51 replies to this topic

[Lucydog]

OK Guys I know this has the potential to become hilarious but I would like some female opinions before you men add you pennys worth!!!!

So for the ladies how do you feel about wearing skirts? Do you still wear them or is it trousers all the way? Personally I feel very self conscious when I wear skirts, Ive noticed I get stared at a lot more as well. As I wear leg braces a lot of the time I hate the possibility someone is going to see any bit of my legs. And practically I find skirts not that good. But my husband would like to see me in skirts a bit more which I understand. Anyway I was wondering what the general opinion was about this one?

Cheers
Luce

[laura]

Hi there!

i tend to wear trousers but i do own and wear a few skirts. the skirts i do wear usually hit my knees,in length that it is,or longer. perhaps look a bit funny wearing a shorter skirt in a wheelchair, see knees more-maybe not a good look! lol! i would like to be able to wear shorter skirts,shorts , well anything and feel comfortable in them. i feel like i'm wearing stuff to cover up items! catheter and bag etc sorry for tmi.

i've just had a sort out of my wardrobe,clothes and shoes i used to wear before my sci (c-4 inc) surprised me at what i used to wear and what i wear now! what a difference. some good changes , some i'm not fond of. think i'm going to do something about it-let you know what when figured it out! lol see what is actually possible. can i wear my pointed toes shoes-dagger like! lol when in w.chair?!

about a year ago now a guy asked,nearly told me, to wear more skirts, he showed me how much he just didn't have a clue how much fun,not! , that would be. getting the length of a skirt right when you have to hoist out of your car in public never mind around the home,cuddle up on the couch in a skirt etc when others are around can be a bit embarassing.

intriguing that guys are 'asking' us to wear skirts!?!

be really interesting to hear from others and what they wear etc and why.

[keps]

Well Lucy and Laura, I avoid skirts, because I have the type of legs that won't stay together! (Oooh-er missus! lol) Hhehee. Well, that's not the only reason, but a good one.

I have one black skirt, which comes a bit below my knees. It's not revealing or anything, but I don't really like how my legs look in it. Also, I find skirts tend to get all messed up and in the way doing my sliding board transfers. And, I have lower legs that look too thin compared to the rest of my legs (I have chunky thighs, but quite thin calves), so I don't want them on show either.

My boyfriend is not bothered that I don't wear skirts. I never wore them pre-sci, and he didn't mind then, either.

[Joed]

I was never one for skirts or dresses...mainly because I couldn't wear (read: walk in) the shoes that I felt should be worn with them. Just once, I think I'd like to go out with my w/c (I usually only use mine at home) just so I could finally wear some five in. heels. P

My transfers are more of a supported stand and swivel thing, but I can imagine that it'd be tricky doing any tougher transfers in a skirt or dress. But like everything else, I'm sure one could develop a good method with practice.

[jane]

im incomplete c5. i am so fed up of trousers, but i haven't been able to find any boots/shoes thatr i can wear that look good with skirts, and thati can walk in when i am at home/work.

I wore a skirt the other day,when i went out in my chair and found it hard to make sure everything was covered and my legs stayed togeter!

[LizzyB5280]

I haven't worn any skirts over the last year, as I have the same problem of not being able to keep my legs together. But my cousin is getting married this summer, so I may try to find a long (or at least past knees) skirt to wear to the wedding. I also heard someone suggest wearing a strap around the legs (just below or above the knees) to help hold them together.

[Gary Anderson]

Why a ladies only question??

I am Scottish by birth ( and very proud of that fact) despite having lived in England for the past 38 years. So I reckon I can give a few bobs worth. I regularly wear the kilt and have no problems in a chair. I just make sure that the kilt is a bit longer to allow for it "riding up" when I sit.

Sorry ladies, just could not resist replying to this. After all a kilt is just a laddies skirt!! especially if it is leather or self coloured ---- unless it is tartan then it is a true kilt.

Hoots mon and lang may yir lums reek.

[itsjustme]

Hey Girls!

I sooooooo miss skirts and really pretty shoes! My best friend and I used to dress up every chance we had. I mean really dress up to go to the theater or a Christmas party. We loved glitzy, not gaudy, but just really pretty dressy clohes.

I too have a problem with legs that won't stay in a lady like position and even though I take the max dose of Baclofen my spasms are so bad that my feet have to be kept strapped to my wheel chair plate making pretty strappy shoes rather pointless.

I have let this chair take that that part of my femininity away from me so Girlies, I say that if you can find some skirts/dresses that you are comfortable wearing and ESPECIALLY if the men in your lives want to see you that way by all means wear them!

[bubbleandsqueak]

i know of some pads that mite help your legs stay together.

Calf Pads

i just came acrost them one day well looking for things.

[KimAndSophie]

I solved the problem of wearing skirts and worrying about keeping my knees together this way. I got a piece of soft fuzzy material (like those really thick fuzzy hotel blankets are made of) I cut it so it is long enough to comfortably put around the biggest part of my thighs and left about an extra two inches of material. The width of the material is about an inch to an inch and a half wide. Glue, or sew a strip of velcro (the rough side) onto one end of the material. Now you are left with a soft belt that you can use to wrap around your upper legs underneath you skirt. This keeps your legs from openiong and no one will ever know! I used a tan color material so it matches the color of my skin to make it even more invisable. You could also wear skorts (shorts with a front like a skirt), or wear skirts that have shorts underneath (I forget what you call these).

[lilbit]

Hey, about those skirts, Yes I look and feel pretty in them, and when I do wear them I try to find as long as I can.. but the real pain about them is when transfering im all twisted up, like wringing out a wash cloth, even if I pull the back of the skirt through between my legs and hold with my teeth transfer in to car ,then take left wheel off pull in the chair on the passanger side,[ non folding] close door then move to drivers side,
NO! NO! NO! I only wear skirts if I am at home and not doing alot of anything involving transfers...

lilbit

[xMaddiex]

im dont have an SCI but i believe the saying 'if you feel confident in what youre wearing, wear it!' stands true either way. so what if people stare? if you dont feel happy in it, or if its really impractical dont wear it, or save it for a night in where you feel comfy wearing it.

[Jilly]

Hey ladies....the fashion here for winter is short shorts!! mind you I wouldnt be seen dead in them never mind in winter...instead of having white wobbly thighs, I could have blue ones instead!

mini skirts seem to be out now but they were not much more than a wide belt anyway!

[lune14]

Boy do I have a lot of feelings about THIS topic!!! LOL

I stopped wearing jeans over 15 years ago because they are just too binding while sitting. I LOVE wearing skirts and feel ultra feminine and classy when I do. Plus it's much easier to cath w/out getting undressed. This has been a huge help to me when I couldn't find an accessible toilet as I could just cath in the driver's seat by simply hiking up my skirt. (I self cath)

I used to wear "conservative" mini skirts ALL the time in the summer but I never had an issue with opening legs and I've never experienced a spasm in my 25 yrs as an SCI. However I have dropped a leg over the side of my chair and I understand how embarassing a short skirt can be especially if your feet are popping off the footrest. Typically now I wear mid-calf length knitted skirts, usually with boots. This isn't really an option for summer attire however so I stick to trousers. I too am preparing to attend a summer wedding and I am dreading finding a skirt option as it will be warm weather. I am currently wearing knee-hi compression socks due to some edema I developed after getting bi-lateral DVT's over a year ago. So wearing a skirt with these lovely bandaid colored things is just out of the question for me. It is nice to be able to wear shoes again however. I had to wear a post-op boot on my left foot for over 2 years as it was swelling so horribly I thought I had elephantitis!! A week in the edema clinic in pump boots got my leg down to normal size again but it's compression socks for life I'm afraid

As for transferring from chair to car etc.... yes they do get a bit twisted but I found that wearing the soft knit fabrics are MUCH easier to readjust and if you do have the "opening leg" problem they seem to conceal it in a longer soft knit skirt. I'll try to find some photos and post them for you all if it would help any ???

Do any of you find that wearing a dress/skirt that's made from polished cotton or linen type fabrics is an issue? I bought a silk skirt once (just below knee length) and it looked like I was wearing a parachute! I felt like someone pumped air up under my skirt around my gut. Needless to say I returned it to the store! LOL This is why I find knits more chair friendly.

In addition, I don't normally wear stockings (nylons) in summer if I do wear a skirt/dress but in winter I do and the thigh-high stockings are awesome. I tried wearing pantyhose ONCE after my injury and I tore them off and tossed them into the bin (no it wasn't a kinky thing! haha) A lot of thigh-high stockings now come in a very nice "snug" and silk like feel.... they are fantastic at making your legs look more shapely. They are not special nylons, just found in the regular stocking area of any department store. I prefer the ones with the lace band around the thigh as they are a little sexier (Hey a woman's gotta feel good even if no one can see it right?)

Thanks for sharing ladies, I only have one girlfriend who's an SCI and she is a quad and rarely transfers so we don't always get to share the same concerns. Nice having you all to share with!

[Joed]

I miss getting dressed up...with my brace I can't wear dressy shoes, so that pretty much limits how dressed up I can get. And then the velcro on my brace keeps catching on the delicate material of my slip or dress, damaging them. I suppose I need to wear my nylons over my brace.

[Coach]

About ten years after I was hurt, C-6, -7, I stopped wearing pants and started wearing small kitchen aprons. Pants I decided are nuts with a catheter because of how they bind. Admittedly, the aprons I wore showed an unusual amount of male leg and sometimes ended up behind me, but I also always carry a towel--because for years I sweat most of the time--, so when the apron was behind me the towel was usually in my lap. Also, I was unaware my bare buns sometimes tended to hang out the back of my chair, but hey. Now I just get up onto a sheet that I wrap around myself like an under-arm toga. Can you tell I've never been real clothes-conscious? Below-the-knee skirts seem to me the most practical and effective wheel-chair wear. I've long thought pants least practical and effective, so am interested that some of you have turned to them as a matter of choice. What would be absolutely best would be a simple holographic projector built into the chair so we could change by flicking a switch.

[itsjustme]

OH MY GOODNESS COACH! I'm trying real hard to picture this! OR NOT!

[lune14]

What I'm particulary curious about is do these aprons say clever little things like "Kiss the cook" ???

I've done the "nothing but an apron" apparel bit but that is for another forum all together <wink wink>

[Lucky]

Come on Gals........Get them skirts on and show us some leg !

[laura]

had a funny experience today and lets just say lucky that i was definately showing 'a bit of leg' to a around ..... a dozen guys! lol not something i usually do or will be doing again! lol

ok, never say never!?!

or can i say it here?! lol

[lune14]

Ok here are some pics of the shorter and longer knit skirts I was talking about.

[itsjustme]

I so wish that my legs would stay together like yours. Just normal sitting position for me-my knees are 10" apart. Yeah I know that I could wear some kind of restraining band under a longer skirt but it's just another hassle.

I have a wedding to go to this weekend and I went right back to a pair of dress pants however that doesn't look good either with my legs spread. I really hate it.

[lune14]

Are you able to sit with your ankles crossed? I have a few different seat cushions and one of them makes my legs open so I sometimes cross my ankles and it's less unattractive.

[lune14]

Are you able to sit with your ankles crossed? I have a few different seat cushions and one of them makes my legs open so I sometimes cross my ankles and it's less unattractive.

[Joed]

lune14, on Jun 28 2006, 11:41 PM, said:

Are you able to sit with your ankles crossed?

That's what I was thinking. If you're able to turn both knees to one side or the other, favoring one hip, ankles crossed, it might help to keep things in order too. Just be sure to change positions frequently.

[itsjustme]

I can't cross my ankles because my spasms are so bad that my feet have to be strapped to my foot plates all of the time or else I'll come slidding right out of my chair.

I think that I wrote somewhere above that those straps made it pointless for me to even buy pretty strappy dress shoes now. Wouldn't you just know it?!? Now that I don't have to worry about the pain of walking in high heels, I've got 2 big old ugly straps across my feet to spoil the effect!

[lune14]

Hmmm ok I'm going to keep thinking on this one for you. A woman should never be denied shoes!!! LOL

I have a good friend who's a quad and is THE MASTER of shoe dilemmas! That woman has done more things with shoes than I can believe! I don't recall if you said you have problems with swelling etc. But I'll reread the whole thread and consult with the Shoe Goddess for ya!

[sjean423]

itsjustme, on Jun 28 2006, 10:27 PM, said:

I so wish that my legs would stay together like yours. Just normal sitting position for me-my knees are 10" apart. Yeah I know that I could wear some kind of restraining band under a longer skirt but it's just another hassle.

I have a wedding to go to this weekend and I went right back to a pair of dress pants however that doesn't look good either with my legs spread. I really hate it.

I know the band would be too much of a hassle for every day, but it might be the way to go for the wedding, if you aren't happy with the pants.

[Lucky]

lune14, itsjustme & Joed.

I'm willing to bet you all look absolutly gorgeous wether your in skirts, pants or legs up in the air to the right upside down?, band or no band.

All the the best.

[lune14]

Lucky, You're such a sweetie! Always a kind word and it's much appreciated.

PS... when do we get to see YOU in a skirt?? (ok my fetish is out now!) haha JK!