, and zero cosmetics so much more doable than wearing a miniskirt with fishnet tights and high heels.

LiuBang, without going into details, I so much agree with you!

[Myopic Bookworm]

0. No miniskirts. Must be at least knee length.
1. Solid, muted colors. Black, Navy Blue, Green, Tan, etc.
2. Symmetric, unadorned hemline
3. No slits (except for a short one at the back)
4. Thick enough to be opaque
5. Goes well with a unisex T-shirt/polo shirt. Bonus if you've seen a woman wear the skirt with a unisex T-shirt or polo shirt.
6. Bonus if it has belt loops that can fit a man's belt
7. Bonus if it's twill, has a zipper fly, snap brass button, and decent-sized pockets
8. Wear skirt with a fitted unisex Tee/polo shirt and male/unisex shoes.
9. Refrain from wearing any cosmetics/piercings while wearing skirt
10. Make sure skirt is only "femme" thing about your entire outfit

I even would add some points:
11. No dress
12. No tights or pantyhose
13. No high heels or knee high boots

As I said, I don't worry about looking masculine at a casual glance, but it has taken me quite a long time to explore how comfortable I am breaking these "rules". I now wear miniskirts (rule 0), but I started at knee (kilt) length and went longer before trying anything shorter. At the start, I actually stood with a mirror and experimented with adding and subtracting elements to see how feminine I was prepared to go. Plain sober colours like navy blue and dark brown were a safe start (rule 1), though I have, of course, been wearing tartans for decades, and I have branched out into a few select colours and patterns, usually going for geometric or abstract designs in only one or two additional colours. I generally avoid embellished hemlines (in sleeves as well as in skirts), as I think they look too feminine, but I would wear an asymmetric hem (rule 2). I more or less agree with the restriction on slits (rule 3), though I tolerate a short front slit. I have some skirts which are not quite opaque (rule 4): I don't mind people seeing that I do in fact have legs. Although in summer I tend to wear T shirts (rules 5, , I have frequently worn a man's buttoned and collared shirt with some of my skirts, and it really doesn't cause a visual problem (any awkwardness of transition is nearly covered by a waistcoat/vest). A mandarin or grandad shirt with no collar can also work OK. Yes, belts are good (rule 6). Not sure about twill, but the rest of rule 7 is fine. I'm too old to make much use of cosmetics and I don't do piercings (rule 9); but when I first wore skirts (or even tartan kilts) I was very inhibited about wearing my longish hair loose, or adding anything else femme (rule 10). However, knee high boots (rule 13) were alongside skirts as things I felt unreasonably deprived of and was determined to wear. (They are in fact very useful for the relatively masculine look, as they avoid the narrowness at the ankle below a skirt hem which can give a rather feminine impression.) Except in summer shorts season, I find that tights (rule 12) with any skirt above the knee are generally preferable to exhibiting my hairy legs (which I can't shave as my wife would object). And I am gradually working out which dresses can be made to work with a male torso, often combining them with a man's jacket or coat, and wearing some of them over collared or collarless shirts depending on neckline finish.

Obviously I'm now happy with a certain degree of subversion of the gender binary, to the point where some might regard me as cross-dressing, though I never make any attempt to disguise my sex. I still avoid pink, and most kinds of frill or scalloping. The "rules" would indeed be a guide for anyone trying to wear skirts with out breaking too far out of the Man Box, but I'm happy that I've managed to step out a bit further than that. This does mean that I'm probably not a good role model for the "manly man" approach to skirt-wearing.

[Barleymower]

Spongebob perfectly epitomises the ridiculousness of gender norms
https://youtu.be/vpuRYLHf3ZE?feature=shared

Screenshot_20260507_212932_YouTube.jpg

[LiuBang]

I even would add some points:
11. No dress
12. No tights or pantyhose
13. No high heels or knee high boots

I totally agree that everybody should be able to wear, what (s)he would like to, but "to normalise skirts for men", the flaring skirts in shouting colors or fancy materials (latex, ...) don't help at all in my (!) opinion (!). This opinion might offend some people here, but for those the beginning of the former sentence is valid and it's fine, too.

I'd definitely agree with 11. But about 12: are dark colored athletic leggings worn under a knee length skirt OK? I say 100%. You do know men's athletic leggings are widely sold, right?

With 13: Agreed, no high heels. But knee high boots? I'll say the one exception are wellies. Once again, they make them for guys!

[Myopic Bookworm]

Knee high boots are one of those things that womenswear has stolen from menswear: they are essentially derived from men's riding boots. Heels were originally for men too.