Ever since i put on a pair of my mom's heels at 11 and loved them, i've always wanted to know what my deal was, mainly because i thought it would help me figure out how to express myself in a way that i felt was true to myself, whatever the hell that means.
It looks like it would take forty years for not just me to settle down as a person but also for society to change with a whole bunch of young people changing attitudes and language enough for things to fall into place. In the meantime, i took some baby steps by starting in 2008 to wear kilts, a heteronormative-approved skirt for men. I started buying nicer clothes in general as a result of, for the first time, caring about how i dressed and looked on a daily basis.
Two years and a half ago, i bought my first non-kilt skirt from eShakti, which a coworker had recommended primarily for the ability to customize the garment's measurements, as she has an unusually shaped body. As i do, too, given my typically male proportions, and the fact that most of their skirts have pockets (which i had no interest in going without), that sealed the deal. But i still didn't know where to wear it (although i did take it out to go see Florence + the Machine for my granddaughter's birthday with her stepmom [my stepdaughter], which was a perfect occasion as i saw other guys there wearing clothes with femenine festoons), so it mostly languished in my closet.
Last year, after i started at Zoox, i decided to rip off the bandaid on Halloween (how cliché) and wore the navy skirt with these, which i'd bought in Portland on a bit of a lark in 2019 and were also looking for an opportunity to shine in public. After that, i ended up buying a couple more skirts, and also some mid-heeled boots, and it's really feeling like it's all coming together.
Following are the skirts, in order of purchase, plus my favorite pairs of knee-high boots.
So how am i labeling myself? I'm a cis hetero dude with femme fashion tendencies; that's good enough.
In closing, here's Neko Case.
Studies have shown that the average force required to fracture a collarbone ranges from 1,000 to 1,500 Newtons. That's a lot of weird chewy cookies.
Having taken so long to respond to this post, I'm really hoping you're feeling significantly better by now.
Please stop trying to kill yourself. I'm not the only person who is fond of you, you know.
The pain is easily manageable these days with 600 mg Motrin in the morning and before bed.