Men in skirts - why don't more men wear skirts?

[CervixSampler]

At the risk of a bun fight this is a genuine question.
I was at a rock festival yesterday and there were a few men in skirts rocking the whole steampunk look. One guy was in a red tartan kilt but I didn't get a good look at the rest of his outfit-he was quite different to the others dressed in steampunk. I think it was a denim jacket. These men looked amazing and it got me thinking as to why when women now wear trousers (as opposed to historically predominantly being in dresses and skirts), that men don't wear skirts to the same extent. Is it socialisation? Blatant sexism? Practicalities? Lack of availability outside of cosplay type retailers? I prefer trousers/jeans because I hate my legs, I'd end up with it caught in my knickers, thigh rub, the whole tights/stockings/socks/footwear issue and my tendency to sit legs akimbo. I love dresses but sadly we aren't compatible.

My ds is 6 and chose to wear a flower crown. There were plenty of men also wearing these. A Slayer T-shirt and a flower crown combo is an unusual look on a man but no one batted an eye. Maybe festivals are some kind of alternative universe in general where people are more likely to flout restrictive norms for clothing? Whatever it is I found it fantastic.

I'm just watching How To Train Your Dragon for the millionth time and I've only just noticed that a few of the male characters wear skirts or in the case of Fishlegs a kind of shift dress.

I can see myself going down a history of clothing rabbit hole with this but yesterday really piqued my interest and got me wondering why it's acceptable for women to wear trousers but not for men to wear skirts/dresses.

[BreakfastOfWaffles]

It's an interesting question. I think a lot of it is social conditioning and a generation ago, the adage was true that woman in man's clothes = higher social status but man in woman's clothes = lower social status. In hot countries like the Middle East, men effectively wear dresses with no stigma though.

[Melroses]

You can buy skirts for men.

They even come with poppers between the legs to stop them blowing up in high wind.

However, like men's racing bikes and sports cars, they are expensive.

[magicstar1]

My DH got a kilt a couple of years ago...not a proper one, it very light and summery. He loves it, and got another one...a utility kilt. Some of his friends have now bought them too. They’re all bikers and it’s quite popular among them.

[TalbotAMan]

The taboo is too strong. While women can wear 'men's' clothing and, by and large, get away with it, for a man to wear 'women's' clothing will be taken as an indication that he is either gay or a sexual pervert/predator, or, at least, that is what we fear.

Historically, men wore skirts in this country and they still do in Scotland and, to a degree, Ireland. They still wear skirts in some other countries. Even then, what they wear is different from women.

The famous portrait of Henry VIII by Holbein (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Henry_VIII) shows him wearing a mini-skirt (though accessorised with a codpiece) with stockings and slippers. But the women of the day wore full lenght dresses.

[LubaLuca]

I think it's the tights that put most men off. Britain isn't often warm enough for bare legs all day.

[SimonJT]

Lots of us do, I wear traditional dresses sometimes (sherwani), I have a really comfy sweat material one (like in the picture, but I’ve cut the sleeves off) and a grey linen one, I don’t wear the fancy ones unless its an event like a wedding.

[KittenKong]

A kilt is a kilt. Not a skirt.

[TalbotAMan]

@KittenKong

A kilt is a kilt. Not a skirt.

It's a skirt. Just giving it a different name doesn't change it's nature. It's simply a way to draw a line between a man's garment and a woman's.

[Mischance]

Because they sit with their legs apart.

[TalbotAMan]

@Mischance

Because they sit with their legs apart.

Easily dealt with by black underpants

[Gingernaut]

They are stupid, impractical garments, which are easily replaced with trousers, jeans or shorts.

[Imcatmum]

I was literally wondering this the other day.

[LubaLuca]

@Gingernaut

They are stupid, impractical garments, which are easily replaced with trousers, jeans or shorts.

They're really practical I think. Sitting down at work all day I find them much more comfortable than trousers, and they have the advantage of being cooler and airy in hot weather. I prefer a nightdress for the same reasons.

[FrippEnos]

Dress codes at work
impractical for some jobs
ingrained conditioning
cultural appropriation.

[KittenKong]

TalbotAMan - it’s cut and made to fit a man. The woman’s kilt is different.

There’s a hell of a lot of difference between a man wearing a kilt and this...

[KittenKong]

Besides most men don’t have the legs for it. There’s a man near us who wears a knee length leather skirt and he has wee spindly, hairy legs. It just doesn’t look good on him.

[TalbotAMan]

@KittenKong

TalbotAMan - it’s cut and made to fit a man. The woman’s kilt is different.

There’s a hell of a lot of difference between a man wearing a kilt and this...

Generally trousers, jeans and shorts are cut and made in sex-specific ways. We don't give them different names.

[TalbotAMan]

@KittenKong

Besides most men don’t have the legs for it. There’s a man near us who wears a knee length leather skirt and he has wee spindly, hairy legs. It just doesn’t look good on him.

And if he was wearing knee-length leather shorts?

[KimikosNightmare]

@KittenKong

A kilt is a kilt. Not a skirt.

Of course a kilt is a skirt. "Kilt" is just a name for a particular style of wrap skirt- flat fronted with rear knife pleats, usually but not always made of tartan wool.

The girls' uniform at my son's school, and many other private schools, is a kilt referred to as a "kilt"- not a tartan skirt.

[KittenKong]

Look ok Scottish. We just don’t.

And if he was wearing knee length shorts (leather or otherwise) his legs would still look as spindly (although I doubt he’d be strutting his stuff quite so much as he does in his skirt).

[TalbotAMan]

@KittenKong

Look ok Scottish. We just don’t.

And if he was wearing knee length shorts (leather or otherwise) his legs would still look as spindly (although I doubt he’d be strutting his stuff quite so much as he does in his skirt).

Do any women have spindly legs?

[KimikosNightmare]

@KittenKong

TalbotAMan - it’s cut and made to fit a man. The woman’s kilt is different.

There’s a hell of a lot of difference between a man wearing a kilt and this...

The only difference is the apron (the flat flap at the front) of a woman’s kilt will be placed on the other left side whereas a man's kilt will be on the right.

There is no visible difference between kilt worn by men or women.

[KittenKong]

I have spindly legs. I also have terrible varicose veins. So I choose to wear long skirts to suit me (the rare times I wear one).

Scots don’t call men’s kilts ‘skirts’ - that is my point.

[KimikosNightmare]

@KittenKong

Look ok Scottish. We just don’t.

And if he was wearing knee length shorts (leather or otherwise) his legs would still look as spindly (although I doubt he’d be strutting his stuff quite so much as he does in his skirt).

What is "look OK Scottish" supposed to mean?

[KittenKong]

Typo. My phone has a mind of its own. It was ‘I’m Scottish, etc’