Description
Is It True That Men Used To Wear Skirts etc?! Yes, all the time in bygone times! The Romans wore skirts and conquered half the planet! Before the invention of trousers (about 300 years ago), men worldwide wore various forms of robes, dresses and skirts. Gradually after the invention of trousers, unbifurcated clothing became gradually associated with femininity - Why?! Skirted garments remained for some time though even if they were only worn on formal occasions. As little as 100 years ago, Boys and Girls up to the age of 13 were dressed identically in dresses. Trousers are a very new invention and it still amazes me that men took to them so keenly with scant regard to the comfort that they were leaving behind. What About Non Westernised Cultures, Did They Ditch Their Skirts As Well? No, perhaps it was the heat, but in many countries within Asia, The Middle East, Africa as well as many Pacific islands, skirts for men is still considered normal attire. And of course, there are the Scots (so maybe the heat has nothing to do with it!) In early 2000 when Fiji was in the news over the Military Coup the whole world saw men in skirts! Actually, these were not skirts, but rather the traditional Sulu - A normally colourful wrap around calf length skirt like garment worn by both men and women. The Sulu is the main item of clothing worn in Fiji. Its worn both for work and play. Goto Thailand, Malaysia, Bali or Indonesia and discover that many men in these countries dress in colourful sarongs. In India, Pakistan and various Arab countries, men wear dress like garments such as the Caftan and Djellaba. The Scottish and Irish still wear their kilts. Skirted men are also normal in many african countries How Long Have Women Been Wearing Trousers Believe it or not, Trousers for women have only been accepted for about 50 years!! During the second world war while the men were away, the women were working in the factories fueling the war effort. Skirts are not particularly practical when working with moving machinery, so the women wore trousers while at work (but still wore skirts outside work!). After the war, women were not so keen to give up their trousers and so a select few continued to wear them. They still had a hard time getting trousers accepted as normal womens attire but 5 years later, women in trousers was a common sight and was considered normal. The Men in skirts movement is currently at the same stage as the women in trousers movement was 50 years ago. If we manage to acheive complete acceptance in the 5 years that it took women then I will be overjoyed, but somehow I feel that our societies' inbuilt preducices against men in anything other than trousers means that we men will have to wait longer for our fashion freedom. It was arguable the humble denim jeans trouser helped women as it was the first trouser to be marketed as unisex. I believe that a denim skirt would stand the best chance as being accepted as a unisex garment - but the fashion houses that have introduced skirts for men still created junk and then wondered why it did not sell.