In a world where social perceptions severely limit what we constitutes men’s fashion, Danny shows us one man who has become a saboteur.
I’m all for folks that want to build their own masculinity/manhood as they see fit. And I am especially for it when one is building their masculinity/manhoood in ways that go against what is generally “accepted” as being masculine/manly. Which is why I’m really liking His Black Dress*.
Enter Michael Spookshow. Michael describes himself as a “spooky boy in a skirt that loves alt fashion”. Last year Mr. Spookshow started his blog for the purpose of promoting men’s freestyle fashion. What is freestyle fashion you ask? Let us see what Michael had to say on that in his introduction post from last August:
The purpose of this blog is to promote men’s freestyle fashion. This means men wearing skirts, dresses, heels, & other items currently viewed as acceptable everyday fashions for women only. This is not about crossdressing, any more than the modern woman crossdresses when she wears jeans & a t-shirt. It’s about style without arbitrary boundaries based on gender alone, and about men having freedom of expression in fashion.
Considering how men are limited in terms of what we are allowed to wear and still be acceptable I like this idea of freestyle fashion. At a quick glance most people would probably just presume that Mr. Spookshow was taking a walk on the “other side” by wearing clothes that have been traditionally been women’s only territory. But if you look closer I think you’ll see that he is trying to say that when it comes to fashion and gender there should be no “sides” in the first place.
*I want to take a moment and tip my afro to Clarissa for pointing me in the direction of this interesting site.
This post originally appeared at Danny’s Corner
Photo courtesy of Ollie Crafoord
About Danny
LOVE THIS!
When I was a kid I remember wondering why I could wear trousers but a boy couldn’t wear a skirt. It’s really never made much sense to me.
trousers – hehe, youre becoming a Brit Heather
Has your accent started to change also?
In antiquity, crossing many cultures and continents, men didn’t wear pants as these didn’t exist yet — they wore robe-like garments; long and loose-fitting with sleeves. And army men, samurais and gladiators wore armored skirts. Men wore their hair long, tied in braids and in buns. Were they less of man because of these outer appearances? I don’t think so.
Men wore their hair long, tied in braids and in buns. Were they less of man because of these outer appearances? I don’t think so.
Bloody Hell, I actually agree with one of your posts.
5 star posting, Michelle
If we’re honest, skirts are much better than pants for men because they keep the boys cool. It just makes sense!
Funnily enough i came across his site a few days ago. i like some of his stuff. and he is well built so he can wear lots of styles that i can not. Im very thin urrgh, and i have a cocktail glass silhouette
Im in Cardiff, Uk which like other port cities – prides itself on its hardman, tough guy image. And the men are ‘a bit tasty’( tough). They like a fight. Until the last yr or so, fights would regularly break out in the night clubs zones of the city centre.
To nightclubs, around the city centre, shopping, generally etc Ive worn headbands, knee length skirts and skintight jeans, red/blue footless tights and kneelength shorts, fishnet tights and kneelength shorts, skintight women’s jeans, woman’s harem-pants type trousers, women’s tops. When i first started wearing tights and shorts, i wore steel toecapped boots as a subconscious deterrence to predators. However within one week i judged the environment safe enough to walk in normal boots.
It is rare to see hostility in people, around 1% in my experience. The most usual reaction after indifference, in men’s eyes (young or old) is curiosity – either shocked curiousity or intrigued curiosity. Most people dont usually continue staring when i gaze at them, even men twice my size usually divert their eyes – which is an odd experience, as in men’s clothing i have to ‘move out of the way’ of bigger men. Even though the risk of being murdered i currently judge to be moderately elevated. My subconscious acts as if each day i wear these clothes could be my last – and i enter a euphoric giddy state, which causes me to walk to, strut like a king. Sometimes with a manic stupid slight grin on my face – the march of the martyr. The rush is amazing.
Men, you have to make serene, calm eyecontact. A month ago I was enjoying my reflection in a shopwindow on the way to a club. I startled when i saw a young pipsqueak looking. The clown immediately took that as weakness, and started to false laugh and point – his four friends remained silent (they were young men, not a bully like their friend). He at first started walking towards me, then taking note of my eyes… decided to change his mind, lol.
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In the almost three years ive been wearing clearly ‘women’s clothing’ in public ive never been physically attacked, yet. Judging from a trans woman’s account(she had been physically attacked once a year. Crossdressers and Trans Women share the forum im on) it will happen. If it is a frontal assault – im determined to take at least one of the bullies with me. Ive read on forum’s of non-’enfemme’ men wearing women’s clothing in the usa and uk having little trouble. 5yrs ago, i remember a guy on a high-heels-for-men site saying he wore his high heels and only got double takes in his small city in the Usa somewhere – who knows if he was being honest.
A feminine man ive spoken with, who has been going out ‘en-femme’ (looking as much as possible as a woman, makeup etc) in London since august11 has not been physically attacked either. He reported that more women than men expressed disapproval, ive had the same. Women laugh brazenly in my face, apart from that one clown above, men dont. On the rare occasion men are laughing they will stifle their laughter if i look at them, even if they are much bigger than me.
Femme guy also reported that men try to humorously flirt with him – i have had the same, when in tight women’s jeans or tights-and-kneelength shorts. ive been wolfwhistled in good humour or had knowing looks. To which i serenely smile back.
One other thing to note was that the femme guy when en-femme, said he had to act submissively, or he faced hostility( i should have asked from whom).
Finally, In the crossdresser ‘hierarchy’ *snorts*, i am at the bottom as i wear women’s clothing without looking liking a woman.T-girls who go enfemme are at the top. With increasing ‘status’ depending on how often you go out in public ‘dressed’. Like i care about the hierarchy.
Im glad this guy’s site is getting more eyeballs.
For noncrossdressing men who want to wear an ‘acceptable’ skirt this summer, there is the kilt(utilkilt or scots). I dont believe those clothes will raise eyebrows.
OMG you’re in Cardiff! I’m sure there was more to your post then that….but that’s what caught my eye.
And naw, my accent is the same. I don’t think I could really adopt a geordie accent accent anyway. 
I’ve just started to use some of the phrases, and especially when using the American version changes the meaning…so thus trousers. I also say zed instead of zee now…too many people asked me what I meant by “zee.” I can’t tell if they were being obtuse, or if they actually didn’t know what I meant.
Anyway…I think the UK is getting better with regards to accepting unconventionally dressed men on the street…in most places I’ve been to anyway. It’s interesting what you say about women generally being more disdainful, or at least laughing openly more. Maybe it’s because they assume since you’re dressed in women’s clothing you aren’t a threat to them – so they think they could laugh at you without having to worry you might hurt them. I dunno.
That Ive encountered more women than men expressing ridicule or disapproving looks( like a bad smell is under their nose) was a complete surprise to me. I was only expecting the hostility to come mostly from men. I want to add that a smaller and equal number of men AND women have also smiled broadly in approval.
I had worn headbands to nightclubs that seemed to cause mirth equally from young men and young women. Then I wore women’s stretch jeans, blk leg warmers and chelsea boots out one day. I passed two men as they stood outside a pub, one guy his eyes were full of hatred, and he was so primmed to attack. I nodded to both, the 2nd guy’s nod took 1 very long second. Thats what I was expecting, lots of hostile looks and worse from men. But that thankfully hasnt happened.
When I wore kneelength shorts that tapered to the knee and tights ( in the manner of breeches and hose) last summer, that seemed to have a few women keeling over in laughter. the skirts and jeans dont cause as much laughter. Again I also want to add that a smaller and equal number of men AND women have also smiled broadly in approval.
I dont want to give the wrong impression on frequency of open ridicule.
Thinking hard, I think get laughed at a maybe five times every month or two months. It is certainly not an every day occurance for me. Disapproving looks probably double that. Im not really keeping count, and depends on the clothing.
My usual daywear is a skintight jeans and thigh-split skirt (I now feel naked without the skirt. Ive split the skirt so I have mobility incase of attack). i do have leggings but i still havent made the codpieces for them, or the long shorts whose front seams ive opened.
The most usual reaction, id say about 20/30% of people daily, is the curiosity i mentioned
Im very thin, 6ft and i think 140lb. In men’s clothing Im used to deferring/’moving out of the way’ of ‘bigger’ men. i spoke loosely, by using the term bigger men. I meant men who I look at, and think that they could clearly rip my head off – they could be short men, men as thin as me etc – they just have that aura. So it is still a weird experience to see these men avert their eyes, or sometimes show submission in their eyes to me. It is like they are looking at a heavyweight boxing champion.
@ Jameseq: “In the crossdresser ‘hierarchy’ *snorts*, i am at the bottom as i wear women’s clothing without looking liking a woman.”
Me too. But I keep finding there are more of us than ever I thought
hey man, best wishes for yr new reddit forum
cheers
— though it’s not in truth mine; it was set up by a guy under the name Winterlong.
http://www.reddit.com/r/MaleFemme/
…is the link for anyone interested.