SnappyDragon: History is full of men in skirts and dresses

“Menswear worldwide and all through men’s fashion history was full of men in skirts, from medieval tunics to kilts, dhoti, kimono, and more. Men’s skirts today are gender nonconforming clothing, but fashion history is full of skirts and dresses that were definitely mens fashion! It’s often said that the ancient Romans considered trousers barbaric, and Roman fashion was full of dress-like tunics for men. Why don’t we call them dresses? Gender stereotypes in fashion. In medieval men’s fashion, it was more common to wear a tunic over long hose rather than trousers or pants, and long skirts symbolized status and wealth. Traditional attire from all over the world includes skirts for men, from the well-known Scottish kilt to the Albanian and Greek fustanella, the Yemeni izaar, the Arabic thawb, a huge number of sarong and wrap skirt styles, and even Japanese kimono. These are only some of the traditional skirts in mens style through the ages, and throughout fashion history, skirts and dresses have been gender neutral clothing as often as not. So why did men stop wearing skirts? It’s complicated. Fashion evolution is affected by colonization and globalization, as well styles changing gender expression over time. In the early Renaissance, fashionable tunics became too short to wear with hose instead of pants, so pants made a comeback in historical men’s clothing in Europe. It’s fascinating to dissect the cultural, social, and practical reasons behind the gendering of garments, especially as mens skirts come back into fashion today! The relationship between clothing and gender is far from static—it’s squishy, malleable, and ripe for re-evaluation. Whether you’re a history buff, a fashion enthusiast, or simply curious about the fluidity of gender norms through the ages, this video is your ticket to understanding how skirts for men went from mainstream to marginalized, and are now making a thrilling comeback. If you want to wear a skirt, wear a skirt! And you can do it knowing that no matter your gender, fashion history has your back.”