From Brad Pitt to Lil Nas X, more men are embracing skirts

When Brad Pitt arrived at the premiere of the new movie “Bullet Train” last month, her laid-back linen outfit made headlines everywhere — or part of it, at least. The actor, who is known for hypermasculine roles in films like “Fight Club” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” completed his pink and brown ensemble with an eye-catching twist: a skirt.

“I don’t know!” Pitt later told Variety about the inspiration behind his costume choice. “We’re all going to die, so let’s mess it up.”

Pitt joined a growing list of stars recently photographed wearing gender-neutral skirts, from Oscar Isaac’s below-the-knee pleated number at the “Moon Knight” premiere to Lil Nas X . Actor Billy Porter, “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy, basketball player Russell Westbrook and rapper A$AP Rocky also adopted the trend.

Outside of Hollywood, the phenomenon has been gaining steam for years, according to Carl R. Friend, the administrator (and self-styled “Master Barista”) of The Skirt Café, an online forum devoted to men’s skirts. While he believes “undue” attention is being paid to celebrities who wear skirts, he was grateful for the increased visibility.

“It is what it is,” Friend, whose interest in skirts dates back to the 1980s, said via email. “And if that generates an acceptance of skirts on guys, then I suppose it’s for the better.”

Fustanellas, kilts and more

Although skirts are now commonly associated with women’s fashion, men have worn them at various points in history. pleated fustanella , for example, can be seen on ancient Greek and Roman statues, while more contemporary versions have been used in Balkan countries such as Albania, which considers them a national costume. You tartan kilts they have remained a national pride for Scotland since they were launched in the 16th century, although today they are often reserved for special occasions.

In many parts of the world, however, men’s skirt-style clothing is part of the everyday wardrobe. O sarong , a rolled skirt with typically bright patterns, is worn by men in cultures across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific Islands. Variations on the sarong, such as the “sulu”, an engaging style worn in casual and formal settings in Fiji, and the “lungi”, which is worn in South and Southeast Asia, remain popular styles for men of all ages.

the football star David Beckham was widely photographed wearing a patterned sarong in 1998 (he was teased in the media at the time, though he later said in an interview, “That’s one thing I never regret because I thought it looked great and I would still wear it now.” ) But across much of the Western world, tastes moved away from baggy menswear in the 18th century, Friend said.

“We still work under the dictates that came from the Industrial Revolution – baggy clothes and high-speed machines don’t go together very well,” he said, while pointing to the impact of the French Revolution, which saw the country’s taste for lightweight fabrics and extravagant outfits to be avoided in favor of nationalistic colors and practical, tight-fitting clothing.

“The French Revolution… had a dramatic ‘dumbing down’ of menswear compared to, say, the Renaissance,” Friend added.

a new wave

In recent years, evolving conversations about gender and identity have instigated a collective reckoning about what it means to dress like a man. Gen Z and younger millennial stars like Harry Styles and Lil Nas X regularly bring elements of femininity to their wardrobes — and retailers are paying attention.

Online stores like ASOS, Mr Porter, Cettire and SSENSE are among those now stocking men’s skirts, many of which would be indistinguishable from women’s fashion designs were it not for men’s models.

Meanwhile, on TikTok, the hashtag #boysinskirts has been viewed over 240 million times, with male users sharing their clothing and style advice.

On your Instagram account @theguyinaskirtstyle blogger Shivam Bhardwaj shares cheerful videos and photos of himself wearing skirts – in all colors and styles – with his audience of over 22,000 people.

He said that while much of the media attention surrounding the trend has focused on straight male stars, members of the LGBTQ community have long worn skirts — and have even been ostracized as a result. In 2020, US talk show host Wendy Williams apologized after begging gay men to “stop wearing our skirts and heels” on her show, while this year, a gay man in a skirt was reportedly attacked in the UK after to attend a concert by singer Yungblud – an artist known for his fluid genre style.

“People don’t celebrate men in skirts as much as they celebrate straight creators or celebrities,” Bhardwaj said via email. “It makes me a little sad that people have not recognized that men in the (LGBT) community have been wearing skirts for many decades, and we have played a important role in breaking this stereotype “.

The fashion world has also helped normalize men’s skirts, with designers like Dries Van Noten and Raf Simons sending men to the catwalks with the pieces in recent years. One kilt Thom Browne’s pleated gray (the aforementioned design worn by Oscar Isaac, Dan Levy and “The Hobbit” star Lee Pace, among others) has become something of a celebrity favorite, with the American stylist turning it upside down. traditional men’s tailoring through its unexpected silhouette.

“Skirts or any item of clothing does not describe your gender,” said Bhardwaj. “Clothes are made to express your feelings to the people of the world.”

gradual acceptance

Friend, who is married to a woman, also hopes to debunk the idea that skirts are linked to specific gender identities or sexual orientations, saying that “a lot of people make incorrect assumptions about it.”

Skirt Cafe users form “a community that is not willing to give up or renounce our masculinity” for simply wearing skirts, he added.

Online forum members tend to go for more basic skirts, Friend explained, with jeans and shorter styles among the most popular. Users also share style advice and their favorite news, while the site also hosts a list of men’s skirt brands.

Recent recommendations have included custom fleece-lined winter skirts by The Mouse Works brand of Virginia and a kilt by Scottish workwear brand Blaklader: a sturdy black cotton design with all sorts of pockets for hammers, screwdrivers and other tools.

However, gender stigma makes wearing skirts in public a frightening prospect for many men, and those who do remain in the minority.

Friend’s fascination with clothing began in the mid-1980s, when he saw a man on a train wearing a long white skirt. For a long time, he was hesitant to incorporate skirts into his everyday wardrobe due to his work in a “customer-facing high-visibility role”. He finally took the plunge in 2002, when he made his own miniskirt out of some scraps of fabric from his wife.

“The first time I had the courage to go out, I was hooked on the idea because it was the first time I felt a breeze in my legs in decades,” he recalled. “I commented to (my wife): ‘I’ve been lied to all these years.’ She grew up to not just accept him, but embrace him, because I suddenly started to care about how I look.”

Bhardwaj said wearing skirts has become more socially accepted, adding that the response to her account has been “very overwhelming” and has resulted in “a lot of love from all over the world”. The fashion blogger, who now owns more than 100 skirts, comes from what he describes as a “lower middle class” Indian family who often questioned their style choices. His interest in skirts arose when he bought one for a friend and decided to try it on before posting a video of it on social media.

“This skirt literally changed my life and helped me express myself in the best way possible,” he said. And while Bhardwaj said Indian society has a “very long way to go” when it comes to accepting men in Western-style skirts, he was praised on the street where he lives in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. He is happy to wear his clothes on a daily basis, not just on social media.

“I literally thought no one would ever accept me in my skirts, but people proved me wrong and accepted me with open arms,” he said.