By Francine Parnes
Denver Post Fashion Editor
May 21 – The style statement for spring is a voluminous denim skirt, drapey and flowing, that grazes the ground.
The catch is, it’s meant for guys.
Yes, guys in Denver. Gen-X guys.
“It’s definitely more comfortable than wearing pants. Ergonomically, you know,” said Dylan Ely, 20, who appeared equally secure in his manhood and his new, girlish garment.
Ely is a sales associate at Imi Jimi, a hip clothing boutique at 609 E. 13th Ave. When he and a fellow employee began unpacking the trendy togs Monday, the coolness quotient overwhelmed them.
They dropped their jeans and slid straight into skirts, hairy legs and all.
“They’re not much different from what guys wear in India or Bali,” reasoned co-worker Josh Chapman, 26. “Or a kilt.”
Indeed, the dungaree skirts (about $60) may be more familiar than exotic. They’re a spinoff of today’s ubiquitous extra-baggy, low-riding jeans, newly rejiggered without an inseam. 
A few local stores plan to carry Caffeine Clothing’s Victory Skirt, with an 80-inch-wide hem.
“It’s like there’s a war on for who’s got the widest pants,” says Alex That, 28, president of Caffeine Clothing in Massapequa Park, N.Y. “Everyone is trying to be the biggest and the baddest, so we decided to go with a men’s skirt.”
That’s how the company got a leg up. It has sold 2,000 skirts nationwide, That says.
Denver is the latest target.
The verdict’s still out, but so far “Them phat, they’re cool,” said Rashawn Curry, 19, a pedestrian who passed Chapman near Imi Jimi.
The hipness factor was ratified when Chapman’s girlfriend, Heather Curlee, showed up. “She thought it was cute,” he said. Heather was wearing pants.
Besides, there’s a major comfort benefit: “No wedgies,” says Chapman.
For customers who are sufficiently confident in their masculinity to endure wolf whistles, a smattering of local stores will be stocking their racks with this newest generation of jeans. Kontents, at Villa Italia in Lakewood and 919 E. Colfax Ave., is awaiting a shipment.
So is Club, a boutique at 1521 Pearl St. in Boulder.
“Baggy pants have been getting bigger and bigger,” says Hardy Kalisher, owner of Club. “When we opened the store a year ago, our widest cuff was 22 inches. During the last year, it continued to 30. Then I thought 48 inches would be the biggest we could sell. But they sold out immediately, so I placed orders for 68 inches. The 80-inch skirt for men looks really cool when the kids dance and you see this big flowing garment.”
Imi Jimi’s initial order only called for four skirts.
“It’s not for everybody,” said Imi Jimi owner Christina Hollar.
“I think there is an underground market that wants something unique,” said Hollar.
“Nobody wants to look like a clown, but they certainly want to be adventurous and try some different things.”
Actually, the notion of skirts for guys is not so novel. Axl Rose of the band Guns N’ Roses has popularized the look.
And in seasons past, designers Jean-Paul Gaultier and Donna Karan have filled their runways with men in skirts, to the applause of fashion journalists.
The average guy, too, has reason to applaud.
He’s already pilfered women’s ponytails and earrings. Now he can reach for a skirt. So far, nobody’s pressuring him to accessorize with high heels.