47 years old, married with a son aged 13

A small town in South Buckinghamshire in England, about 25 miles (40Km) west of central London.

I trained as an engineer but now head up the Quality Assurance function in a small company making test equipment in the UK and Spain. The job is mostly office based but includes visits to other offices of this company and occasionally to customers.

• What kind of skirt do you wear ?

I have a range of skirts including two traditionally styled kilts (one black and one in a camouflage print) and two "modern kilts". In addition to this I have two calf or slightly longer length black skirts, a just below the knee wrap front skirt, which is fantastic for hiking in, a just above the knee "safari" skirt, again good for walking but slightly restrictive as it has no vents and limited flare, walking is OK but climbing over obstructions is tricky. I also have three or four mini skirts (all around 15" (38Cm) long. I walk in these but try to avoid going anywhere that I might need to sit down as they are too short to effectively conceal my underwear when seated. I havfe also got a number of sarongs. The modern kilts probably get more use than any of the others but all get work out and about at times.

• Since when do you wear skirts ?

I started wearing skirts about three years ago.

• Where do you wear skirts ?

Generally skirts are an option for me wherever I go, sometimes I wear trousers sometimes a skirt. The only place I don't generally wear skirts is to work as my boss is concerned how customers will react. Having said that I do wear a kilt at work if I'm there in my own time and many of my colleagues in the UK have seen me skirted in the office or in local shops. I recently wore a kilt briefly in the Spanish office having changed into it for the return flight to the UK.

• What was your entourage's reaction ?

Later I bought a cheap kilt through Ebay, it was intended as a bit of a joke for valentines evening with my wife but I found it so comfortable that I decided to keep it and wear it again. My son's first words were "That's just wrong". He was not accusing, just observing that it looked strange to him. He soon got used to it and now regards it as pretty cool. He had a bit of grief from one girl at school over it but soon put her in her place by pointing out that she was wearing jeans...

The progression to other types of skirt has been steady rather than dramatic and no one has really commented since it's always been small enough changes not to raise any eyebrows.

My mum discovered my taste for kilts when she came on holiday with us, her only comment was that she was the only member of the group not wearing a skirt. The rest of my family have pretty much ignored it, I already had a reputation for doing my own thing so it just got put down as one of my little ways.

I've not had any comment from neighbours but my wife has had a couple of comments, all of them positive. She works as a hairdresser and so speaks top far more people locally than I do but she has never mentioned anything but positive feedback.

My friends and colleagues have all poked some fun at me but accepted it anyway. In fact on a couple of occasions when I've been out skirted with them and someone else has made a comment my friends have leapt to my defence when really they was no need. It feels a bit strange that they should be protective of me when, at 1.90m and 110Kg, I'm rather larger than any of them and perfectly capable of looking after myself.

• For you, what is the best style to have, for a man, to make his wearing of a skirt being better accepted ?

• All you want to say about skirts for men ?

I'm fairly shy and inclined to find corners well out of the spot light in social situations so the idea of wearing a skirt in public was pretty scary. In the event I have discovered that dressing differently has been wonderful for me:

-  I'm more comfortable physically
- People talk to me, so I no longer have to start conversations (something I'm generally very bad at)
- People smile at me. (Maybe they are laughing but I don't care - either way I am spreading a little happiness!)
- My self confidence has grown significantly as I've discovered I can be myself and others don't object.