Should skirts and dresses be phased out?

[Nothingyet]

I just had this thought after reading this:www.itv.com/news/wales/2021-06-10/caerphilly-head-bans-pupils-from-wearing-skirts-after-complaints-over-length
I mean, lots of fashions are now gone- periwigs and ruff collars for men, bustles and corsets for women. We all wear more practical clothes.
Has the skirt and dress had their day? Is there any practical reason why they should be preferred over trousers?

Yeah, I had this idea skirts and dresses were kind of forced on women by men, over the centuries, for some reason, (quick access perhaps, lol).
Men largely abandoned togas after classical times. And I also though trousers are more practical for most physical activities.

Yes men always have grabbed the good stuff and done their damnedest to stop women having it too.

I went to a girls’ school at which we had to wear kilts. We petitioned for trousers but no luck. Then in one of my gap year jobs trouser suits for women weren’t allowed in the office and that was mid nineties.

I’m just happy to have the choice.

I think sci-fi like Star Trek has a lot to answer for, in 'the future' everyone is going around in utilitarian unisex one pieces and perhaps OP and others see it as a kind of utopian ideal. However you will notice that the actors are invariably tall, very slim and attractive (bar the odd scaley face) and look good in them. Meanwhile back in the real world of the wonderful variety of shapes and sizes, this would not look so good and would stifle our ability to use clothes (and fashion) to suit ourselves and to express our identities. So no, I do not want to phase out my lovely and flattering dresses, thanks all the same

@midsomermurderess

But what, if like me, you like wearing dresses?

You go on the run, and wealthy dress-supporting families shelter to you in secret skirt-holes built into their manor houses.

I'm very curvy but still massively prefer trousers to dresses and skirts, I find the waist bands in skirts and dresses
shift around too much as they are too big compared to hips but trousers and jeans (high rise) stay put perfectly.

I love dresses personally. Love the fact there’s minimal faffing, just pop it over your head and you’re done. Ditto going to the toilet, just pull it up and sit rather than faffing around undoing buttons. I do think all dresses should have pockets, I love my Lucy&Yak dress because it has very deep pockets. I don’t use handbags, never really liked them so I need decent pockets.

@RickiTarr I also went to a girls school where kilts were part of the uniform. They looked good but impossible to alter the length by adjustment to the hem. (You could alter them unofficially by rolling over the waistband but ended up with a spare tyre effect).
I've always thought that denim would make a good material for school uniform as its hard-wearing. (Our lab coats at my school were either denim coats or smocks).

No absolutely not, why should they be phased out?

Women are so lucky in this aspect, complete freedom to wear whatever they want, dresses, skirts, trousers, shorts etc.

No keep them and keep the choice

Phased out as compulsory school uniform items (or any kind of compulsory uniform item eg airlines), yes, absolutely. Trousers should always be a suitable alternative. School uniform in general should be massively overhauled, impractical garments like ties banned, the price regulated and should allow children of any sex or gender to wear trousers, skirts, shorts or dresses. I’d love a national school uniform of black bottoms of any type, white polo shirt, sweatshirt in school colour and black trainers. Available from any supplier you like, so you can get something that fits and you can afford.

Phased out completely?! No, why would we want to control what people wear in their everyday lives to that extent?

www.knightonhouse.co.uk/admissions/uniform/

Always thought this uniform was particularly practical!

No.

I think the parents and the head should read up on some equality legislation. This overwhelmingly affects girls and could be direct discrimination.

Skirts are part of normal clothing worn in the work place.

There are also some women and girls who do not wear trousers for religious and cultural reasons. Lots of African women will only wear skirts / dresses.

I dont own a single pair of jeans.
I will wear dresses until the day I die.
No one can take them away from me and I would be incredibly wary of anyone who thinks women shouldn't be able to have the choice to wear them.

In schools, again, there should be the choice between the dresses or trousers.

Absolutely not.

Because they're a female garment they're seen as inferior?

Please.

Err no. Don’t be daft

What is going to happen to the cross dressers if skirts and dresses go?

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

www.knightonhouse.co.uk/admissions/uniform/

Always thought this uniform was particularly practical!

So no - think of all the wee on the toilet floors and the dungaree bits going down the toilet by mistake!

As a Scot, I can't imagine where we'd be if men were not allowed to wear skirts, I mean kilts. For myself, I'll stick to my dresses, thanks.

Can't seem them banning kilts in Scotland either.

Our secondary has the choice of trousers, skirts or shorts. I'd say more girls choose to wear skirts (and, yes they do have length of skirt limits, I think it's 2" above the knee, and the vast majority keep to it) than trousers.
If you ban skirts all you're doing is taking the choice away from girls that prefer it.

Phased out by whom, the Ministry of Clothing? The fashion industry regulator? Please try and remember that this is supposed to be a free country where not every decision is made for us.

You go on the run, and wealthy dress-supporting families shelter to you in secret skirt-holes built into their manor houses.

I think rolling skirts is not new but we live close to a couple of secondary schools and the rolling is now extreme. I have seen a lot of girl's arses and although I have no interest in girls arses (so not pervy) I really, really don't want to see such private parts. Often the girls are wearing thongs so it really is a full-one view. They are often rolled to above the line between bum and leg. It's too much IMHO and a sad reflection of the conformity to ridiculous clothing choices which is forced onto women. I see where you're coming from OP but one theme here is the lack of trousers to fit women's shapes in all their variety. Which is interesting too in terms of how much women are valued.

@PracticingPerson

You go on the run, and wealthy dress-supporting families shelter to you in secret skirt-holes built into their manor houses.

Thank you @PracticingPerson 😊

Only the best people understand my peculiar jokes. 😂

I don't own any trousers and haven't had any since I was a small child.

Ugh, how depressing. I LOVE skirts and dresses. I'm an unashamedly feminine dresser and have yet to find anything I couldn't do in a maxi skirt or dress. They are way comfier. I hate wearing jeans, I find them very uncomfortable, restrictive and although I wear trousers I don't especially enjoy wearing them and find dresses more comfortable. I've tripped on the stairs on long wide trousers multiple times. Leggings are too revealing. I have a tiny waist, a big bum and thighs and tiny skinny calves and ankles. Getting trousers that fit comfortably in all places is a pain in the arse compared with buying skirts and dresses.

I have massively heavy periods with no real
medical cause and can go through a pair of the thickest tena pants (with an extra pad on top) in 20 mins at my worst. I can't use tampons or a mooncup anymore and if I wear trousers at totm my sanitary protection shows through. Not so in a dark coloured long flowing skirt.

If I'd have been forced to wear tailored trousers at school with a shirt tucked in, it would have been obvious I was wearing double sanitary protection and I simply wouldn't have gone to school for 7 days a month from 11 years old.

We should be free to have options. Anyone that wants to police our options can fuck right off.

You can be a strong, intelligent, active and practical woman and wear a dress ffs. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to grow a brain cell or two.