While men have been no strangers to wearing skirts and dresses throughout history and many cultures – think of the Scottish kilt or Mick Jagger’s Hyde Park performance in 69’ – yet in 2021 many are still being shamed for it. And I cannot wrap my head around why. Though recently, Lyst dropped its Q2 Index which, to our surprise, ranked Thom Browne’s pleated skirt part of the top 10 hottest menswear items. In other words, things are changing.
If this recent fashion month taught us anything, it’s to forget gender norms. Perhaps more than ever, men’s fashion week presented us with countless menswear skirts and dresses. Pleated, knee-length, floor-length, denim and cotton, we saw it all. Brands such as JordanLuca presented skirts paired with suit jackets and sheer tops, representing queer culture at its finest. And other brands, such as Louis Vuitton Men’s introduced the skirt outside of its pre-conceived notion of belonging, obliterating its biased and norm-bound exclusivity. But if we’re talking about designers revolutionizing the men’s skirt, Chopova Lowena massively deserves a shout. The English-Bulgarian label merges Eastern-European traditional-wear with a punk edge, creating mismatched skirts which have been worn by the likes of Harry Styles.
In fact, the increase of male celebrities spotted with any bottoms not classified as trousers has boomed in the past few years. From Jared Leto to Kid Cudi, they have all sported the skirt, whether it be on the red carpet or on their Instagram feeds. Famously, Kanye wore a Tisci-skirt during his Watch The Throne tour with Jay Z. Faced with heavy criticism, Ye clapped back, “There are warriors that have killed people in kilts in the past. Who gets to decide what’s hard and what’s not hard?”. He has a point.
With the uprise of the menswear skirt also comes a new way of styling it. Funnily enough, it seems like streetwear has adopted it with open arms, perhaps electing it as the next staple. With icons such as A$AP Rocky sporting the look with punk-inspired buckled knee-high boots and a striped shirt rolled over his head on the cover of GQ, the styling possibilities are endless. With jeans or trousers underneath, or not, paired with sneakers or boots, finished with a long sleeve or tank top, there is no shortage of ways to embrace the skirt. Even TikTok star Noen Eubanks got ahold of the trend, which catapulted the #FemboyFriday trend which saw countless guys unapologetically rocking the skirt.
But let’s be real. Prejudice still runs deep and the conservatives love to stick their noses where they don’t belong. But who cares, right? Fashion has always been about freedom of expression, and seeing all our favourite male celebrities in skirts has inspired us. As it should for you too. So, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite menswear skirts to get you out of your gender-norm-ruled comfort zone.
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See also: YES, SADLY PEOPLE ARE STILL PRESSED ABOUT MEN WEARING ‘FEMININE’ JEWELLERY
See also: THE RISE OF GENDER NEUTRAL CLOTHING
