"Skirting: the issue", or some other ironic, sartorial pun for the title

When I was a little girl I loved to dress up in colorful skirts and dresses.  I think I basically lived in leggings and distinctly remember one instance in which I was forced to wear pants.  They were a pair of old-school sweatpants, with the elastic at the hem that forms a tight cuff around the ankles, and loathed the experience enough to still remember how much I hated them.  Yet now I have a similar pair of pants and love them, and prefer to wear pants over a skirt or dress.

I mentioned in an early post that I hate strongly dislike spring.  One of the reasons why?  The fashion industry's renewed efforts to push skirts as a way to welcome spring and finally get out of those thick pants and show some leg!  Even though finding a good pair of pants can be a drag (literally-- I usually have to trim the hem of my pants to an appropriate length) I will almost always choose to wear them instead of putting on a skirt.  I have to admit, there's something nice to feeling the skirt hem flutter against my legs, but at the same time I often feel foolish.  Whenever I wear one I feel as though I lose brain power because a chunk of my attention gets devoted to thinking about it.  The following monologue repeats itself in my head: 

you look great in it! it's a cute skirt--really! wow, you've got great legs?  wait, really? hold on, did you accidentally tuck part of it in your underwear? gah, the fabric's sticking to your leg!  remember to keep your legs closed! but no one's staring at your skirt, so you're fine!  just--be careful when you sit down! and when you get up from your seat-- don't get up too fast! okay, you're fine, just play it cool, you look great! and etc. 

I'm a daydreamer and a klutz, two characteristics which are pretty hazardous even when I'm functioning at top capacity, never mind if I'm wearing something I don't usually wear.

I don't think less of women who prefer wearing skirts but when I'm wearing one I don't feel like myself, I don't feel at ease and my whole demeanor changes so that I feel like I can't take myself seriously or be taken seriously. Wearing a dress is slightly worse because it's harder to go to the bathroom, and usually I put on dresses for Special Occasions, which come with a whole other set of anxiety-inducing scenarios.  Luckily I don't forsee many situations in the future in which I will not be able to wear pants instead of a skirt/dress.  If I ever get married I think I'll wear pants, probably shorts, under my wedding dress.

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