I must make a confession: I love men in skirts! And I very definitely am not talking about dragqueens or men in women´s clothing. I mean real guys – who were skirts with the same ease as jeans.
The first image that comes to mind are probably Scottish kilts. For example the impressive sight of an entire army in skirts in the movie “Braveheart” (USA 1995). And perhaps the white skirts of the Greek national dress. Talking of national dress: on islands with hot tropical climates like Indonesia or Hawaii men are naturally wearing their variation of a sarong or lunghi, that resembles a skirt often with a naked upper torso. For instance in Indonesia or Hawaii. But also in other countries with a hot climate the happily protruding belly is not tied in with a belt: East Indians and Arabs show how this works with dignity even at an older age. Then there are historical warriors like Roman soldiers in their short leather skirts or Japanese Samurais with their elegant long black skirts or culottes…
That can doubtlessly be very elegant and has an exotic bonus on top… And I won´t even address the frequent frivolous speculation as what is to be seen underneath a kilt – that´s a personal matter of the wearer, just as it is for women too!
The thing with the sex appeal
It is remarkable how our perception of masculinity and femininity is conditioned by “adequate” clothing. But what is “adequate”? I personally find generally people attractive, who wear what they like and seem relaxed in their clothes – the more sovereign, the sexier! That also applies to the long gowns that mercifully flow over the critical body section of overweight men – it´s casually elegant, even noble – like the toga of a Roman senator!
However instead… in many places of the Western world, like an American County Fair or a European funfair we often encounter the following painful sight: already at noon sweat is gleaming on the forehead, the sweat stains expand down to the waist and the paunch protrudes from the pants above the belt. The shirts are tight over the belly and finally helplessly slide somewhere above the waist, and reveal the fat glory. This is even worse in short pants – particularly if combined with sandals and the infamous white socks. Sometime, somewhere the eros got lost between Hamburgers and beer.
The only positive thing that can be said, is that the matching ladies also often have lost their eros and happily compensate this through bright nail varnish, abundant make-up and rarely becoming tops that are to set off the solarium tan. They honor their look just as little as their male counterparts.
But this is about guys and besides, this is not to be a diatribe but rather an encouragement speech, to finally honor your appearance more and not to unnecessarily force it into something – neither in tight clothing or narrow conventions!
A development long overdue!
I really am looking forward to witnessing guys wearing skirts with the same ease with which women are wearing trousers in our culture – without their masculinity suffering! Quite the opposite actually. Fortunately many nice examples already exist:
The rebell
Jürgen Vogel, a well known German actor played a fashion designer in the German movie Scherbentanz (D 2002) who prefers wearing skirts – and he looks great in it! To be honest, those are the images of the movie that have stayed most with me!
To strengthen selfesteem
In October 2012 the German journalist and author Nils Pickert acquired worldwide fame because he wore a skirt out of his love for his then five year old son, who preferred wearing skirts. The picture of father and son in the historical setting of a German provincial town – actually an image of small mindedness – went viral and still can be found online. Pickert himself seems completely natural in his red skirt and not unmanly in the least. If you enter the according key words, the image shows up immediately. Pickert did and does it in order to support his son’s selfworth.
The X factor
Almost twenty years ago I was invited to a campfire event where we were dancing barefeet around the fire to the beat of drums late at night. It had a fabulous archaic and pagan atmosphere! And some of the men were wearing skirts – and seemed a lot more attractive to me than those in shorts or skyclad…
Baroque vampires
Boys and men who enjoy the “Goth look” sometimes wear long heavy black skirts and also frequently document a brillant creativity in style and sense of fashion. I find that impressive and often appealing – however I´m at odds with their obsession with death, the dark, black, heavy, and morbid. But hey, one can like soccer balls without being a sports fan!
The clergy of course
And for those who might speculate now: no, I´m not attracted to priests and monks in their long gowns – even though they can be quite attractive too. But the guy inside is usually stuck in making his function more important than his masculinity. However, this field of tension has been turning on people – especially among Catholics. Last but not least this is a vital element in Colleen McCullough’s Australian melodrama “The Thorn Birds”, which became a tv mini-series in 1977 with Richard Chamberlain as a most attractive Cardinal Bricassart and Rachel Ward as his beloved Meggie.
Berlin as trendsetter
Long and heavy black skirts worn by men are no longer unusual in Berlin-Friedrichshain. On occasion even a model with frills and a pink mini skirt was sighted. It depends – just like among the ladies – on the wearer. Fortunately skirts for men are increasingly in fashion. By the way this also includes wearing high heels. Admittedly many of the male wearers happen to be gay with a penchant for the feminine or transgender men – but not all of them! They just enjoy it…and depending on the styling it doesn´t actually look unmasculine…
And on wikipedia
Doing a little research for this article, I noticed that there is actually a Wikipedia entry on the subject. And according to the German article the British University of Oxford has changed its dresscode accordingly: since 2012 men are permitted to wear skirts and tights and women suits and ties for official events like examinations or celebrations.
The best of course: cool guys in cool skirts
The peak of course is a cool guy in a cool skirt. Here are some contemporary examples. And on this German page a man can order a skirt according to his taste. It is where todays title picture comes from.
The above depicted “utility kilt” was taken from the German Amazon page, where there is quite a number of them available and are obviously being bought.
But also a less cool guy – would certainly look better in a skirt – especially if it´s well cut, than in trousers with a belt – or suspenders, which sometimes cut painfully into the paunch. And just like among women, if the legs won´t “work” to wear a short skirt – also a man can choose a skirt in a becoming length. However a skirt won´t prevent bad taste and or an unattractive style of clothing – but I dare say maybe less so than with pants. But of course I´m happy to be proven wrong! For, if we get just as used to men in skirts as to women in pants, independently from the quality of the look… …the we certainly are much further ahead on the path of gender equality and balance of the sexes!
Follow up June 2018
Fashion is fun, not gender
This is the motto of Markus Muth who sent me a wonderful email on the topic recently. With great skill he wears women’s clothing and always remains his most masculine self. Since he and his wife have the same size, they happily exchange their clothes (they avoid brands and prefer second-hand and flea markets). She also advises him how to maintain a certain elegance rather than going overboard with sheer joy of experimenting. Here the great results: http://www.modemuth.de/
