Pants vs. Skirts?

[lpetrich]

I'm old enough to have seen large numbers of women change over from wearing skirts/dresses to wearing pants/trousers as their main lower garment; at least in the northeast US, that happened in the 1970's or thereabouts.

A change that has happened with remarkably little comment or controversy as far as I've been able to find out. The main exception is various fundies, who consider it cross-dressing, and therefore a no-no.

Anyone here willing to weigh in on this question?

And if any of you male readers wish to go in the opposite direction, check out http://utilikilt.com

[Goliath]

Skirts!--Ummm...I mean, pants! :wink: :P

[Dingfod]

Don't care much about cultural conventions. I like to wear what's comfortable. For that reason, I've thought about getting the workman's utilikilt to wear around the homestead. I don't know that I would have the balls to wear it in public except at the Scottish Festival or the Muskogee Castle Renn Faire. Don't know how well it would work out riding the motorcycle though. That would give real meaning to something you like doing being "Whatever blows up your skirt."

[livius drusus]

When I first got out into the real world ('95 or so), I was shocked when my temp agency told me that certain law firms required women to wear skirts. Even my school uniform had a pants/bermuda shorts option, and that was an at all girls Catholic school.

The notion that women should only wear skirts seemed then and certainly seems now outlandishly anachronistic to me. I almost always wear pants.

[dave_a]

since I am male I won't answer the poll. The poll also didn't have the answer I would choose anyway. There needs to be an option for "pants mostly, except on windy days or for women who have to climb ladders". :D

[Beth]

I vote obscenely short skirts;)

[godfry n. glad]

Um.... What's the question again? I don't see it here. Am I missing the obvious?

Anyhoo... I wear trousers most of the time. I do own a kilt (Clergy plaid...heh), but I recently acquired it and have yet to wear it in a public venue. I wore one years ago (commando, or "regimental", as I understand the Scots call it) and enjoyed it immensely...of course, I was on a date with a Celtophile.

As for trousers on women, they get my support. Particularly those close-fitting ones (y'know, where you can locate and count every mole that happens to be covered by the garment). Trousers on women was a great step forward in stylin' for those of us who worship at the shrine of the Divine Derriere.

godfry

[Beth]

I think I'll expand my post. It is hot in this state. Skirts allow for air to blow. Sometimes when I wear jeans, I literally feel like my skin is being suffocated and I get desperate to remove them soon as I walk in the house. Skirts are cooler and user friendly in the heat.

[godfry n. glad]

I vote obscenely short skirts;)

You mean those things we called "half over the ass dresses"? Yeah...bring those back. Make sure they become all the rage, especially for college students...particularly nursing students. :lecher:

...yeah. :lecher:

[godfry n. glad]

I think I'll expand my post. It is hot in this state. Skirts allow for air to blow. Sometimes when I wear jeans, I literally feel like my skin is being suffocated and I get desperate to remove them soon as I walk in the house. Skirts are cooler and user friendly in the heat.

Especially the "obscenely short" ones. :D

godfry

[Beth]

I vote obscenely short skirts;)

You mean those things we called "half over the ass dresses"? Yeah...bring those back. Make sure they become all the rage, especially for college students...particularly nursing students. :lecher:

...yeah. :lecher:
I never heard the term.

[Beth]

I think I'll expand my post. It is hot in this state. Skirts allow for air to blow. Sometimes when I wear jeans, I literally feel like my skin is being suffocated and I get desperate to remove them soon as I walk in the house. Skirts are cooler and user friendly in the heat.

Especially the "obscenely short" ones. :D

godfryHehe. Well, I have a few skirts so short that I must bend my knees only and not bend over if I drop something on the ground. I have some dresses so short that I must show extreme caution in just sitting. Can't help it. I like short hems, what can I say?

[Roland98]

I like skirts. I think I only own about 3 pairs of dress pants (and one suit that's pants) but tons of skirts and dresses. Pants I can just never find that fit quite right everywhere, and "longs" are usually too long and the regular lengths are too short, and I'm too lazy to get things tailored. Skirts usually fit much better. But luckily it's not much of an issue for me, as I rarely dress up since I'm in the lab all day.

[Shake]

Well, I for one don't think they have to be "obscenely short", especially not on some women. *shudder* I think the long skirts with long slits in them are very sexy because of the way the leg is intermittently flashed at you as she walks by.

The other thing about the obscenely short ones is that they don't flow. I like a skirt that flows and moves with the woman as she walks. The pleated schoolgirl type particularly ... like the ones in videos by Aerosmith and Britney Spears.

*Shake leaves to go take a cold shower*

[RedShift]

I haven't worn skirts regularly since school uniform days. In fact, I don't believe I even own any dresses or skirts right now.

In fact, I can tell you the exact date the last time I wore a dress:

St Patrick's Day 2001, my sister's wedding.

[godfry n. glad]

The other thing about the obscenely short ones is that they don't flow. I like a skirt that flows and moves with the woman as she walks. The pleated schoolgirl type particularly ... like the ones in videos by Aerosmith and Britney Spears.

Okay, okay... I like that, too.

Just wondering here...when liv stated that she'd had to wear uniforms for Catholic school, did you have the compulsion to ask her if they were the plaid pleated uniform skirts?

I did.

('Course I still toy with the fantasy that liv is really Liv Tyler.....ooooooo)

godfry

[livius drusus]

No pleats. Black watch. Wrap around. Giant gold safety pin supposed to keep the two overlapping bits together. We always just pinned it to the top layer. ;)

But all fantasies aside, I still far prefered the navy pants and bermudas.

[wildernesse]

I wear mostly pants--jeans, khakis. But I wear a skirt probably once a week or more often (when I can fit into them). In the summer, it's dresses to church, in the winter, mostly pants. I don't really care all that much one way or the other.

When I was little (like 10), I cried and cried when my mother made me wear pants to church one Sunday because it was so very cold. I thought it was terrible, and that everyone would talk about me because no woman/girl wore pants to our church, especially on Sunday morning--and I only stopped crying when she told me she'd give me $20 if I was the only girl/woman in church wearing pants. :P Turns out I didn't get $20. :sadcheer: I was (heehee) such a drama queen.

[Beth]

Well, I for one don't think they have to be "obscenely short", especially not on some women. *shudder* I think the long skirts with long slits in them are very sexy because of the way the leg is intermittently flashed at you as she walks by.

The other thing about the obscenely short ones is that they don't flow. I like a skirt that flows and moves with the woman as she walks. The pleated schoolgirl type particularly ... like the ones in videos by Aerosmith and Britney Spears.

*Shake leaves to go take a cold shower*I don't like flowing skirts, when I wear them, they get blown up if it gets windy and it is rather embarrassing. I get the concern about overly short skirts. I do not advocate any that show behind or are unflattering. Like, not hooker dresses.
I think my 'obscenely' comment was not exactly what you guys thought. I think you think I'm talking about showing naughty bits, I'm just meaning it is very short.

[dave_a]

I don't like flowing skirts, when I wear them, they get blown up if it gets windy and it is rather embarrassing.


Ummm... that's precisely why those of us who admire the female form like them. Well, one of the reasons anyway.

[godfry n. glad]

I think my 'obscenely' comment was not exactly what you guys thought. I think you think I'm talking about showing naughty bits, I'm just meaning it is very short.

Oh, I'm pretty sure I know what you're referring to, and it needn't show any naughty bits...it just has to come close to it. It's actually better if it doesn't, 'cause then the mystery and the allure are maintained.

I came of age in 1970...."half over the ass" dresses were the order of the day. I think they were called "mini-minis". They were "street-legal" but still enticing.

Ah...the "good ol' days".

:qsigh:
godfry

[Beth]

I would post pics of the hem length in question, but I think it best not to. I think maybe I made my hemline appear to be too short in these posts. Sigh.

Oh, pleated school girl skirts make women with hips look huge. I normally avoid them.

[Beth]

I think my 'obscenely' comment was not exactly what you guys thought. I think you think I'm talking about showing naughty bits, I'm just meaning it is very short.

Oh, I'm pretty sure I know what you're referring to, and it needn't show any naughty bits...it just has to come close to it. It's actually better if it doesn't, 'cause then the mystery and the allure are maintained.

I came of age in 1970...."half over the ass" dresses were the order of the day. I think they were called "mini-minis". They were "street-legal" but still enticing.

Ah...the "good ol' days".

:qsigh:
godfryI know them! They were shirt-like or maybe big sweater-like and they wore leg warmers with them. My aunt would go to discos in them. I noticed once she had no panties on. I was very puzzled.

[Adora]

Pants. Always. I hate skirts. They feel stupid, are difficult to move in, and make my arse look like the back end of a German tank. When you have legs like mine, skirts are a liability.

The main exception is various fundies, who consider it cross-dressing, and therefore a no-no.
Fundies are stupid, therefore there is no fucking argument. I mean, for fucks sake, women were wearing pants back in the 40s during the war! Anyone complain about the crossdressing then! No. Only the recently Backlash fundies get their goats up about this, because of their stupid warped ideologies about gender and false nostalgia for some utopian society that never fucking existed.

Sorry, I'm just on a fundie rant mood today.

[noblesavage]

I like skirts... :yup:

[Godless Dave]

Pants I can just never find that fit quite right everywhere, and "longs" are usually too long and the regular lengths are too short, and I'm too lazy to get things tailored.

If clothing manufacturers weren't the misogynistic fucks they are, you would be able to choose from pants in a variety of lengths like men do, not just long, regular, and short. </soapbox>

[godfry n. glad]

Pants I can just never find that fit quite right everywhere, and "longs" are usually too long and the regular lengths are too short, and I'm too lazy to get things tailored.

If clothing manufacturers weren't the misogynistic fucks they are, you would be able to choose from pants in a variety of lengths like men do, not just long, regular, and short. </soapbox>

I'll tell you, GD, it's not just misogynism. I haven't been able to purchase trousers in my inseam length in nearly twenty years. Somehow they've fairly recently decided that 30" inseams are the minimum. I, of course, am at 29", which means I am required to alter every pair of trousers I purchase. It's a tyranny of tall people.


godfry

[Godless Dave]

You know, I haven't seen anything below 30 in a while, come to think of it. And I almost always only see even numbers.

[Beth]

I don't like flowing skirts, when I wear them, they get blown up if it gets windy and it is rather embarrassing.


Ummm... that's precisely why those of us who admire the female form like them. Well, one of the reasons anyway.Well, if they are just a little above the knee or below the knee, then fine. But otherwise, they are just too embarrassing. I am not one that likes my female for exposed, even though I like short skirts. I like the coolness but do not like to be humiliated.

[Beth]

Pants I can just never find that fit quite right everywhere, and "longs" are usually too long and the regular lengths are too short, and I'm too lazy to get things tailored.

If clothing manufacturers weren't the misogynistic fucks they are, you would be able to choose from pants in a variety of lengths like men do, not just long, regular, and short. </soapbox>

I'll tell you, GD, it's not just misogynism. I haven't been able to purchase trousers in my inseam length in nearly twenty years. Somehow they've fairly recently decided that 30" inseams are the minimum. I, of course, am at 29", which means I am required to alter every pair of trousers I purchase. It's a tyranny of tall people.


godfryA lot of my pants come above my ankle, but they were designed to be like that. Anyway, I have long legs according to hubby and it is difficult for me to find the right size. The long pants seem to be designed for women who have distorted, Barbie-like long legs and regular are always just at ankle. Currently I wear capris and will till they become too outdated and then I'll switch back to dress shorts, methinks.

I miss them, dress shorts.

Oh, the pants that show every bump. Ick. I stopped wearing them when I saw a woman wearing a pair with all her butt dimples in there glory was clearly displayed. I love the jeans that are cut in a way that they lift the bum and have issues with the low rise jeans that I often wear cuz they flatten out your ass if you have anything that resembles a female form.

[lady cop]

i am forced to wear male attire for work, the exact same uniform as male officers. with no real allowance for the feminine form. however i still almost never get "dressed up" when off duty, it's jeans and tees, because we must carry a weapon even when not in uniform, and there are no skirt holsters. once this past year i put on a feminine suit, dripping with pearls all around the jacket. it felt pretty good!

[Shaguar]

I am sure you looked great Lady cop

[Beth]

i am forced to wear male attire for work, the exact same uniform as male officers. with no real allowance for the feminine form. however i still almost never get "dressed up" when off duty, it's jeans and tees, because we must carry a weapon even when not in uniform, and there are no skirt holsters. once this past year i put on a feminine suit, dripping with pearls all around the jacket. it felt pretty good!
You could get one of those pistol holsters for your thighs. :D
Guys may think that is rather sexy as well. :wink:

And welcome! :wave:

[Godless Dave]

How about a shoulder holster under a jacket? I guess that would only work with business suits.

[livius drusus]

I am sure you looked great Lady cop

I myself think your handle is great. :10:

[Shake]

Oh yeah, two words: field hockey!

The skirts the girls wear in that sport were exactly what I liked. You know, sometimes they'd wear them during the day if they had a game that night. Those days ruled! Also 'cause those girls typically had the sort of nice athletic legs which I just love!

[lady cop]

I am sure you looked great Lady cop
you would know :affection:...thankyou.

[Adora]

Regarding size: There's been a disturbing change in clothing over the last 100 years or so where we have moved away from clothes being made to fit individual's bodies, to individuals bodies being made to fit a very small and non-negotiable range of clothing sizes. I believe this is one of many contributing factors that has created the social eating disorder in many Western countries.

Also, more and more (in women's clothing, at least) a single style that would really suit only an extremely limited number of people is being market each season to the entire range of body sizes, colours, and shapes out their in the target audience, so sometimes it can be very difficult to find decent clothing that really suits you and flatters your body and colouring.

[lpetrich]

I think that the reason is mass production. It's fairly easy to automate the cutting of fabric according to some pattern, and it's simpler to use a few patterns than to use large numbers of them. Such standardization is fine for nuts and bolts and other such parts, but as Adora notes, it does not work as well for clothes.

[Nex]

I wear blue jeans most of the time. Sometimes long skirts, as I have the long lean build that looks good in stuff like that. :yup:
Over the summer, I had abdominal surgery and couldn't wear pants at all, so I wore loose skirts for three months straight. It got kind of annoying after a while.

I do wish women's jeans were sized like men's-- I'm too tall for regular lengths and too short for the long lengths, and it's downright frustrating that each brand and manufacturer has their own sizing scale. Depending on the manufacturer, I could be an 8, a 10, a 12, or a 14. WTF? :brooding:

And I hate those low-low-rise jeans that are in style now (here in the States anyway). They look good on, oh, 0.2% of the population. Any woman with a shadow of a figure suddenly becomes flat-assed and beer-bellied in those stupid things.

[wildernesse]

I do wish women's jeans were sized like men's-- I'm too tall for regular lengths and too short for the long lengths, and it's downright frustrating that each brand and manufacturer has their own sizing scale. Depending on the manufacturer, I could be an 8, a 10, a 12, or a 14. WTF? :brooding:



I'm the same way on the short end of things. "Ankle" or "Petite" length pants end up being about an inch too short, but "regular" length pants without shoes are about two inches too long, even with long being the look--which is ok if I want to wear boots with heels because then it looks perfect. But some days, I just want to wear regular shoes.

[Shake]

I wear blue jeans most of the time. Sometimes long skirts, as I have the long lean build that looks good in stuff like that. :yup:
I'm afraid we're going to have to ask for some evidence here, ma'am. :yup:

And I hate those low-low-rise jeans that are in style now (here in the States anyway). They look good on, oh, 0.2% of the population. Any woman with a shadow of a figure suddenly becomes flat-assed and beer-bellied in those stupid things.
And unless they're going commando, you'll get to see their undies when they sit down. Which is, of course, OK with me. :wink:

[godfry n. glad]

[quote]And I hate those low-low-rise jeans that are in style now (here in the States anyway). They look good on, oh, 0.2% of the population. Any woman with a shadow of a figure suddenly becomes flat-assed and beer-bellied in those stupid things.
And unless they're going commando, you'll get to see their undies when they sit down. Which is, of course, OK with me. :wink:

Ooooooh, yeah. And that 0.2%, when they show that top of the knickers and it's obvious that it's a thong or g-string ('cause it's a good 2" above the beltline). And, of course, often there is no visual impediment to the skin from there on up to....whereever.

:lecher:

poor ol' godfry....a prisoner to his hormones

[Beth]

[quote]And I hate those low-low-rise jeans that are in style now (here in the States anyway). They look good on, oh, 0.2% of the population. Any woman with a shadow of a figure suddenly becomes flat-assed and beer-bellied in those stupid things.
And unless they're going commando, you'll get to see their undies when they sit down. Which is, of course, OK with me. :wink:

Ooooooh, yeah. And that 0.2%, when they show that top of the knickers and it's obvious that it's a thong or g-string ('cause it's a good 2" above the beltline). And, of course, often there is no visual impediment to the skin from there on up to....whereever.

:lecher:

poor ol' godfry....a prisoner to his hormonesThey make low cut thongs so we can avoid you guys drooling when we sit. Tis just plain tacky to show the thong.

[Adora]

Yeah, G-spotting is so trashy.