Do any of you dress etc 'gender free' or have tried to in the past?

[SoulofanAggron]

I'm going a bit more 'gender free' in my look. Did try it once years ago for a couple of years. Have any of you tried it/done it?

I know a lot of women have quite a 'gender free' look anyway.

Its not unusual to see guys in kilts here, but I'm not sure how they'd go down out with Scotland. I know one local man who wears kilts all year round, he hates having to wear breeks. Nobody bats an eye, except maybe the odd overseas tourist (not just now of course). Do you in the rest of UK see kilts as skirts or not?

You can't seriously be saying all women would be happy with their partners wearing skirts? There were posters on the man in a skirt thread who weren't happy. Cross- dressers get pretty short shrift on FWR despite the wear what you want mantra- I doubt the general public is more open minded.

"Cross dressing" is generally a sexualised performance, not just wearing clothes. At the other end of the spectrum, I don't think many of us would bat an eyelid at a kilt, or many of the other traditional male clothes which aren't trousers (leaving aside the current squeamishness over 'cultural appropriation')

Only if they wear a shortie girls kilt with tights and heels..

I wear all sorts of things.

I certainly don’t agree with every poster who has described themselves as having a ‘womanly shape’ because they have ‘massive boobs’ etc.

I have small breasts, still ‘womanly’. Not ‘curvy’, still ‘womanly’. Hard to be much else when I am, in fact, a woman.

Kilts are clothing for men.
All over the world men wear cloth round their bodies that is not joined between the legs: lungii, lappas, thobes, dhoti etc.

But in the UK western styled skirts and dresses are typically gendered.

Women ‘claimed’ the trouser suit for the female wardrobe but men have not reciprocated with the skirt suit as everyday wear devoid of any performative or fetish currency.

Sorry - kilts are accepted clothing for men. (And women)

I wear what I like, what is comfy, practical and suits me. That usually means a mixture of dresses, skirts and leggings, and activewear depending on what I'm doing that day. I happily walk my dogs in dress, leggings, walking boots and a waterproof.

The outfits are chosen for comfort, not to be gendered or gender free.

Love a kilt - on man or woman, boy or girl. They also lend to wedding photos sans pareil.

Typical outfit I used to be dressed in for church as a child. Kilt, shetland wool or Aran jumper, black patent shoes and white knee length socks or tights.

@Swallowzandamazons

Its not unusual to see guys in kilts here, but I'm not sure how they'd go down out with Scotland. I know one local man who wears kilts all year round, he hates having to wear breeks. Nobody bats an eye, except maybe the odd overseas tourist (not just now of course). Do you in the rest of UK see kilts as skirts or not?

A kilt as a garment is technically a skirt but it is the exception to the fact men in the UK do not wear skirts.

According to a poster on the men in a skirt thread , kilts are not skirts and posted something along the lines of "tell that to a Scot "

What’s the difference between gender-free and unisex?

Maybe a kilt is a transskirt? It identifies as a skirt, despite it being a bit of a blanket, really. Tres moderne et chic.

kilt
/kɪlt/

a garment resembling a knee-length skirt of pleated tartan cloth, traditionally worn by men as part of Scottish Highland dress and now also worn by women and girls.

skirt
/skəːt/

a garment fastened around the waist and hanging down around the legs, worn by women and girls.

All a bit muddy really, much like gender.

I wonder if the biggest stumbling block is context. I would be surprised if anyone even really noticed males in Malaysia wearing sarongs on a day to day basis, as it's completely normal there. Yet here in the "modern" west, it's chiefly regarded as beachwear for females. Remember how much David Beckham was laughed at when he wore his sarong by the media, very likely by the same people who're now screeching "ooooh FABulous darling!!!" at any z lister who claims to be NB and likes wearing heels. Context is key, I suspect.

This is why I wear jeans #LoveOfMyLife

@Swallowzandamazons

I wonder if the biggest stumbling block is context. I would be surprised if anyone even really noticed males in Malaysia wearing sarongs on a day to day basis, as it's completely normal there. Yet here in the "modern" west, it's chiefly regarded as beachwear for females. Remember how much David Beckham was laughed at when he wore his sarong by the media, very likely by the same people who're now screeching "ooooh FABulous darling!!!" at any z lister who claims to be NB and likes wearing heels. Context is key, I suspect.

Of course it is context. That's why kilts are ok.

Context should not matter but it does and context , coupled with the assumption that a man wearing a skirt or a dress is probably a sexual fetishist unless they fit into the small group of men approved by some posters on here as being acceptable, means on the whole men will stick to traditionally masculine clothes.

Dido just curious, I like dresses but often find that they don't suit my lifestyle. What would you wear while doing things like running, hiking, biking and gardening?

I think context does matter, and should matter, actually.

I'd think very little of a bank manager who greeted me to discuss my mortgage if they were dressed for the beach. Smart casual I can definitely live with, but flip flops and a swimming costume would be incongruous, to say the least.

@TheChampagneGalop

Dido just curious, I like dresses but often find that they don't suit my lifestyle. What would you wear while doing things like running, hiking, biking and gardening?

I don't run if by running you mean jogging type running. Never have. If you mean running for a bus - why do you think that can't be done wearing a dress?

I do a lot of walking in the countryside and even occasionally gentle hill walking why do think that can't be done wearing a skirt or a dress?

I don't cycle now- I used to cycle several miles every day over a rough private road to get to school wearing my school skirt - why do you think cycling can't be done in a skirt or dress?

I pay a gardener now but why do you think gardening can't be done in a dress? If anything kneeling in a loose dress is far more comfortable than in trousers , especially jeans, which have no give.

Sorry but I find your questions a bit weird.

The idea is to give up the beauty practices so other women feel they can do the same
Cos we're all waiting around for you to stop wearing lipstick so we can feel free not to?
Fuck off.

@Swallowzandamazons

I think context does matter, and should matter, actually.

I'd think very little of a bank manager who greeted me to discuss my mortgage if they were dressed for the beach. Smart casual I can definitely live with, but flip flops and a swimming costume would be incongruous, to say the least.

That's not what was meant by context. Most people expect their bank manager , accountant, solicitor to be smartly dressed- possibly smarter than them. Nobody will be bothered if a female bank manager etc is wearing trousers. Most people are at the very least going to do a double take if a male bank manager is wearing a floral dress.

How kind of you to explain what I meant to me.

@Swallowzandamazons

How kind of you to explain what I meant to me.

The example you gave isn't relevant to what's being discussed here.

I assume you would be as unimpressed by a female bank manager wearing a swimsuit and flip flops as a male bank manager dressed like that.

Ah, now I'm irrelevant as well. Good to know, thanks for correcting me.

Dido Asking since you're the thread's trouser hater
I'm wondering what a practical skirt outfit for excercise would look like. I don't think I've ever seen one.
Today when it rained heavily I was very happy to wear trousers, so I could pull on a pair of rain trousers over them while biking.

@TheChampagneGalop

Dido Asking since you're the thread's trouser hater I'm wondering what a practical skirt outfit for excercise would look like. I don't think I've ever seen one. Today when it rained heavily I was very happy to wear trousers, so I could pull on a pair of rain trousers over them while biking.

Why don't you pop on to the "school skirt is too short" thread and ask the several posters there who don't wear trousers the same questions?

I've given you my answers. I don't know why you think walking for exercise, cycling or gardening can only be done wearing trousers.

Oh and on a very warm day recently at a beach without a swimming costume I can assure you one can wade much further into the sea tucking a dress into knickers than would be possible trying to roll jeans up.