Men's skirts: Difference between revisions
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'''Men's skirts''' are [[skirt]]s worn by [[men]]. The wearing of a skirt is conventially, in the North America and Europe, an expression of a female rôle. However, people have variously attempted to promote the wearing of skirts by men and to do away with this sex distinction, |
'''Men's skirts''' are [[skirt]]s worn by [[men]]. The wearing of a skirt is conventially, in the North America and Europe, an expression of a female rôle. However, people have variously attempted to promote the wearing of skirts by men and to do away with this sex distinction,<ref name=Wilson>{{cite book|title=Organizational Behaviour and Gender|author=Fiona Margaret Wilson|pages=199|date=2003|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|id=ISBN 0754609006}}</ref> albeit with little general success.<ref>Assertion by [[User:JzG]]</ref> |
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== Background == |
== Background == |
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Revision as of 08:52, 26 May 2007
Men's skirts are skirts worn by men. The wearing of a skirt is conventially, in the North America and Europe, an expression of a female rôle. However, people have variously attempted to promote the wearing of skirts by men and to do away with this sex distinction,[1] albeit with little general success.[2]
Background
A revolt began in the 1960s against the accepted (North American and European) conventions of male and female dress. This unisex fashion movement aimed to eliminate the sartorial differences between men and women. In practice, it usually meant that women would wear male dress, i.e. shirts and trousers. Men rarely went as far in the adoption of traditionally female dress modes. The furthest that most men went in the 1960s in this regard were velvet trousers, flowered or frilled shirts and ties, and long hair.[3]
In the 1980s, several male pop stars dressed in skirts, and fashion designers such as Jean-Paul Gaultier, Giorgio Armani, John Galliano, Kenzo, Rei Kawakubo, and Yohji Yamamoto tried to promote the idea of men wearing skirts, but this failed to popularize the idea. Male skirt wearing remained firmly linked with ideas of effeminacy, and the notion, begun in the early Victorian period when men stopped wearing bright colours and luxurious fabrics, that masculinity implies sobriety of dress remained firmly in place.[3][1][4]
Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition
In 2003, the Metropolitan Museum of Art displayed an exhibition, organized by Andrew Bolton and Harold Koda of the Museum's Costume Institute and sponsored by Gaultier, entitled Bravehearts: Men in Skirts. The idea of the exhibition was to explore how various groups and individuals (from hippies through pop stars to fashion designers) have promoted the idea of men wearing skirts as "the future of menswear". It displayed male skirts on mannequins, as if in the window of a department store, in several historical and cross-cultural contexts.[5]
The exhibition display pointed out the lack of a "natural link" between an item of clothing and the masculinity of femininity of the wearer, mentioning the kilt as "one of the most potent, versatile, and enduring skirt forms often looked upon by fashion designers as a symbol of a natural, uninhibited, masculinity". It pointed out that fashion designers and male skirt-wearers employ the wearing of skirts for three purposes: to transgress conventional moral and social codes, to redefine the ideal of masculinity, and to inject novelty into male fashion. It linked the wearing of male skirts to youth movements and countercultural movements such as punk, grunge, and glam rock, and to pop music icons such as Boy George and Adrian Young.[5]
Ellsworth eavesdropped on several visitors to the exhibition, noting that because of the exhibition's placement in a self-contained space accessed by a staircase at the far end of the Museum's first floor, the visitors were primarily self-selected as those who would be intrigued enough by such an idea in the first place to actually seek it out. According to her report, the reactions were wide-ranging, from the number of women who teased their male companions about whether they would ever consider wearing skirts (to which several men responded that they would) to the man who said "A caftan — after a shower or in the gym — can you imagine? 'Excuse me! Coming through!'". An adolescent girl rejected in disgust the notion that skirts were similar to the wide pants worn by hip-hop artists. Two elderly women called the idea "utterly ridiculous". One man, reading the exhibition's presentation on the subject of male skirt-wearing in cultures other than those in the North America and Europe, observed that "God! Three quarters of the world's population [wear skirts]!".[5]
The exhibition itself attempted to provoke visitors into considering how, historically, male dress codes have come to this point, and whether in fact a trend towards the wearing of skirts by men in the future actually exists. It attempted to raise challenging questions of how a simple item of dress connotes (in Ellsworth's words) "huge ramifications in meanings, behaviours, everyday life, senses of self and others, and configurations of insider and outsider".[5]
General Popularity
The wearing of skirts, kilts, or similar garments on an everyday basis by men in western clutures is, as of 2007, very much a minority movement.
Kilts remain popular, with one manufacturer of contemporary kilt styles claiming to sell over 12,000 such garments annually,[6] resulting in over $2 million annually worth of sales, and has appeared at a major fashion show. [7] According to a CNN correspondant: "At Seattle's Fremont Market, men are often seen sporting the Utilikilt" [8] US News said in 2003 that "... the Seattle-made utilikilt, a rugged, everyday riff on traditional Scottish garb, has leapt from idea to over 10,000 sold in just three years, via the Web and word of mouth alone."[9] "They've become a common sight around Seattle, especially in funkier neighborhoods and at the city's many alternative cultural events. They often are worn with chunky black boots." writes AP reporter Anne Kim.[10] "I actually see more people wearing kilts in Seattle than I did when I lived in Scotland," one purchaser remarked in 2003.[11]
In addition, since the mid-1990s a number of clothing companies have been established to sell skirts specifically designed for men. These include Macabi Skirt in the 1990s, Menintime in 1999 and Midas Clothing in 2002.
Wicca and neo-paganism
In Wicca and neopaganism in the United States, men (just as women) are encouraged to question their traditional gender rôles. Amongst other things this involves the wearing of skirts at festivals and sabbat celebrations, as ritual clothing (which Eilers equates to the "church clothes" worn by Christians on Sundays).[12][13]
Outside of Western cultures
Outside of Western cultures there are various items of male clothing that resemble a skirt: the Chinese robe, the Indian lungi and jama, the South Asian sarong, and the Middle Eastern and North African caftan and djellaba.[14]
References
- ^ a b Fiona Margaret Wilson (2003). Organizational Behaviour and Gender. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 199. ISBN 0754609006.
- ^ Assertion by User:JzG
- ^ a b MS Aileen Ribeiro (2003). Dress and Morality. Berg Publishers. p. 169. ISBN 185973782X.
- ^ Jennifer Craik (1994). The Face of Fashion: culture studies in fashion. Routledge. p. 200. ISBN 0415052629.
- ^ a b c d Elizabeth Ann Ellsworth (2005). Places of Learning Media, Architecture, Pedagogy. Routledge. pp. 143–146. ISBN 0415931584.
- ^ "It's a cargo skirt -- for guys". WTVG-TV -- Toledo, OH. September 19, 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Craig Harris. "Manly skirt is not just for Scots anymore". Seattle Post-Intelligencer (online edition). Retrieved 2007-05-18.
- ^ "Tailor Revives Art of Kilt-Making". Sunday Morning News. CNN. January 7, 2001. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
At Seattle's Fremont Market, men are often seen sporting the Utilikilt
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "Escaping the tyranny of trousers". U.S. News & World Report. May 5, 2003. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Anne Kim (Oct. 1, 2005). "Utilikilt makes 'short' work of job for men". The Ara\izona Republic (Online edition). Retrieved 2007-05-18.
They've become a common sight around Seattle, especially in funkier neighborhoods and at the city's many alternative cultural events.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Chelan David (March 12, 2003,). "Kilts coming back in fashion" (PDF). Ballard New-Tribune. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
Mackay is amazed at the amount of kilts he sees in Seattle. "I actually see more people wearing kilts in Seattle than I did when I lived in Scotland," he marvels.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ Helen A. Berger (1999). A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-paganism and Witchcraft in the United States. University of South Carolina Press. p. 43. ISBN 1570032467.
- ^ Dana D. Eilers (2002). The Practical Pagan: Common Sense Guidelines for Modern Practitioners. Career Press. p. 153. ISBN 1564146014.
- ^ Lisa Lenoir (2003-12-11). "Men in Skirts". Chicago Sun-Times. The Chicago Sun-Times Inc.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
Further reading
- Andrew Bolton (2003). Bravehearts: Men in Skirts. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0810965585. — an illustration of the exhibition by one of its organizers
External links
- "Bravehearts: Men in Skirts". Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2003-11-04.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Victoria & Albert Museum, London - 'Men In Skirts' exhibition, 2002
- Victoria & Albert Museum, London - 'Men In Skirts' fashion show, 2002
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - 'Men In Skirts' exhibition, 2004.