Hello.
Girls do not worry about clothes (dress, skirt) for boys ... (especially in summer in nature, in the country)
I will tell you how I solved the problem of raising my son. Well, at the same time I solved the problem with this home clothes for boys. When my son was 11 years old, he was, like all his peers, rather playful, disobedient and wayward. Once I discussed with a friend (our children are almost the same age) what to do with him in the summer in the country, naughty and next to the railway, highway, village pond. My husband and I need to work, and my grandmother won't keep track of the children. She and so, and cook food and laundry. Yes, and the garden, at least some, but you also need to take care of it, the daughter helps, but girls can’t carry heavy things, and there’s no watering can, but you still drag it. Here is a friend and says: - I will come to visit you on Saturday at the dacha, with my sons. You will see how I decided all this, and maybe you will do the same. Don't cook anything special, I'll bring anything to the table.
And on Saturday they come. My girlfriend comes to our site with her husband and TWO GIRLS (and she has sons, after all). She says - CHILDREN GET TO KNOW - This is Natalya Petrovna, you must obey her and named the children. - This is my senior SASHA, well, the younger SEREZHA. I was very surprised, the boys were in white SHORT DRESSES, and they were 13 and 11 years old. We went into the house. There my friend told them to undress (so as not to get dirty) and go outside to play with Marina and Kostya. Two GIRLS - Sasha and Seryozha took off their dresses, and…………………. turned into NAKED BOYS. Konstantin looked at them with his mouth open in surprise. Each of them had only socks and sports shoes, NO PANTS UNDER THE DRESS. The older boy's hair was missing there. Well, here it is. You saw my tomboys, the friend said. Since I undressed them (on the advice of a friend of mine), they have become more obedient than ever. They are ready to do everything I say, without any objections and reminders, if only they would be given at least a topic, not to mention a dress. As long as you don't go completely naked. I said that they say that she has such obedient ones, but mine will not go for it. A friend suggested. Now there is a reason to undress Konstantin forever. I must tell Kostya that since the guests Sasha and Seryozha are naked, then he (as the host) should also be undressed. I called Kostya and ordered him to undress, of course he balked, but I insisted. He should not be shy about boys, and Marina is his older sister. Kostya reluctantly took off his T-shirt and panties and all the children went outside to walk in the area.
We discussed how and what to do next. How to make Kostya himself agree to go completely naked, or at least in a tank top, if he doesn’t want to wear a dress. A friend suggested that, let’s say, let’s take all his clothes away, and Konstantin, seeing us off, will either have to walk naked to the parking lot where our car is, or ask my sister for her dress. Well, it will immediately be seen how he behaves and what he agrees to. Well, for the future, offer him to either walk around naked always, everywhere and with everyone, or go to the city (dressed only in his sister's dress and without panties) and there in the store buy such dresses as he likes. Simple to go to the station, to the store or to the city and smarter but strict for visiting. On that they decided. I collected EVERYTHING, even the oldest things of Konstantin in a bag and gave them to a friend, and her husband took him to the parking lot in their car. The children played enough and came to eat. We offered them all to go to the pond, and at the same time fry a barbecue there. Swim… spend time in nature. Kostya rushed to look for shorts and a T-shirt, but I said that now he will ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE (EXCEPT SCHOOL) only in the clothes that I will give him if he deserves it. As he did not whine, but I stood my ground, my husband supported me. And I suggested that Kostya take her sister's old dress (it was already not enough for her) and go in it if she doesn't want to be naked. Marina suggested that he put on his old top or dress, they are already small for her. Kostya decided to go like Sasha and Seryozha, so that they would go the same way. We all went through the woods to the pond. Sasha and Seryozha ran as if nothing had happened, Marina's guys were not shy, they got used to it. After some time, Kostya also forgot, and also ran with them playing tag. So the day passed. We began to say goodbye, and I suggested to Kostya to see off new friends. He thought ... thought and asked his sister for a dress, otherwise the mosquitoes would bite, well, Sasha and Seryozha were already dressed in their dresses. On the morning of the weekend, the whole family decided to go to the city (one stop by train). Kostya, without looking for his old clothes, asked Marina for her dress. We went to the city and there, in a children's clothing store, we went straight to the department for girls. Marina began to sort through what was there and chose for Kostya a short (mini) beige tunic and a white translucent dress. When we began to try on these purchases, the saleswomen were surprised at first. Not only was the boy trying on dresses, but he was also big. But after some time, on the contrary, they began to help, they found a strict black dress, beautiful, not flared, without any frills and decorations. We bought the tunic and white dress chosen by Marina, and this elegant black dress that Kostya liked. Since it was hot, Kostya immediately put on a white dress in the fitting room, it really suited him, although it was quite short (mini). Before us appeared a beautiful long-legged girl in a very short, body-hugging translucent dress. We asked the sellers not to change clothes, but to go straight to the cashier in this new white dress that he liked. We were allowed Since then, my son walks around the site and at home only a short tunic. And in order to be allowed to go to visit in a dress, and not in a tunic, he even obeys his sister, does not argue and does everything he is told quickly and well. Well, study also became, if not excellent, then good. And behavior at school is excellent. Neither he nor Marina invites anyone into the house (Kostya is in a dress). Only those of their friends (with the permission of their parents) who followed our example can visit each other. In Kostin and Marinin's classes, I shared this achievement with the mothers of crazy children and even showed clips and SELFI. Some parents understood me and applied this experience of mine.
Sincerely, NATALIE. (please write a comment. It will be useful for my son and others).

If women have long won the right to wear trousers, once considered traditionally male clothing, on an equal footing with men, then why shouldn't the latter try on skirts? Men's skirt- the phenomenon, in principle, is by no means new: it is worth recalling at least the well-known Scottish kilts. In Southeast Asia, men still wear a sarong, in India - a dhoti, paying tribute to the undoubted advantages of a skirt: unlike trousers, a skirt is much more comfortable, does not restrict movement and is made very simply from one piece of fabric.

But in Europe and the USA, men's skirts have not taken root until recently, although back in the eighties some designers tried to accustom men to such an unusual piece of clothing. However, all these attempts were unsuccessful: with the exception of a few male celebrities, for example, Mel Gibson in Braveheart and Russell Crowe in Gladiator, and men who emphasized their ethnicity with kilts, most of the men did not dare to wear a skirt.

Comme des Garcons | Jean Paul Gaultier | Number (N)ine

The first men's skirts appeared in the collections of fashion designers a few seasons ago. So, back in 2006, several models demonstrated Jean Paul Gaultier, and as part of the Fashion Week of the spring-summer 2009 season, several brands demonstrated men's skirts at once - Etro, Comme des Garcons, John Galliano.

Etro | Comme des Garcons | John Galliano

At the beginning of this year, the trend finally became almost official: the fact that men can wear skirts without looking ridiculous at the same time was openly declared by the most authoritative French brands. Men in skirts were let out on their catwalks Jean Paul Gaultier, Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons, Rick Owens, John Galliano, Number (N)ine, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent.

Comme des Garcons' Fall/Winter 2009 collection includes short and long skirts in black and metallic grey, and Jean Paul Gaultier preferred to include beige and black plaid skirts over regular trousers in the corresponding shade in his collection. Yohji Yamamoto dressed his models in long, ankle-length wrap skirts - a well-known British avant-garde artist would later appear in public wearing one of Yamamoto's designs. Steve McQueen, director of the award-winning Cannes Film Festival, the film "The Hunger".

Yohji Yamamoto | Yohji Yamamoto | Rick Owen

The unconditional trendsetter in the case of men's skirts is notorious Marc Jacobs, who has been closing his fashion shows in a skirt for several seasons in a row. Jacobs wears her skirts with such grace that any woman would envy: showing, like women, fantasy in choosing a wardrobe, Marc Jacobs shows a combination of a strict dark skirt with leggings with a bright pink graffiti print, then a combination of a black shirt with a purple skirt. In any case, the creative director of Louis Vuitton is by no means ridiculous - the skirt in Jacobs' wardrobe looks quite natural.

Marc Jacobs | just an American | Marc Jacobs

Of course, in order to wear a skirt, a man needs remarkable courage and self-confidence. Known for their outrageous Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garcons in this case, they cannot be considered sufficient authority - it is one thing to shock the representatives of the fashion world by letting men in skirts on the catwalk, and quite another to decide to go down in a skirt, for example, into the New York subway. However, the trend really migrated from the catwalk to real life: a variety of men began to appear in skirts - from celebrities on the red carpet to ordinary Americans and Europeans. Most of them, however, so far dare only the simplest option - a modest black skirt without any frills such as bright prints. Such skirts, for example, were chosen to appear on the red carpet. Sting and Vin Diesel. The most standard and familiar option for most is the traditional kilt with all its variations: Sir Sean Connery, periodically recalls the comedian's Scottish roots Mike Myers, appearing in public in a kilt.

Vin Diesel | Sting | Robbie Williams

Undoubtedly, skirts are not suitable for every man. However, there are those for whom the concept of a unique style, the ability to declare one's own individuality and be different from others is the most important thing. For such men, the skirt may well become a certain means of self-expression.

However, despite the obvious support of the trend from the most famous designers, fashion retailers are in no hurry to copy the trend: such an ambiguous wardrobe item as a men's skirt is unlikely to be in great demand in a global recession, they argue.

A PHOTO Getty Images

Tunics of the ancient Romans and harem pants of Eastern women, universal Indian sarongs and African djellaba, which are worn by men and women at the same time - these and other types of clothing show that in the world history of fashion there is no clear connection between skirts and trousers with a certain gender. It all depends on the specific place and time of action. According to the standards of our European culture of the last centuries, the appearance of a man in a skirt in public is outright outrageous or a sign of non-traditional orientation. Meanwhile, there are more and more such men. Why?

“This trend is not entirely new,” says culturologist Olga Vainshtein. - Remember the French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier's Une garde-robe pour deux collection with men's skirts - this was in 1985. In 2003-2004, the Metropolitan Museum of Art hosted the famous exhibition “Bravehearts. Men in skirts "(" Daredevils: men in skirts "). But, of course, in the last two years, the number of men's collections with details of women's clothing has increased markedly, moreover, this fashion has begun to actively move into life.

Celebrities are increasingly appearing in dresses and skirts on the red carpet or socially significant events. Among them are 18-year-old Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith, actors Jared Leto, Van Diesel, rapper Kanye West. And of course, the most famous fan of the kilt, skirts, sundresses and other women's wardrobe items is the American fashion designer, creator of his own brand Marc Jacobs, Marc Jacobs.

What social changes does this trend indicate?

Ekaterina Orel, psychologist:

Partly about the desire of modern men to better understand women. After all, disputes about the social role, rights and opportunities of women in society do not stop, on the contrary. On the one hand, trainings “wear skirts and serve your man” became more active, and on the other hand, a powerful wave of discussions of family and sexual violence, women’s interest in traditionally male professions ... And it seems to me that the fashion for men’s skirts is a kind of continuation of this conversation . There is a good expression in English - standing in my shoes (literally “standing in my shoes”), which means accepting the opinion, situation, ideas of another person. Fashion designers literally force men to try on the role of a woman with all its features, advantages and limitations.

Olga Weinstein, culturologist:

I perceive this trend primarily as part of a general trend towards the destruction of conventions and cultural stereotypes in fashion. This series includes protest campaigns against photoshop, the appearance on the podium of overweight women, people with disabilities, older models. And in a narrower sense, this trend is described by the concept of "gender-bending", which means the expansion, softening of the rigid boundaries of gender. Today, the convergence of roles, the feminization of men and the emancipation of women are taking place at various levels. Women are becoming more powerful and successful. In the English-speaking world, there is the concept of "empowerment of women", which means strengthening the positions and opportunities of women, increasing their self-confidence. And men, on the contrary, are increasingly demonstrating softness and femininity - remember the type of metrosexual that appeared in the early 2000s, and at the same time new principles of male self-care, self-care came into fashion.

Skirt - a sign of masculinity?

On the one hand, the process of feminization of men is becoming a serious problem today. Phillip Zimbardo, a classic of social psychology, devoted a separate book to the loss of their identity by men. " C Are modern boys failing academically, socially, and sexually, and are women under the age of 30 outperforming men in both education and earnings? - emphasizes Philip Zimbardo. “Harmony between man and woman is increasingly disturbed. In order to restore gender balance, it is necessary that the right to raise issues of equality is also given to the man.”

In this regard, the development of skirts and dresses by men is a good sign, an attempt to restore balance. Indeed, women have been wearing trousers since the beginning of the last century, so why do men still have to separate clothes into men's and women's?

Designer Marc Jacobs

But the fashion trend has another angle. “Like any phenomenon in the postmodern world, men's skirts carry a double message: in many ways they emphasize the masculinity of their wearer,” says psychologist Ekaterina Orel. - After all, the first association with a man's skirt is a kilt, the clothes of mountaineers, who have an aura of courage and aggressiveness in Western culture. Therefore, putting on a skirt, a man, on the one hand, tries on a female image, and on the other hand, declares his strength and superiority, emphasizing the connection with the image of a warlike highlander.

“Men in skirts look quite masculine,” confirms Olga Weinstein. – Let us recall at least the ancient Roman soldiers in short tunics. Or, for example, a black leather skirt, rough men's boots, stubble on the face and muscular men's arms - this combination creates a rather brutal image.

One way or another, the loosening of cultural stereotypes and gender boundaries, their relativity is obvious. This is facilitated by the process of globalization. “Bloom pants, traditionally oriental clothing, are becoming fashionable all over the world, sarongs are worn not only by people from Southeast Asia, but also by Europeans, David Beckham, for example, loves them,” reminds Olga Weinstein. - That is, of course, we can talk about the rapprochement of the East with the West and the expansion of cultural borrowings. The emergence of transgender models - men and women who change their sex in a surgical way - testifies to the loosening of stereotypes.

1 F. Zimbardo, N. Colombe “A man in isolation: Games, porn and the loss of identity” (the book is published in August 2016 by Alpina Publisher).

Men's skirts around the world: Valyaeva's nightmare

For those who are sure that femininity or masculinity is formed by a skirt or trousers, it will probably be a nightmarish discovery that the men of many nations traditionally wore clothes that, by modern standards, cannot be classified otherwise than as a skirt or dress. And they were tough warriors.

And for many modern peoples, nothing in this respect, in general, has changed.

Greece

The uniform of the Evzone Greek Guards includes a pleated fustanella skirt. There are exactly 400 folds on it in memory of four centuries of the Turkish yoke, and the guardsman begins his morning by smoothing them out with an iron. The fustanella comes with pom-pom shoes, a white shirt, white woolen stockings, spats, gaiter garters, a waistcoat and a fareon cap with a long tassel. The shoes weigh 3 kg each, and the lush pom-poms on them once served to hide knives from the Turks.

Up until the start of World War II, fustanella was also worn by ordinary Greeks in the south of the country. Now it is worn only on holidays and more often for boys than for adults.

India

In the homeland of the Vedas, they don’t know that Vedic wisdom extremely strictly determines who should wear a skirt and who should wear trousers, so salwar-kameez (trousers with a tunic) is a popular women’s costume here, and many men, without the slightest doubt, wind up on your hips a full skirt - lungi or mundu. Accessories for it are optional, if you want - wear a scarf, if you want - with a shirt, if you want - just like that.

Kenya

The traditional men's skirt - kikoi - is very popular here, but ... more among the white population. But the Maasai warriors in the south of the country love to flaunt in a belted shuka - clothes that, depending on the weather and the situation, are worn like a sundress or like a skirt (lowering the top of the shuka over the hem). Shuka's favorite colors are different shades of red, especially scarlet, and blue. Young men dancing in shukah look extraordinarily impressive!

Indonesia

In Indonesia, as well as Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore, the skirt worn everywhere by both men and women is called a sarong. The popularity of the sarong is easily explained: it is very hot here, and the ability to provide ventilation to the body and easily change sweaty clothes is extremely important. Nowadays, trousers are often worn under the official sarong, but they are not provided for in casual style.

Burma

The local version of the skirt is called longji. Women wrap it around their hips, men - on ... we will be waist-deep, in short. In addition to the way they are worn, men's longji differ from women's in patterns. Men prefer horizontal stripes and plaid. Men's longji are called pashou. They come in uniform in some schools.

Fiji

In Fiji, men's skirts, the sulu wakataga, rule the roost. They are included in the mandatory dress code of officials, military uniforms, businessmen, office workers, schoolchildren and policemen go to them. Wearing a sulu to church is a must. Often the hem is cut into triangles. Modern sulus are both tied at the waist and clasped. By the way, instead of harsh men's shoes in Fiji, harsh men's sandals are practiced.

Yemen

A Yemeni horseman without a skirt-foot and a dagger-jambiya is not a horseman! Unless in the north, instead of a foot, there is a toba dress. But the pants on this celebration of life are superfluous.

Hawaii

Handsome Jason Momoa is surprisingly good in skirts as both Conan the Barbarian and Khal Drogo. And all because he was used to wearing this piece of clothing since childhood: in his native Hawaii, the male population still willingly wears kikepas. Wears, wore and will wear, because otherwise where will the new Momoa come from.

Samoa

They could not but put Samoa after Hawaii, because it would be a sin to miss such a rhyme. The Samoans keep their traditions very carefully, including the most irrational ones, but wearing a skirt cannot be counted among them. In such a climate, you can’t replace good lava-lava with any pants - you’ll just rush in vain and rub gently with seams. Therefore, lava-lava is included in all kinds of uniforms, for example, the police.

Text: Ira Dubina

A couple of weeks ago, the news spread around the Internet: schoolboys from one of the Exeter academies in Devonshire to classes in skirts. The action turned out to be a protest: the weather was hot, it was absolutely impossible to walk in trousers, but the school director did not allow the children to come to class in shorts - they say, they do not comply with the uniform regulations.

A few days earlier, Briton Joey Barge was at work in a dress: at first he came in shorts, but he was also scolded for not matching the appearance of the office dress code - and in response he chose a rather radical gesture. Around the same time, across the Channel, in Nantes, France, bus drivers went on strike wearing skirts to work. It is noteworthy that all these events took place within one week - as if someone decided to launch a kind of flash mob.

Over time, the image of a “real” man became strongly associated with what today can be illustrated by the “I’m on a horse” meme, and trousers became an important element of this image.

Exactly at the same time, the shows of Men's Fashion Week were in full swing in Paris, the manifesto of which, by coincidence, was attempts to legitimize men in skirts. Ray Kawakubo in the Comme des Garçons Homme Plus collection blurs the boundaries of gender, presenting his history of men's costume over several eras and ironically over the stereotypes that have become entrenched in modern society. French brand A.P.C. releases an elongated hoodie, which is supposed to be worn with short shorts - or without them at all. Dries Van Noten and Loewe show dress-like shirts in their men's collections, while Balmain shows knee-length tunics and T-shirts. Dior has a men's version of the coat dress and peplum, Alexander McQueen and Thom Browne have natural dresses. And the debut collection of Stefano Pilati's long-awaited own brand almost entirely consists of variations on the theme of "a wolf in sheep's clothing" - that is, a man in women's clothing.

The very idea of ​​gender-differentiated clothing appeared not so long ago. If you delve into history, you can easily recall many examples when men wore women's clothing in the modern sense - from Roman togas and ancient Egyptian shenti loincloths to elements of the national costume (in particular, the Scottish kilt). In those days, clothing served as a marker of social rather than gender identity, and analogues of modern skirts and dresses took root in everyday life for two reasons: firstly, they were easy to cut and sew, and secondly, it was convenient to do business in them, worthy of brave men - to fight, build, cultivate the land and participate in religious practices.

But already at the next stage of social development, when men domesticated livestock, in particular horses, they needed a new wardrobe item - one in which it is comfortable to ride. Over time, the image of a "real" man became strongly associated with what today can be illustrated by the meme "I'm on a horse", and trousers became an important element of this image - or rather, their then prototype.

It is curious that the final differentiation of "proper" men's and women's clothing took shape not so long ago - approximately by the middle of the 19th century. Then in Europe there was no practice to divide children's clothes into those intended "for girls" and "for boys": newborns of both sexes were dressed in similar tunic dresses, and only by the age of 6-7 years the boys were given their first trousers (more precisely, breeches) - a tradition called "breeching" served as a kind of act of transformation into an adult man. By the way, a little earlier, at the beginning of the century, the traditional men's suit finally took shape, becoming what, with minor modifications, we are used to seeing it today: a jacket, a vest and, of course, trousers.

If we summarize all of the above, it turns out that trousers as an attribute of a man's wardrobe are nothing more than a convention fixed in the minds of society, first on the basis of necessity (women did not participate in equestrian battles, they rode horses a little, which means that they did not need trousers ), and then turned into a stereotype. A pamphlet for New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition Bravehearts: Men in Skirts, which took place in 2003-2004, stated: "One of the purposes of this exhibition is to show that there is no natural connection between a piece of clothing and femininity or masculinity, all this is nothing more than imposed cultural associations. Not surprisingly, the very essence of the gender division of clothing was first called into question in the 1960s, when the younger generation began to search for themselves through subcultures and the rejection of traditional social norms.