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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

Freeing Men from the Tyranny of Pants

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08:46 / 30.05.06

What would you suggest?

Women get to wear skirts, dresses and pants but men are stuck with pants.

What options do you think are available and how would one popularize them?

I know of the Utilikilt and that's about it.

10:10 / 30.05.06

P. Horus Rhacoid

18:42 / 30.05.06

I knew a few guys in high school who wore sarongs occasionally. One of them sent the administration into a tizzy when he wore one to school- they actually called the police and had two officers escort him from school. He was suspended. A half dozen of his male friends all wore sarongs to school a few days later and were given the choice of either a) taking them off or b) suspension, possibly with a few threats of not graduating thrown in (the principal loved tossing those around).

Then again, my school's principle (an aging former football player with enormous cultural blind spots) always had... um, trouble in dealing with things which blurred gender/sexual boundaries. I believe he prevented, or tried to prevent, a lesbian couple in my sister's year from attending prom together. Same sex groups/pairs attend prom all the time- the issue was blatantly that this was A Couple.

But, anyway. Sarongs.

Also seconding the loincloth suggestion. STRONG TRUTH.

18:46 / 30.05.06

There's a type of clothing from the Middle East and Asia worn by men that resembles a baggy pair of pants that's been cut so that the crotch hangs down between the knees, and is bunched about the ankles. It's typically light in color, looks like it's made with a very light cloth, and usually worn with a long waistcoat or light jacket.

I'm not sure what what this item of clothing is called (Google fails me, or, more likely, I fail at google), but an Afghan man I used to work with assured me they were perfect summerwear. He said that they acted as billows, circulating air with every step.

I'd love to get myself one of these garments for wearing about the house. I don't think I'd feel comfortable with the level of cultural appropriation involved.

Oh yeah, Utilikilts are fucking sweet.

01:11 / 31.05.06

There's always the Macabi for Men, which is highly adjustable.

10:18 / 31.05.06

Don’t say sarong say surfkilts!

Or for chillier climes, the kiltstore have some modrenkilts, not cheap but the swirl of the pleats is a beauty to behold.

12:32 / 31.05.06

that resembles a baggy pair of pants that's been cut so that the crotch hangs down between the knees
You mean MC Hammer pants?

ONLY NICE THINGS

17:00 / 31.05.06

Probably the Dhoti.

22:32 / 31.05.06

kan, those surfkilts look like something an ex of mine made for me. She called it a lavalava, which is apparently a common men's clothing item in Samoa. Essentially a yard of fabric wrapped around the waist and tucked in like a towel, it was the greatest thing ever in the Summer heat, especially if you use a nice light linen.

22:33 / 31.05.06

And, yes Jack, much like MC Hammer Pants, only without the soul-destroying horror.

19:57 / 01.06.06

Robes anyone?
And do leggings count as an alternative? I love men in leggings.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

08:48 / 03.06.06

Skirts! What's wrong with a decent skirt or dress ffs?

18:40 / 03.06.06

Actually, your damn right. Damn Right! I begin GenderFuck tommorow. I want pretty clothes and sequins and feathers and I don't care if people think I am a raging queen. I WANT PRETTY DRESSES AND I WANT PEOPLE TO SEE MY UPPER THIGHS!

21:16 / 05.06.06

Skirts! What's wrong with a decent skirt or dress ffs?

Well, I'm a MANLY man, and, as such, I want manly skirts. I'd never seen a manly skirt until I recieved said lavalava. What's wrong with a decent skirt is most manufacturers fail to make skirts that appeal to my sensibilities. Skirts, as usually defined, accetuate a woman's curves. While some guys do have the bodytype that allows them to weat a skirt, I do not.

Utilikilt makes manly skirts, they get it. I need a skirt that's built to make a man look good.

07:28 / 11.06.06

I have bought a sarong, it is black, with embroidered flowers and sequins.
Thus I achieve liberation.

21:48 / 15.06.06

utilikilts are hot and you really can fit an entire six pack (of beer) in them. I bought my ex one of the leather ones, and my was it fabulous. There are a bunch of guys that wear them in town here. More common than sarongs or even tradtional kilts 'round these parts.

18:48 / 23.10.06

A nice fellow on the applications says he doesn't really want to join but would like to point you all in the direction of Skirt Cafe.

11:10 / 24.10.06

That's such a nice thing to do. Aren't people nice sometimes?

Bit upset that he doen't really want to join though. Are we really that dull?

01:08 / 30.10.06

Obviously we don't wear skirts enough!

pointless & uncalled for

13:39 / 31.10.06

I spent pretty much all of this summer in cycing shorts.

I realise that they are rather pants-esque or trouser-like as I prefer to say but they do wear rather differently. Principally they do away with the need for underwear and carry their own padding. The feeling of a nice tight film of lycra around ones midsection is very enjoyable in a way that tight trousers or jeans just can't achieve.

Alas winter is imminent and it's time for track pants. At least this tyranny comes with a fleecey lining. Anyone reckong they can design cycling skirts for men though?

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

15:38 / 31.10.06

I'm definitely curious about a Utilikilt, but Canadian winter means I have at least six months to think it over first. My first stumbling block is "I can buy three pairs of pants for that much money," which is a pretty serious hurdle.

06:18 / 07.11.06

My first stumbling block is "I can buy three pairs of pants for that much money," which is a pretty serious hurdle.

At Flipside this past year, I was talking to a guy who had a Utilikilt knockoff which cost him under half the price of the Utilikilt-brand utility kilt. He told me the name of the company that made them, I promptly took too many drugs to remember that name in the morning, and I have been kicking myself ever since.

I am also a fan of the sarong. An ex-girlfriend noticed how much I like them and gave me a bunch of really gorgeous ones she brought back from Tanzania, and so I am well-stocked with colorful sarongs.

10:21 / 05.03.07

How do you get them to catch on though?

13:52 / 05.03.07

How do you get them to catch on though?

The sheer sexiness triggers a chain reaction. The first time I ever saw a utilikilt my SO and I followed the guy around until we could ask him WTF was the cool ass thing he was sporting. Now I see them often in town even on fairly normal looking older men.

15:24 / 05.03.07

Can there be a picture of a utilikilt? I don't know what they look like.

20:04 / 05.03.07

I have to admit I'm slightly curious, too.

20:07 / 05.03.07

A-ha!

One of these?

22:47 / 05.03.07

I don't know about the kilt, but those socks are dead sexy.

00:45 / 06.03.07

sexy sexy men in sexy sexy kilts

02:30 / 06.03.07

Hmmm, do they do Utilikilts that go below the knee though?

I've been sporting long skate shorts for far too long to go back to showing off these pasty, hairy knees.

I imagine I would probably get beaten up in these parts for wearing such a thing, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't still be good for a laugh.

14:06 / 06.03.07

I believe you can order the length to suit your needs.

Make me Uncomfortable

21:22 / 09.03.07

Right now I'm wearing a sheet and a sweater, and boy does it feel good. But then again, it's laundry day.

08:24 / 10.03.07

When its warm I'm a great advocate of the underwear option.
Many a heart has been broken as I sashayed down the prom, rocking in shirt, tie and y-fronts.

Imaginary Mongoose Solutions

21:43 / 25.03.07

I ran into one of the UtiliKilt guys at a local event (it was a gaming convention... GenCon... oh, the shame). He was pitching hard every time anyone veered near the booth. Eventually, his "there's only way to experience this kind of freedom" speech got to me and I flat out told him that "UtiliKilts are for guys without the balls to man up and wear skirts." I (perhaps unwisely) continued. "Tonight, I'm going to slip into a miniskirt, throw on some fishnets and hit the clubs until I go home and have rigorous sex with the young lady to my left."

Something about the "UltiliKilts! They're MANLY!" thing drives me nuts.

13:00 / 26.03.07

Is it the "We're not women! And certainly not nancies!" element? I'd choose mini-skirt over utilikilt any day. If I'm going to have young people shout abuse at me for my clothes then I'd rather I was wearing leopard-print.

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