Ok this one of those topics that I have been pondering. I should Google this topic before I start rambling, but I’d rather shoot from the hip on this one rather than be skewed by other people’s ideas.
I hate dresses and skirts. It’s no secret. I only own 2 dresses. One for weddings and one for funerals, but I usually end up not wearing either one of them to the occasion. In fact, in the last 3 years I have only worn a dress twice. Once was to a formal dinner on a cruise and the other was at a friend’s wedding where my husband had to wear a tux so I thought it would look better if I “dressed up”. I hate formal “suit and tie” affairs, but that’s another topic.
So what is the purpose of a dress? Personally, I just don’t see the practicality of it. Wearing a dress is so limiting. I’m all for modesty so I wear pants or shorts ALL the time. I figure why torture yourself with worry about whether you are showing off your panties or not? The less stuff on my mind the better and clearer I can focus on the task at hand, but that’s just me.
I am probably a unique case in my reasoning for not wearing a dress. It’s not because I want to look like a boy. I don’t. I actually have a couple of legitimate reasons for not wearing them. Number one, I play the drums. I play almost every day either at a practice, in church or at a gig. Wearing a dress while playing drums isn’t practical. And then there’s that modesty factor again… Number two, the car accident I was in as a teenager messed up my back and hip. To this day I cannot completely cross my legs without major cramping. Crossing them part way – with my ankle resting on my knee – is about the only comfortable way for me to sit and even then I can only do that in short bursts. My hip is also a little crooked on my right side so just keeping my legs together without getting cramps in my hip is a challenge as well.
Putting all that aside tho, I still see no purpose for a dress or skirt. Take my kids for instance. I have two girls who like to dress up. They own several dresses. However, my youngest daughter, Kirstie, is a bit of a wild child. She takes after her mother. If you’ve ever seen a poster for ADD, her picture is probably on it. She is a huge bundle of energy and if given enough room she cannot take more than four steps without doing a cartwheel. Now imagine Kirstie in a dress at church, or even at school, doing her cartwheels across the gym floor. Not exactly the picture of modesty. She can’t help it, though. That’s just the way she enjoys the world.
My other beef with wearing a dress is what you have to wear with it. Shoes for starters are majorly uncomfortable. Heels? What is the point? I cannot wear heels because of my injury, but even if I could I wouldn’t even buy a pair. No thank you. I am very active and anything that would restrict how fast I can move or get something done is a waste. Also, pantyhose. Who invented this stuff? In Kirstie’s case, everytime she wears a dress I can guarantee that I will be investing in a new pair of tights the following week. She has never been able to wear a pair more than once without ripping the knees out. It is to the point that I just tell her to wear socks.
Yes, I know that dresses can look nice and fashionable. I guess I am just more interested in being practical and moving forward with a project than I am about how I look doing it. Wearing a dress is like putting my personality in a cage. I just can’t do that. Anyone else have some comments? I know I am probably in the minority here, but I’d love some feedback on this topic.
46 comments
Cheryl
I’m 61 and have always hated dresses too. Out of respect for our creator, I wear them to church but always with boots with just an inch heel. Also I wear black long underwear (made for the cold wintertime) undermy boots & skirts, but I wear these all summer long too. Otherwise my legs feel uncomfortable, naked (even with pantyhose) and vulnerable. I also have thought that dresses were a creation of man, made to look appealing, sexy, feminine. All to attract a man. Then they also have the easy access. Women who like to look appealing sexy & feminine should wear those dresses. Women who don’t want the attention from men can wear pants, comfortable not sloppy but nice not tight fit.
Gilliane Moxham
Dress/skirts cold, Paula, you must be joking! Nylons keep the legs warm and as for me with my girdle on under a grand big woolen bloomers of s knickers underneath I feel blissfully warm in the coldest of Irish winters.
And trousers/jeans/pants only suit the slimmest of women, the rest, I am sorry to have to say, have fat bums that look as if there are two cats fighting in there as they walk down the street. If only the poor dears could see themselves from behind as they walk in trousers they’d be shocked – and jeans are even worse.
Now I love wearing an A-line close-fitting skirt , it’s still the height of fashion and style – nobody can wear such an A-line without a shaper or preferably a girdle underneath.
And btw the same jeans are mostly worn all the time and begin to smell whereas with a dress or shirt you can wear different undies every day, even change them the same day.. Many men who wear trousers don’t daily change their jocks and that is smelly and disgusting and many women in pants are now gone as bad as those men, some even using perfume to kill the smell.
Sorry to say it but women today are gone like the Russian peasant women of Czarist Russia. No wonder the number of marriages has tumbled over the past half century.
THis doesn’t surprise me at all, especially as many of the leaders of women’s lib were dirty and still are, smell too. Is that any way to live your lives and be worthwhile, active and attractive? No it isn’t, I’m discussed with some of the comments here, they must come from some tough hard cookies indeed.
Cop on to yourselves before you’re abandoned altogether “ladies”!
Paula W.
This topic strikes a nerve with so many people. :-) I can’t stand skirts and dresses, either. I find them chilly, too bare, and it always feels like you’re desperately trying to attract a man. :-0 Growing up with brothers to play with, skirts were sometimes impractical, and I wore shorts under the skirts more often than not! Jeans, slacks, shorts, capri pants all look pretty and feminine if you play it right, you can mix and match you way to a huge wardrobe, and you get to wear cute, comfortable shoes. Hooray for not having to fit into someone else’s mold!
Chris
People are always telling me that “you have a perfect figure why won’t you wear a dress?” (I’m petite). I tell them that I just don’t like them and they proceed to say I would look so good in them. My reasoning it, as someone who has always been a tomboy, I would rather be comfortable and have freedom of movement. I went to private high school where girls had to wear skirts and I hated it, I always had to put shorts underneath just to feel comfortable. My elementary school was private as well but they gave more leeway for the uniforms, I was able to wear the school pants (instead of a skirt or jumper) without my teachers having an issue. They also had a shorts uniform for spring which I wore. I am not a lesbian (although people seem to assume that after they find out I hate dresses and skirts), not that there is anything wrong with people who are, I just know for a fact I’m not. This was a great article, thank you!
Gema
I hate the restrictions from dresses!!.. and I always feel like I look pregnant ! They are so stupid! I only wear pants and shorts . Mostly pants leggings and long shorts .Love the article
Jessica Alexa Krier-O'Brien
LOL! If men love dresses, corsets and high heels so much; they can wear them, be my guest, boys! XD
Dress/skirt hater
I hate dresses and skirts with a passion! They make me feel like legs are tied and are restricting my normal movements! Another day I got so enraged about them that the only 2 pieces of them laying in wardrobe for ages I threw in fire. And more than I hate dresses I hate the questions from people around like “why are you always dressed in pants?” ! Common, it’s 21st century out there, why do you expect me to be dressed in this sh~t? Dresses suck, that’s for sure!
Roccie
I cannot agree more! I HATE dresses and skirts, don’t see the point of them. I wore them throughout grade school, hated it – every day! They aren’t comfortable at all. Women can look just as attractive and sexy in slacks. It’s not about the clothes anyway. It’s how you carry yourself.
gretchen
Absolutely! It is how you carry yourself. Clothes do not matter.
May
Impractical my ass.
What’s so impractical about it?
I went to a private school where we had uniforms and girls had to wear skirts.
Everyday.
For their entire school life.
Did that stop us from being active? No.
Did we ever complain about it? No.
Crawling under desks, running around, getting messy, doing dumb kid stuff.
No big deal.