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Tim is enthusiastic in his Skilt

Stoked to receive this comment from a customer who describes himself as ‘very satisfied’.  Thanks Tim.

After several centuries of brainwashing to the contrary, ordinary men throughout the western world are beginning to realise that the wearing of skirt type garments is practical, logical, and extremely comfortable. So why the hell not do it?

 
And if it’s a skirt type garment you’re after that looks great on a bloke – you’ve come to the right place! This wide selection of exquisitely tailored ‘skilts’ is, I reckon, about the best in the world. Each pleat is individually cut to a broad flare and sewn so the whole thing hangs beautifully from your waist. What you see in the pictures is what you get. 
 
I bought three: 
 
Indigo denim kiltDENIM – rough and tough as any pair of Levis I ever wore to work (but with the added advantage it will never wear out at the knees or pockets)
 
SONY DSCCORDUROY – same as above, but softer and cosy warm. If you’re off on a days hike down on the coast with your lunch and a hip flask you’d be an absolute idiot not to don one of these!
 
Black Flock KiltBLACK FLOCK – if you think this one LOOKS stunning…you should FEEL what it’s like to wear. BLOODY HELL!! I guarantee you will never, EVER, want to take it off!
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BBC News – Sweden male train drivers wear skirts after shorts row

A dozen male train drivers in Sweden have circumvented a ban on shorts by wearing skirts to work in hot weather.

The workers, who operate the Roslagsbanan line north of the capital Stockholm, have been wearing skirts to work for the past two weeks.

Employer Arriva banned the drivers from wearing shorts after taking over the running of the line in January.

But the company has given the men its blessing to wear skirts, according to local newspaper Mitti.”

Our thinking is that one should look decent and proper when representing Arriva and the present uniforms do that. If the man only wants [to wear] a skirt then that is OK,” Arriva communications manager Tomas Hedenius told the paper.

“To tell them to do something else would be discrimination.”

Driver Martin Akersten told the BBC he and his colleagues came up with the idea to wear skirts after they were informed of the new company dress code in the winter.

“We have always said that when summer comes, we will get some skirts and wear them. Its very warm weather here so we would like to wear shorts but if we cant then we have skirts for comfort”.

via BBC News – Sweden male train drivers wear skirts after shorts row.

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Greg rocks Paris in his black cord Skilt

Greg in his black cord kilt

According to Greg though Paris may be regarded by many as the fashion capital of the world Parisiens are not so confident when it comes to wearing what they design. “You’ve got London for that” he says.  Greg’s just been back to pick out his second Skilt: another black one but with fire insert pleats.  We are sure he’ll set Paris alight.

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Union Flag kilt featured on the Alan Titchmarsh show

I appeared on the Alan Titchmarsh show today and I was able to wear one of our fabulous Union Jack kilts.

The section of the show was related to the mens’ prostate cancer charity Movember and bizarre (I would have said magnificent) facial hair in general.  I was invited to attend as I recently became British freestyle beard champion.

If you can be bothered to sit though the adverts our section starts at 17 minutes: Alan Titchmarsh show

Please donate to my Movember page

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The clothes that make the man | smh.com.au

From Braveheart’s era to the present day, the kilt has been synonymous with masculinity. But isn’t it just a skirt?

From Braveheart to the hard-drinking, ginger-haired Scots who cause a boozy ruckus at weddings, the kilt has long been synonymous with a rough-and-tumble sense of masculinity.

But change the fabric from tartan to a block colour and iron out the pleats and you have yourself a fetching knee-length skirt – an article of clothing the aforementioned filmic and social warriors wouldn’t be caught dead in.

While fashion designer Marc Jacobs has pioneered the idea of the male skirt by wearing them publicly on different occasions, it’s largely considered the by-product of eccentric creativity as opposed to a valid style choice, whereas the kilt, though carrying a different historical weight, is perfectly acceptable.

But what’s the big difference? Dr Mary Tomsic, lecturer in history and popular culture at The University of Melbourne, chalks it up to a gendered society.

“Clothing is practical, but also highly symbolic, so it is a key avenue through which gender is learned and encoded. One needs only to walk into a children’s clothing shop to clearly see how different girls and boys should be dressed … I see this as being restrictive for both boys and girls,” she said.

“There are a range of factors at play in determining the gender of clothing and these change over time in response to a range of factors: political movements like feminism and women’s liberation, cultural movements like glam rock, social and political needs like women wearing pants and work clothes during WWII, and commercial interests like companies identifying men as consumers, as per the metrosexual movement.”

Indeed, there have been moments in history when we’ve seen a blurring of gender lines. As Tomsic suggests, glam rock pioneers such as David Bowie and his spandex and makeup wearing cohorts showed men of the ’70s that sexual and gender ambiguity wasn’t to be feared but celebrated. But while the lavish stage costumes went on to influence such bands as Kiss, Culture Club and Mötley Crüe, it didn’t result in a broader knock-on effect because everyday consumers were still reluctant to buy clothes they saw as feminine.

“I think escaping the gender order is very difficult and strict gender codes can be restrictive for people in terms of expressing their sense of self … It shouldn’t matter at all – but it does – which tells us something about how society reads, understands and values women and men,” Tomsic said.

“I would like there to be less interest in coding clothes as belonging exclusively to either women or men. I can’t really see any benefits of coding clothes and fashion within a strict gendered regime.”

Though there is evidence that the tide is turning. Once considered a fringe item, male pantyhose – or mantyhose – have infiltrated the broader public sphere and now make up a small, yet noticeable, percentage of stocking sales. Executives from upscale Italian hosiery company Emilio Cavallini told The New York Times that since introducing a unisex line in 2009 they have seen sales steadily increase to a point where male customers are now an appreciable portion of their overall business.

It’s a trend that’s only going to gain steam as it becomes more accepted by the mainstream, says Chan Kraemer of mantyhose marketing website e-Mancipate.

“Fashion is always about exploring, about pushing the limits. That’s the natural way and critics are welcome,” he said.

“We are close to reaching the critical mass. And why not? Mantyhose are functional, they are basically unisex, simple to wear … they can replace socks, give different levels of warmth. I like that I can use the same trousers from fall to spring, only changing the thickness of the hosiery worn under. I mean it can greatly simplify the dressing process, which is very practical – and men do like practical things.”

Pantyhose weren’t always considered the sole domain of women. From the Middle Ages up until the 17th century, male hosiery was not only accepted but a common part of a man’s wardrobe. Even today, some segments of the male population continue to wear them, including athletes and those prone to poor circulation or varicose veins.

Though tights are more popular in Europe where they are generally thicker and feature designs considered more masculine such as skulls and checks, it’s difficult to imagine them taking off in Australia on account of our temperate climate and blokey culture. But that could all change according to Dr Tomsic, who says that shifts can occur with the right pioneers.

“Footballers have been wearing running tights for a while now … As we start seeing men, and in the case of AFL footballers, men who are understood as the bastions of masculinity wearing them, they become acceptable, and hence can possibly shift to other realms,” she said.

“When high-profile manly men wear such items they can have a significant influence with other men … For instance David Beckham in his sarong and nail polish had significant impact on trends, and what is then acceptable for more mainstream men to wear.”

While it remains to be seen if stockings will one day be viewed as completely genderless, there are signs that boundaries are slowly breaking down and marketers are starting to respond. Chan also likes to remind critics of one proudly masculine proponent of items traditionally associated with women.

“Hey guys, even Superman wears mantyhose,” he said.

via The clothes that make the man | smh.com.au.

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Q: Why Do We Wear Pants / trousers? A: Horses – Alexis Madrigal – The Atlantic

Q: Why Do We Wear Pants? A: Horses

JUL 11 2012, 2:22 PM ET 61

The surprisingly deep history of trouser technology.

Whence came pants? I’m wearing pants right now. There’s a better than 50 percent chance that you, too, are wearing pants. And neither of us have probably asked ourselves a simple question: Why?

It turns out the answer is inexplicably bound up with the Roman Empire, the unification of China, gender studies, and the rather uncomfortable positioning of man atop horse, at least according to University of Connecticut evolutionary biologist Peter Turchin.

“Historically there is a very strong correlation between horse-riding and pants,” Turchin wrote in a blog post this week. “In Japan, for example, the traditional dress is kimono, but the warrior class (samurai) wore baggy pants (sometimes characterized as a divided skirt), hakama. Before the introduction of horses by Europeans (actually, re-introduction – horses were native to North America, but were hunted to extinction when humans first arrived there), civilized Amerindians wore kilts.”

The reasons why pants are advantageous when mounted atop a horse should be obvious, nonetheless, many cultures struggled to adapt, even when their very existences were threatened by superior, trouser-clad horseback riders.

Turchin details how the Romans eventually adopted braccae (known to you now as breeches) and documents the troubles a 3rd-century BC Chinese statesman, King Wuling, had getting his warriors to switch to pants from the traditional robes. “It is not that I have any doubt concerning the dress of the Hu,” Wuling told an advisor. “I am afraid that everybody will laugh at me.” Eventually, a different state, the Qin, conquered and unified China. They just so happened to be closest to the mounted barbarians and thus were early to the whole cavalry-and-pants thing.

Turchin speculates that because mounted warriors were generally men of relatively high status, the culture of pants could spread easily throughout male society.

I’d add one more example from history: the rise of the rational dress movement in conjunction with the widespread availability of the bicycle. Here’s a University of Virginia gloss:

The advent and the ensuing popularity of the safety bicycle, with its appeal to both sexes mandated that women cast off their corsets and figure out some way around their long, billowy skirts. The answer to the skirt question was to be found in the form of bloomers, which were little more than very baggy trousers, cinched at the knee. Bloomers provoked wrath in conservatives and delight in women cyclists, and the garment was to become the centerpiece of the “rational dress” movement that sprung up at the end of the 19th century.

What all these examples suggest is that technological systems — cavalry, bicycling — sometimes require massive alterations in a society’s culture before they can truly become functional. And once it’s locked in, the cultural solution (pants) to an era’s big problem can be more durable than the activity (horse-mounted combat) that prompted it.

via Q: Why Do We Wear Pants? A: Horses – Alexis Madrigal – The Atlantic.