Wearing a skirt made me feel like Brad Pitt, until the wind changed

Salvation for weak wallets can be found at Dangerfield, a store I last visited during a brief teenage Goth period in the eighties. I swapped my black trousers for a $47 punk-inspired, leather-look (if you squint) skirt that hit just below the knees and worked easily with my shirt, tie and black boots. Online the skirt was modelled by a man and the sizing was in traditional inches.

“For masculine effect skirts work best with a tailored jacket, shirt, tie, chunky brogues and short black socks,” says Grazia fashion director Kim Payne. “You want to keep the look tonal in all black or grey.”

Walking the length of Sydney’s CBD I received more stares than usual, which is I’m sure what happens to Brad Pitt when he leaves the house and queues for a macchiato. I certainly wasn’t ready to date Angelina Jolie, but I did feel like a leading man.

“Having messed with the masculine and feminine all my adult life I find it endlessly interesting how much meaning we attach to these bits of cloth once they’re on a human body,” says Dr Timo Rissanen, associate professor of fashion at University of Technology Sydney. “A short skirt can be a great way to show off thighs and legs like Pitt’s, and a butt.”

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“I am all for him wearing skirts, more please, but that brown and pink look is not it.”

Navigating a skirt can be tricky I discovered when catching a train (although the seat beside me stayed empty) and when the winter wind threatened to reveal a Scottish approach to my investigation.

“Given the recent cold snap we’ve had, maybe give it a month or two before you lose the pants,” Millar says.

Until then, you might have to settle for the frustration of trying to look like Chris Hemsworth in tailored trousers.