Hornberger's Blog - Don't Invade Portugal

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New Fashions for Men

I thought I'd run down one of the strands that was happening at the time - that fashion designers and hipsters were very much pushing the door open to get men into skirts; and kept the pressure on for years before the higth street had the confidence to follow suit. They were partly worried about sales of course, but much more worried about left looking silly and leaving themselves open to ridicule. The single most important property of a large business was their public image which they spent the largest portion of income on.

this sort of macho skirt had
been around for years;
few men bothered

this was a bit more intriguing and similar items became available
 in summer 2012

or kilts for everyday wear

It was really with this style (below) that it became acceptable to walk the streets in clothes that would have been called "women's clothes" just a couple of years before. The skirt came as a single item so even though it was marketed as a whole outfit, I teamed my whatever I liked! It was rather overpriced though so I actually bought myself a very similar item on ebay and wore that - no-one noticed. No-one saw the Long Tall Sally label on the inside apart form me!

example of a man's skirt; not a million miles
from what a woman might have worn
a few years before

This skirt (below) was again very similar to skirts already in my collection. It was clearly designed to save men from the embarrasment of having to wear a woman's skirt. I had no such issue - and again - no-one noticed!

A very girly item that became rather popular
through the summer

A taffeta skirt for men appeared in late 2013 - now I wasn't going to miss out on that action. Perfect for nipping down the local for a few pints with the wife! A little cumbersome when trying to do anything, but it made me feel very special. and the wife could not stop touching me when i was in it. They never did one in pink, unfortunately...

a daring design from 2013

When men started putting together their own outfits without being led the fashion indiustry panicked and suddenly flung out a feminised range - an example of which we can see below:

men started wearing adapted female garments
which led to much more femme styles

typical of the sort of thing available to men by the
middle of the decade

Burton's range of dresses appeared in 2015 - here's a man
who needs to look smart - job interview? - dinner date? Where's your handbag fella?

this extremely feminine style was all the fashion in 2019,
marketed at working men

Fashions for teenage men by 2020 - only deviants wore trousers.
this was very popular among girls

A typical office boy in 2020

crossdressing in 2007

Whenever I dressed prior to 2011 my wife was never very happy with it. I think she accepted it was part of me, and we had worked out a way of dealing with it by letting my wife dominate and control my dressing sessions. she'd tell me what to wear and what I should do while dressed. I also learnt a little deportment and improved my look no end.

In 2011 she stopped being quite so concerned about me changing after sessions. Once there were men on the streets also in skirts, she allowed me to dress up pretty much as I wanted though she stopped me from "female impersonations" right away.

She even donated some items - including a couple of dresses and the skirt you can see in this photograph (right) which had a long split up the back. Still it becaem my favourite item of clothing for a short time.

early days - still uneasy in a skirt

My early loooks weren't great though. it took a while to find my look. And work on my figure - like all working class men had I had assumed it was my birthright to let myself go in middle age!

I'd worn make up a little as a crossdresser (above, left) but it wasn't great, and besides the idea wasn't now to look like a woman but to find my look as a man.

Also - keeping the skirt on all day and living your life in it - doing all your jobs, sitting in it for hours on end, walking outside in chill factor winds, etc. all took some getting used to.

One of my first times out in a skirt was the slut walk in 2011. My wife helped me choose the outfit and allowed me to turn up the make-up a little, with well worn tights and a yellow mac, high heels, I walked nervously out to central London via the tube. No one really paid me much attention. I saw the odd guy in the new man-skirts around, but no-one actually in women's clothes until I arrived at the demo.

Later, as one of the first few men to turn up to work in a dress i got sneered at a bit, and called names at the depots etc. For a bit - mostly not quite out of ear-shot. Management intervention sorted them out and of course it was only a few years before we were wearing skirts. Though i didn't know that at the time.

But the female reaction i got was fantastic. Women could be very attentive, sometimes having a feel of my long (conditioned) hair, checking my make-up - most women weren't masculinised yet though skirts were pretty much gone for women in public, they did still lean a bit on make-up (indeed still do), and some tended toward the feminine in their dress. This was slow to go as wardrobes depleted and peer pressure kicked in. Feminine women got called manly-girls - or boy-women.

later: more comfortable

What happened was slowly over next couple of years as men saw the positive female reaction, they started to adopt some feminity in their look. A soft blouse, shorty shorts and tights, or even a skirt or dress. As managers turned up to meetings in smart skirt suits and shift dresses it was commented on, entirely positively and the accusing eyes were turned to those who had not yet moved forward.

I was several steps ahead of most and did feel a little smug i must admit. As well as enjoying wearing dresses in the open for the first time in my life, i was a leader in fashion, and a role model!

Women were now dumping their feminine clothes. And this is how male feminisation was really driven forward.
At that point make fashions were still fairly staid - apart from business outfits and a few leisure items it was bland - with little colour. what moved it forward was ebay and the second hand market generally. women were either handing their wardrobes straight over to their husbands or ebaying it to someone else who wanted it for their husband. Yes, women led this one. Few men knew how to buy feminine clothes or what they should look good in. so women led them.
As men consitently wore more girly clothes that those avaialble in the shops, the retailiers began demanding more antique, feminie attire. And yes - flowrrs and frills began to appear in the men's departments.
Eventually the ebay supply of used clothing ran dry, but by then men were thoroughly feminised and would no more dream of going back to torusers than my father would have of putting on a dress.

an early dress for men

How it Happened

The changes were almost impercepitle after the men’s dresses were successful commercially  - but changes they were. After the slut walks in 2012 and 2013 where a large number of men and boys turned up in short dresses and skirts and called themselves "sluts". The men were welcomed and received plenty of encouragement from the women – were often called brave, or committed.

The transgendered movement and the feminists were becoming increasingly militant, and in some places, joining forces. After 2011 the 'lipstick' feminist movement had reached its zenith, as activists realised how much the recent trend towards feminisation was driven by corporations and capitalism, exploiting women's spending power and disposible income. Women were tending to go back to the 70s template of boots and more masculine styles, partly in a bid to be taken more seriously by men.

But TG men quickly moved in to take up the mantle of 'lipstick' radicalism, if not feminism. They made themselves far more visible in public, demanding equal rights as transgendered human beings. The whole – "oh you want to wear dresses, let us surgically mutiliate you so you can pass as a female then?" Attitude was being challenged too. Be a man, wear a dress. The feminists didn’t seem to worry about this; indeed there was a radical faction within that picked up the idea of feminist males and saw an opportunity.. to feminise men and possibly to subjugate them.

my slut walk outfit

It was agreed that the skirt could become a symbol of the subjugated. They made a point by deploying men
in skirts at various locations over the months as part of an overall plan of action that targeted outdated institutions, government, capitalist organisations such as the fashion industry, the Sun, men’s mags, etc.

Men paraded provocatively in skimpy dresses and little skirts while the women chanted and lobbied the organisation in question – once talks were not forthcoming, chaining oneself to the railings and occupying the lobby / offices, became the next step.

By end of 2013 – there were as many men on the streets in skirts as there were women – ie, not that many, but enough to be noticed. Some of those men were now feminising themselves too! and all it took was a few, it became enough of an influence to drive a massive change amongst all men.