Trans whatever ?

[Zorba]

I notice that some people do wear ties like a noose and knot them too tight, and sometimes its the shirt collar thats too tight, not the tie itself. No wonder they feel uncomfortable!

If I don't have at least 2 or 3 inches space around my collar, its too tight. That alone precludes neckties. But I hear you about inequitable dress codes.

What gets me is this: Picture some "high-zoot" affair. The women are all wearing low cut, or even off the shoulder gowns, etc - while the men are all wearing suits or tuxes with wool jackets. Making a generality here: Most men can deal with cooler temperatures better than most women. Given that, the heat is cranked up to keep the gals comfortable, and the men slowly bake in their wool jackets and ties. What the HELL?

I once performed for an affair like this - there were 5 or 6 of us. I never felt so liberated and FREE in my life - being the ONLY male in the room that wasn't dressed in this silliness.

 

[Shanazel]

I always wondered about those business suits in south Texas temps.

 

[Zorba]

I always wondered about those business suits in south Texas temps.

Its been said that billions could be saved in A/C costs worldwide if men's "fashion" would just get REAL.

And why has a "fashion" that was created in Europe taken over the whole planet - climate appropriate or not (mostly not)?

 

[Kashmir]

Back in the days when I was IT corporate both men and women had uniforms - woollen suits - with ties for the men and silk cravats for the women. Luckily we only had to wear them when client visited or we travelled to clients - both of which was relatively rare. That wool was very welcome in St Paul though! Actually the shirt was too thin and I had to borrow a puffa jacket to get to and from my car.

My main beefs were that the women's jacket didn't have inside pockets (for passport and tickets) and the shoes were high heeled which I never normally wore and I found extremely uncomfortable.

What did most people wear when no-one was looking? Shorts, t-shirts, sandals or bare feet - with the uniform hung on a hook behind the door.

 

[Zorba]

I'm in IT now - and IT is noted for its relaxed attitude towards such things - plus so is my employer, thank Goddess. It only took us 10 years to get the HR guy to stop wearing ties everyday!

 

[Shanazel]

I've worked mostly in SH-IT (aka Agriculture) so except for my years as a legal assistant, my uniform was jeans, a cotton shirt, and boots. Oh, yeah, and good sunglasses were essential, too.

 

[Dev]

I live in Australia and its perfectly ok for men to wear shorts in offices or in retail sectors even policemen. But if you are a lawyer or hold certain goverment jobs then they have uniform as per required. But I don't really see many men wearing ties, or formal suits in 40 degree c, 100 F. People go around here with a minimum of clothing and its common to see men half naked and women wearing a bikini top and the shortest shorts available.

 

[Daimona]

A gentleman in my acquaintance was required to wear ties on the job for his entire working life. He turned them into a fashion statement and howling great fun for everyone. My personal favorite was Yosemite Sam against dayglo green silk jacquard.

Which, for some reason, reminds me of this comic.

 

[Zorba]

Which, for some reason, reminds me of this comic.

Which would be me - taking it OFF!

"Never again"

 

[khanjar]

I used to wear a tie every day for seven years complete with regulation Windsor knot and so that kind of influences my hatred for the things but I do understand where they originated, in the military as usual, but the trouble is, they have got tighter over the years. Now I dont mind a covering high on the neck but low down under the larynx, well now when thinking to give it a go again for a function or such, it induces a panic feeling, so that's it for me no neck ties.

Also today I was chatting to an Asian cross dresser who said he got into it via fancy dress, but discovered something from doing it, and that was a sense of self confidence he had never experienced before and the more he does it, and out in public now, the more his confidence in himself grows. I must admit I had never considered what doing such would do for confidence and so wonder about others that sort of hover in that direction with perhaps those that wear skirt type garments to include kilts.

 

[Jane]

These are very attractive. What do you all think? UTILIKILTS - American Made Utility Kilts for Everyday Wear

 

[Zorba]

These are very attractive. What do you all think? UTILIKILTS - American Made Utility Kilts for Everyday Wear

I was one of their VERY first customers, back in Y2K when they weren't even calling themselves "Utilikilts". I ended up purchasing 5 of them over the years.

I'm no longer a fan. The main reason is that they discontinued their original design (called the "standard") in favor of what they sell now (called the "neo-Traditional"). The "Standard" was a heavy duty cargo skirt pleated all round with snaps and a zipper. The "neo-Trad" is closer to a Scottish kilt in being that it is a wrap cargo skirt with what one person described as a "dismal flat front". I don't like it, but it outsold the "standard" so much that same was discontinued.

Then the prices - never cheap - rose into the stratosphere. They're now around $200 and up. When I can buy a denim skirt (my current preference for daily wear in Mundania) with pockets all day long for $19.95 or $29.95 - Utilikilts and their various knock-off competitors just don't make sense.

 

[khanjar]

Yep I have been after one for years but as Zorba says, they are very expensive which makes them kind of prohibitive to me at this present time, although I always fancied the long leather kilt. I believe there is stockists in the UK, but add the typical UK ROB factor and one needs to take out a mortgage to purchase one. Which is a shame really, so they remain the preserve of the wealthy but weird.

 

[Jane]

Maybe you could design and sew your own modern style kilt. I didn't look at the prices...blushes, I was distracted by the models.

 

[Shanazel]

How on earth anyone can find any form of a kilt anything but masculine...

My husband had a chance to go hiking in a kilt one time- the real deal with all the yards of cloth that he could sleep in at night- and liked the experience well except for getting it latched back on in the morning.

 

[khanjar]

How on earth anyone can find any form of a kilt anything but masculine...

My husband had a chance to go hiking in a kilt one time- the real deal with all the yards of cloth that he could sleep in at night- and liked the experience well except for getting it latched back on in the morning.

Ah I think what your husband wore what is commonly called the plaide but it has had other names including the felidh-Mor and Breacan-an-Feile which according to Wiki means large wrap and tartan wrap respectively, where plaide means blanket. Where I always considered the method of wearing to be similar to the traditional Indian Saree.

But the kilt where that came from, well there are controversial stories circulating that it was an English invention, particularly Northern English and has links to the early English Industrial revolution and the burgeoning textile industry.

I understand some of where tartan originated, I learned that whilst engaged in Iron Age historical reconstruction and our experimentations with spinning, dyeing and weaving where we carded wool picked off fences until we got hold of donated fleeces, spun with a drop spindle and dyed using woad, madder and weld and did manage to weave cloth using a drop loom which was time consuming to say the least, but our group had, hey tartans of weaker colours than the rest of them generally involved with the IA battling but we took authenticity to different levels. The IA people dyed the yarns to weave where other places might dye the complete cloth and of tribal tartans they make sense in that what was economically available through local growth or trade and in time tribal colours came into being and became an identity.

Of course the Cornish, Welsh and the Irish also have a kilt like garment but it is not as well known as the Scots and there is reports of a northern English Kilt, but bearing in mind the Iron Age was a period in history not a ethnicity it stands to reason where people resisted new fashions through trade opportunities and perhaps isolation old fashions would remain and that can be exemplified now by the kilt like garment being restricted to the less inhabited parts of these isles.

 

[Ariadne]

If you really want a kilt and can sew why not make your own? Making a kilt
I made one for a friend and it really wasn't that hard, just meticulous.