Heterosexuals Are Increasingly Wearing Skirts and Using Makeup Because it Makes Them Feel Charming and Superpowerful
It seems that the monopoly on skirts, makeup and high heels has always been held by women. However, in the context of history, clothing has only recently begun to correlate with gender. And when modern guys wear dresses, they’re not reinventing the wheel, but rather returning to the norm that was accepted millennia ago. We’ll tell you the story of the skirt in men’s wardrobe, and explain why fashionable men today are wearing this “feminine” item of clothing, as well as increasingly wearing makeup and heels.
Men have been wearing skirts since ancient times
Skirts and dresses have been a staple in the wardrobe of men and women alike since time immemorial. In Ancient Egypt, “schenti” were popular. This garment was a wrap around skirt with a belted waist. In Antiquity, the Greeks wore chitons and the Romans wore togas.
Scholars suggest that the appearance of trousers may have been triggered by two factors. The first was the cold. The second was horse riding. For instance, the oldest trousers in the world were riding breeches. They’re over 3,000 years old. But don’t let this confuse you. Our ancestors stayed faithful to skirts and dresses in their daily life for a very long time.
Stockings and breeches pushed skirts out of men’s wardrobes
Until the 14th and 15th centuries, clothing continued to exist without any regard to gender. But with the development of tailoring, men’s tunics became ever shorter and stockings became particularly popular with the male sex.
By the 19th century, gentlemen increasingly appeared in public in short breeches, delighting the ladies with the sight of their legs. But skirts and dresses still hadn’t disappeared off the radar. Scholars, monks, and young boys continued wearing them. However, at this point, even male children got their first pair of trousers at the age of 4-7. This gift marked their transition from infancy to adulthood.
In the 20th century, a dress was a woman’s item of clothing
The 20th century only solidified gender differences in clothing and made the skirt an exclusively feminine piece of clothing in the West. While only extravagant artists, such as David Bowie and Kurt Cobain, could appear in public in Europe and the States wearing a skirt, men in other cultures continued to wear “feminine” outfits on a daily basis. In India, Japan and South-East Asia, for example, robes and skirts remained acceptable clothing for males.
Today we’re witnessing the male-skirted moment
In the 21st century, the skirt is becoming increasingly gender-neutral. And because of the growing popularity of this piece of clothing among guys, some say we are having a “male-skirted moment.” At the beginning of the century, wearing a skirt in public was more of a social statement; today, more and more men, regardless of gender identity and sexual orientation, are wearing dresses in their daily life.
Clothes, makeup, and manicures are ways of expressing oneself. Menswear designers now include skirts and dresses in their collections. Individual brands specializing in cosmetics for men are appearing on the market. And we’ve already featured articles about regular guys who are experimenting with makeup. Melbourne-based makeup artist Merton Muaremi sees this trend as a positive change: “Nobody needs to wear make-up to look beautiful but it’s a form of self expression.”
Mark Bryan is shattering all stereotypes in regards to dresses
Among bloggers, there’s been a surge of stylists and makeup artists who devote their pages exclusively to men’s fashion. And in 2021, photos of Mark Bryan went viral online. He became famous overnight for his love of heels and skirts. The Texas-born man, who moved to Germany in 2010, caught the world’s attention by dressing in traditionally “feminine” attire.
Shoes with heels and short dresses suit Mark. But the fact that a cisgender heterosexual engineer of 60+ years of age can so seamlessly incorporate “feminine” wardrobe items into his looks caused a storm of discussion. Today Bryan is a true fashion icon, and has contracts with top fashion brands. And his infectious example has set the designers’ imaginations free.
Just take a look at these photos from the last Paris Men’s Fashion Week
Heterosexuals find a special superpower in experimenting with style
Brad Pitt, Harry Styles, Kid Cudi — more and more heterosexual men are wearing makeup, painting their nails and dressing up in dresses. In November 2022, Olympic boxer Harry Garside appeared in an Armani skirt at the GQ Man of the Year Awards. The athlete found a superpower in this expression of himself: “We should be supporting individuality, uniqueness and the herd supporting that, rather than the herd supporting people who feel they need to conform and be like everyone else.”
Let’s take a look back together at some of the most striking appearances by male stars in dresses and skirts. Here’s Brad Pitt at Bullet Train red carpet
Harry Styles performs onstage at «Harryween»
Oscar Isaac poses on arrival to attend the Special Screening of Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight
Harry Garside attends The Iconic: Runway X show
Vin Diesel at MTV Europe Awards
Robert Pattinson attends Paris Fashion Week
Jaden Smith arrives at Justin Bieber’s Believe world premiere
Marc Jacobs attends Louis Vuitton — Marc Jacobs: The Exhibition
Kid Cudi attends the CFDA Fashion Awards
Riz Ahmed at the Los Angeles premiere of Amazon’s Encounter
Lucien Laviscount at the Louis Vuitton menswear fashion show
These style experiments by creative fashion pioneers are proving that freedom of expression makes our world more colorful and diverse. And if yesterday a skirt on a man was something outlandish, tomorrow it may become the norm, as it already was some centuries ago.
Did you enjoy this article? Then you might be interested in the story of James and Maren. This couple proves that love has no gender.