Man skirts

A black man skirt by Graefin, Berlin.  


Skirts



Could you as a man wear a skirt?


1. The existence of utility kilts with their non-defined designs is already part of the answer, so YES, under circumstances you can. And why should a kilt or kind of kilt be the only possibility? 

In fact, the first Utilikilt, the Original Standard, was technically a skirt, even if called a kilt. It didn't have a front apron, but was closed by means of a zipper on the front, like jeans, and was pleated all way round. A hybrid, you might call it, of a kilt and a pleated skirt. A little later they launched the Utilikilt New Original, but for some years you had a choice between the “skirt” and the “kilt”.

Utilikilt Standard

The Utilikilt Standard was pleated all way round, and it was a closed skirt with a zipper on the front.



2. You can find numerous pictures on Pinterest, showing men wearing skirts in an absolutely manly way. And even more should do, no doubt, and more often, were they just men enough. You can tell from men-in-skirts forums in English, German, French, and other languages. Kilts are not to everybody’s taste. Instead they will wear a skirt, but for the same reasons. There are also kilt wearers who on otherwise strict kilt forums have revealed that they will sometimes wear a skirt, either for variety, or because of it being is better for certain tasks or in certain situations, like on a very hot day.

3. Men in skirts are per se not contrary to nature. Men have earlier been wearing skirted garments, without being accused of being or appearing femme. In some parts of the world they still do.
Jesus never wore trousers, Socrates didn’t. When Emperor Augustus declared that the “World” should be counted, Roman men and boys were wearing mini-skirt looking tunics or long dress-like togas. The Roman Empire was built by men in skirts. Trousers were not invented with the purpose of having men look more masculine but because trousers were more practical for a lot of tasks, those being fewer in today’s world.

 

Roman Empire

Men in 'skirts' built The Roman Empire.


4. Fashion designers have for years been positive regarding skirts for men. Jean-Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood, Givenchy, Yamamato, Dries van Noten, Kenzo and you name it. Every season men in skirts and sometimes dresses are presented on the catwalk.

So far, however, without the fashion industry having been seriously convinced to give skirts a try.

H&M and Zara
Exceptions are H&M and Zara. Both of them have between 2000 and 2018 a few times and for a short period of time been selling man skirts. Rather half-heartedly it was and with designs hardly able to persuading men into them. With one exception; the ZARA 2018 skirt was very nice and appropriate for a man to wear, but it was only available in two (small) sizes, in very few outlets. and in no time it was sold out, which is promising.


Zara Man skirt 2018

Zara Man skirt 2018. Good design, fine quality, but only available in too sizes and i no time it was sold out.



Adidas
In October 2022 Adidas internationally launched a gender neutral skirt, called ADICOLOR CONTEMPO TAILORED SKIRT (GENDER NEUTRAL).

Launching a short skirt in the autumn does not look like being the cleverest thing to do, especially not when it, as a matter of fact it is, has disappeared in April 2023.

Adidas Gender neutral skirt
The Adidas skirt was a pleated wrap skirt like a kilt, but where the aprons on a kilt will reach from hip to hip (9 to 15on your watch) the overlapping on this skirt was rather 10.30 to 13.30. Length in size L was 49 cm/19". At the hemline it measured no less than 235 cm or 2½ yards. The waist was by means of clamps adjustable by 5 cm/2 inches. Further an elastic waistband provided for additional flexibility. Size L fitted waists between approx. 97 and 105 cm/37-41", meaning Adidas had definitely been thinking in men's sizes when designing this skirt.



Adidas Gender neutral skirt
Half of the skirt is pleated; from the inner apron...



Adidas Gender neutral skirt
...to the right half of the back.



However, the Adidas gender neutral skirt was nowhere to find in outlets; it was an online business, only.

Hopefully, sales has proven that successful that Adidas shall soon give man skirts or unisex skirts another try.


Just imagine how the fashion and clothing industry should be booming, could an entirely new product market suddenly come into existence, comprising half the population, like 60 years ago when women were offered trousers - and embraced them.

To make it happen, a critical mass of men demanding manly skirts and them brave enough to buy and wear them is needed.

The really big obstacle is that men might be afraid of sacrificing their manliness, should they wear a skirt. Well, women did not lose their attractiveness by wearing trousers. Why should it be different if a man was wearing a skirt? It all depends on the man and the skirt.

 
I think that we that we kilt wearers should benefit, if just (more) men would wear skirted garments whatsoever - provided they would wear them as MEN and in a strictly MASCULINE way - thereby contributing to break down the conception that a man cannot wear anything but trousers.


 

Man skirts are to buy


Man skirts, sometimes called male skirts, are to buy. A few enterprises are making and marketing them.


Le Jupes des Hommes

The company is situated in Nantes. And many skirt styles are available.


SkirtCraft

In 2015 American SkirtCeaft launched a skirt. It started out to be a man skirt, but eventually the company decided to position it as a unisex thing.

SkirtCraft unisex skirt




Man skirts can be tailored to your wishes


If you have an idea about how you should like a kilt or a man’s skirt - your skirt - to look like, you could also go to a tailor and have one made.

Actually, I have three such skirts which are basically kilt designs, but with pleats only at the sides, none at the rear, they probably are skirts rather than kilts. Or they are kilt variants.

On a forum it several years ago was debated, how a kilt, should it be redesigned or product developed should look like. Up came the idea of, for convenience, having no pleats at the rear. Following that track one member actually had three “neo-classic” kilts made for him, one being in tartan, made by a German kilt maker, the two others solid black, but in different fabrics and sewn by a dressmaker in Berlin. As he a couple of years ago would no longer wear them, he offered me them for free. I immediately accepted, of course.

They all are 4 yard, 24” long and the aprons are going from hip to hip like on a traditional kilt. The tartan version is closed by means of straps and buckles and has loops for a kilt belt. The black are closed by Velcro and have loops for men's normal belts. Further they are having a deep inside pocket with a vertical zipper.

In today’s world they make a lot of sense sense, whether they are kilts, kilt variants or male skirts. On the gallery pages I have placed the tartan design under tartan kilts, the black ones under skirts.


 

Tailored skirt, Elliott tartan

A kilt? No, even if at a first glance it is looking like a traditional kilt, it is not.
Having pleats only at the sides, it is a skirt, a tailor-made man skirt.
4 yards approx. 10 oz. wool, Elliott tartan.



Black tailored skirt

Black, tailored skirts. Identical design but one made of a heavy weight, the other of a light weight fabric.



Design and make your own skirts?


It is not for every man to make his own skirts. He must have skills in designing and sewing techniques. But I have an example and a very good one. It's Dirk, a German, living in Rheinland-Westfalen. Looking at his often colourful skirts you feel that discussing whether they are masculine or feminine or for men or women makes no sense. They are not just unique, they are right.

Dirk-s Designs

Above two of Dirk's skirts. Also accessories should always, in form, structure and colours, be coordinated. And that is what many men, not just those wearing skirts, forget about, or they have no understanding for it. Dirk has.
On the first picture you might notice how wind-breaker and shoes, knee socks and T-shirt, and skirt and smartphone cover perfectly interconnect. On the next, everything is in black and white.

The pictures are published here with Dirk's consent.


Sarongs


Outside the western world we find the sarong which has its origin in Sri Lanka and is being worn by many men. It is also known under names like kikoy(South Africa), lamba (Madagascar), longyi (India), malong (Philippines), mundo (Maldives), and pah kao mah (Thailand, the version for men).

Basically the sarong is a big piece of cloth, worn around the waist as a wrap skirt. And often it is a very cheap garment to be primarily worn on the beach. However, Sri Lanka based Lovi Ceylon offers a wide range of more sophisticated sarongs which looks like being more universally wearable and therefore might better appeal to men in our part of the world. LOVI CEYLON.


 

Women's skirts


One thing might be a skirt made for men, but being not the guy wanting to wear a skirt because it is made for women, how about wearing one of their's?
On a really hot day a short skirt should feel more comfortable than a kilt, you might think. But could you? And would you?



The Braveheart Concept

The Braveheart concept, being the basis for this site, builds upon the idea of men wearing MANLY UNBIFURCATED GARMENTS, abbreviated MUGs. The creator of the concept, known as WDP/Bravehearts, a Californian lawyer, defined MUGs as being

Kilts, kilt variants, sarongs, and ‘other unbifurbicated manly garments’.


Unbifurcated garments were skirts. But back then, around 2000, many men-in-kilts would be in opposition to men-in-skirts, because of their declining interest in a manly appearance. Thus, many would no longer say or write the word "sk..." It would simply stick in their throat.
At first, 'manly' implied that the skirts were made for men. Later, also skirts made for women were accepted, provided they were ‘manly’ by design, fabric etc.

Today, MUG's should have been

Kilts of every kind, sarongs, and ‘manly’ skirts.



So, following the Braveheart concept, you can under circumstances wear a skirt, designed for women. Also, a man wearing a skirt in an otherwise more and more tolerating world is by itself not problematic.

Twenty years ago it was not difficult to find a 'manly' skirt. Female fashion, or at least part of it, was rather masculine. For example, you had skirts in boyfriend look, meaning coarse fabrics, manly colours, and in fact often something looking like men’s shorts without an inseam.
But look at women’s fashion today. Light fabrics, floral patterns, combined with a most feminine style. In fact, to find women's fashion as feminine as it has been for the last 4-5 years, we shall be back to the time before Mary Quant launched the miniskirt. It was in 1964. This means less manly skirts; if any.
Further, women are hardly wearing skirts anymore. When not in trousers, they’ll wear a dress, meaning in general fewer skirts on the market.

What should take you, is therefore finding that appropriate skirt which to an otherwise extremely tolerant environment can signal that you are a man like 90% other men, just having replaced your jeans by a skirt for comfort or as a fashion statement; and not, because of your skirt, be put in some LGBTQ+ drawer.

My advice

Unless you really find that manly women’s skirt, leave women's skirts to the ones they are intended for - and to men, having to express themselves this way for feeling well. And welcome that they now can. A good example is a Czech couple, where he, Vlasta, as a natural thing wears skirts, dresses etc. with the obvious purpose of looking feminine and which seems fully accepted by his wife, Michaela. And by society.
Such example makes it much easier for you and me to wear a kilt, whatever kind, or even a skirt.

But focusing on a manly appearance, what is then for you to wear on that hot summer day?
You might wear shorts. Or you pay that more and buy a man skirt or utilize the possibilities related to made-to-measures kilts. A short solid Pakistani kilt in PV or denim, or a more expensive one made in Scotland or USA, should be great. Or go for an ultra-lightweight Sport Kilt.


Black skirt

Sport Kilt Original, Loch Ness tartan, 22.5" standard length.


The Sport Kilt you can also have in solid black, and should you want to go even further, it can be made as short as 18" (46 cm). This means 3.5" (11.5 cm) shorter than the Sport Kilt in the picture, making it a minikilt, comfort-wise beating any women's skirt - and perhaps then making it be regarded simply a skirt, a miniskirt?



Next page

Kilt

Closing remarks

Hopefully, visiing this site has contributed to bring you an important step further. Now show to the world that you are man enough to pull that kilt or skirt, whatever it is.



What to find on the Dress2Kilt site?



Kilt, Caledonia Tartan

How about a kilt?

Have you ever been thinking of wearing a kilt? You must not be Scottish. You can be of any nationality, any colour, and any belief. Only you must be man enough. The objective of the Dress2Kilt site is making you wear a kilt whenever YOU feel like it and appropriate. Without needing a special event. It is about causal-first kilt wearing.
Verschiedene Kilts

Men in kilts - Q & A

Who will wear a kilt? Why wearing a kilt? Where and when to wear it? What’s the difference between being Scottish and not, related to kilt wearing? What about surroundings? Is it true? These and many more questions are answered here.
Kilt, Holyrood Tartan

Webmaster's kilt story

How come that the webmaster started wearing kilts? When was it? How was it, wearing a kilt for the first time? How were reactions from his wife, his family, neighbours, and other people?
Kilt

You in a kilt?

When seeing you in a kilt, what should people say? And especially your significant other? And the ‘Kilt Police’? Shall people think you are Scottish? How about prejudices? Should you tell people you know that you have started wearing kilts or are about to do it? How do you tell them? What should your reasons be? See answers to these and many other questions here?
Kilt

Is the kilt a skirt?

Scotsmen will say NO. To them and very many kilt wearers the kilt is a kilt, not a skirt. It is a garment of its very own, they say, and exclusively for men.
Calling the kilt a skirt is accordingly considered an almost unforgivable insult. But is it nevertheless a skirt?
Kilt

What makes a kilt?

Are 8 yards of fabric a must? Or will less do? How is a kilt constructed? Learn about straps and buckles, fell, rise, pleats, length, drop.


Buy a kilt and accessorize it


Kilt

Must a kilt be expensive?

Yes, purists will say, because no less than a 16 oz. 8-yard wool kilt, sewn by hand by a skilled kilt maker in Scotland or equivalent place will do. But are they right? Read why they are probably not.
Pakistani kilt

A cheap kilt

Probably most kilts today are no longer sewn in Scotland, but in Pakistan. In common these "imported" kilts have that they are affordable. Some shall give you real value for your money, others little - or worse - no value. Read about where to find good, nevertheless cheap kilts.
USA Lilts Casual

A moderate priced kilt

Some established Scottish and American kiltmakers know that affordable kilts are the condition for having men start wearing kilts, especially those having no Scottish roots. They therefore offer some very good kilts which they will position as casual kilts, probably for not hurting the rest of their business. For casual wear they might be all you need.
Kilt

A premium priced kilt

You'll hardly get an 8-yard kilt in pure new wool for under £300 or the equivalent. It shall be much easier to find one costing twice or three times as much. Not all premium priced kilts are sewn in Scotland. Examples are USA, Canada, England, France, and Austria.
Kilt

Get the measures right

Buying your first kilt is something quite unusual. Most likely you shall buy it online, and often it shall be made to your measures. Buying a kilt is not difficult, however, and with a kilt there is some give and take. Read on, and you'll know how to make it right.
Kilt accessories

Kilt accessories

Don't get ripped off on things you don't need. Find out, which accessories are must-haves, which are nice to have, and which you shouldn't consider at all for casual and smart casual wear, and some not even for dress-up events.


Wear your kilt


Kilt

Kilt on!

Let’s assume you have just received and unpacked your first kilt, and the accessories you ordered. How to handle and wear all the unfamiliar things, the sporran, the belt, the socks, the flashes etc.?
What else to wear with your kilt?
Kilt

To mind when in a kilt

Now being ready for taking your kilt out into public for the first time, is there anything you should mind? Something to worry about or calling for your attention? After all a kilt is something very different, just the way it looks and especially, how it feels, wearing it.
Kilt

24/7/365 in a kilt

Let's be realistic, you cannot and probably you should not wear a kilt every day year riund. But having chosen to consider your kilt casual-first wear there are so many possibilities year round. Read on and get inspired.


Kilt variants, skirts, and closing remarks


Utility kilt

Utility kilts

Utilty kilts have existed since 2000. Judged from the number of vendors who are offering them, the market for these kilts must be big.They come in very many different designs, some better than others.
kilt variants

Other kilt variants

Kilts can also be solid coloured, or come in a camouflage pattern. They can be made of tweed, denim, or leather. They can be traditional in style, or their design can deviate to the extent where they become utility kilts - or skirts.
Skirts

Skirts

Could you as a man wear a skirt? Well, the existence of utility kilts with their non-defined designs is part of the answer. You can. Read about which to go for, if a skirt.
Skirt

Closing remarks

Hopefully, visiing this site has contributed to bring you an important step further. Now show to the world that you are man enough to pull that kilt or skirt, whatever it is.



Galleries


Galleries

Galleries Main Page

Links to altogether over 50 gallery pages with tartan kilts, utility kilts, other kilt variants, and skirts.
Tartan kilts

Gallery Tartan kilts

Hundreds of kilt pictures on over 30 pages, one page per tartan.

Non-tartan kilts

Gallery Solid kilts

Solid traditional kilts.

Galleries

Gallery Utility kilts

Utility kilts in various brands and colours.

Skirts

Gallery Skirts

Man skirts, unisex/genderless skirts, and just skirts.

The Braveheart way Gallery

Gallery The Braveheart Way

A mix of skirted manly garments.



Links and What's new?


Kilt

Links #1

Vendors of traditional kilts, from cheap, typically imported Pakistani kilts, whether off-the-peg or custom-made, to more expensive kilts, sewn to-your-measures in Europe or in America.
Vendors of accessories.
Tartan-mills and tartan-finders.

Kilt

Links #2

Vendors of utility kilts, sarongs, man skirts, unisex skirts, "manly" skirts, and some shorts.

Kilt

Links #3

Kilt and skirt forums, non-commercial home pages, blogs, picture galleries, videos, articles in print media and on the internet, men in kilts and skirts on stage and on the catwalk.

Kilt

What's new?

At a glance, find out what is new, has been changed or has been deleted on the D2K site since your last visit.



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