Skirts and dresses in the US as menswear, would men ever embrace it enough to wear them?

I saw two unrelated guys in kilt at the local market yesterday. I felt proud.

Most guys I know would need pockets.

No, can’t see it happening. Some will wear a kilt, (but not a skirt, that would be an affront to their manhood). I enjoy a sarong but not out in public much, I have gotten some strange looks from my neighbors however but the ones who come over are used to it by now.

@rojo (but not a skirt, that would be an affront to their manhood)
If it became common place and accepted, that should not be a reason for them not to wear them.

edit No more than men wearing hair past their shoulders and rings in both ears are today, hardly even thought of on men if at all.

There’s always this. Comes with a sporran instead of pockets.

Of course not, american “men” are not secure enough in their sexuality to wear skirts or dresses.

Hypo, if you want to wear a skirt just go ahead and wear one. In this modern age I bet you could walk down the street and not get one comment. You’ll probably get some weird looks, but so what? Express yourself. Be who you want to be. Put on that little black mini.

I was wondering when you’d ask another skirt question.

Do you remember ( metaphorically speaking! ) Classical informal/slave wear?

I’ve been in a dress a few times and I was not impressed.

On the other hand I think you ladies are on to something with panty hose.

Women wear skirts to show off their legs, and the imagined notion of what is above the hem of the skirt, to men.

Most women don’t really look at men’s legs. They may or may not look at chest and shoulders or butt, but wearing a skirt would not affect that.

If wearing a skirt indicated a big bank account, girls would be all over it, and guys would wear it.

I think Norman Bates should be credited with some fashion sense, such a trendsetter.

When Donna Karan made a skirt for men; they didn’t sell well. I don’t see it changing. I do have a Scottish BIL who wears a “skirt” at times. For dress occasions.

Generally, I think trousers are more comfortable. Especially with how overweight everyone is getting, thighs sticking together doesn’t feel good. Although, I guess men have thinner legs. I guess the fatter we get it is harder to fit in slacks. I still say long stretchy shorts will be way favored over skirts though. Skirts are restricting. You have to be careful how you sit, can’t ride a bike, blows around when it’s windy.

I think gender will prevail on this one.

Women don’t seem to like wearing skirts and dresses so why would normal heterosexual men want to?

@gondwanalon Women don’t seem to like wearing skirts and dresses so why would normal heterosexual men want to?
Because as not all women avoid skirts and dislike wearing them, it is like heels, some hate them while others love them; so it would be with men. If allowed to do so without ridicule, i am sure there would be men who would love them; not all would summarily reject them.

@FutureMemory Hypo, if you want to wear a skirt just go ahead and wear one.
No thanks, I love trousers too much.
Beside, don’t want to upstage any women by showing them up with ma’ sexy gams~

@josie where do you get your research from? I happen to love athletic gams on men. Hello… Shorts. I’ve also heard it come up quite favorably in eye candy discussions.

Why men don’t wear skirts… Panty lines. Even if the man wants to free ball it would often be either too hot or too cold not to mention no support or safe guards for the untimely woody. Then there are urinals… Very few dresses are cut out for urinal accessability.

It was just a general observation of mine. I don’t know of a single woman that prefers to wear a dress or skirt. It seems like women wear dresses an skirts nowadays for special or formal occasions like men wear a suit and tie. I also don’t know of a man who wears a suit and tie on his days off from work.

I know a big and very tall man in my town who wears dresses and high heels. He stand out like a sore thumb here. Maybe that’s part of the reason that he does it. If San Francisco no one would give him a second look.

I like wearing skirts and dresses not every day. Quite a few Alaskan woman also enjoy it. We primarily only consider them an option for the summer. Not withstanding a special occasion or rebellion.

Still I wear them because they are flattering, feminine, a change an option. Sure some skirts can restrictive. But so can some pants. I have worn skirts and ran or ridden a bike. A little inconvenient but random and silly. It’s fashion and a statement about me.

I was a member of a religion that demanded women wear skirts.

So, 90+% of the time now, I wear pants. Most skirts are restrictive and awkward. Making up for lost time I suppose.

However, if a skirt or dress is free enough, and of a fabric neither to light nor to heavy, I feel very comfortable in them. Even still, I prefer to wear tights or leggings underneath. There’s just something about having a few yards of fabric billowing about as you move.

Same here about the religion Seek it was years before I wore a dress or a skirt.

Cant remember what happened but after awhile it became a non issue. I do prefer long broomstick styles very light, floaty, unique. What people call bohemian or hippie. It is the easiest way in the world to feel pretty and unusual.

I like those, but even more I like heavier cotton skirts and wool. I won’t lie, I secretly wish I could live in my renn faire garb.

Do it until you are sick of it!!!

@gondwanalon I know a big and very tall man in my town who wears dresses and high heels. He stand out like a sore thumb here.
If it ever came to where men could wear a skirt, dress, even a mini skirt and not be seen any different than if he were wearing Levis or sweatpants would more men wear them, or would there still be some ingrained block making them resist it? Or would they not wear it simply because of anatomy? What if a generation of young boys were raised to thinking wearing skirts were no different than slacks or sweatpants, would that eventually change the thoughts of men about wearing skirts?

Men have worn skirt-like garments for thousands of years. Pants paired with a short shirt (that is, something less than knee-length) in their current incarnation are a fairly recent development.

^ Men have worn skirt-like garments for thousands of years.
In those times and societies where men wore them, near every man did, so it was nothing uncommon or weird about it, like in young America where it was common for men to wear powdered wigs. But today, it is not common for straight men, and weird looking when men in drag wear them. If it became as common as wearing ties, would men wear skirts, or is there something ingrained like it is for women to shave their pits, simply because that is the prevailing thought for so long?

You’ve answered your own question.

It is uncommon for men to wear skirts because it’s uncommon for men to wear skirts. That’s it. It’s currently out of fashion for men to wear skirts in Western society. That says nothing about whether it will come back into fashion in the next 10 or 50 years.

It’s currently fashionable for women to dispose of their body hair. 300 years ago it was common for fashionable women to wear false pubic hair if their own bush wasn’t impressive enough.

Stuff changes.