Tom's Cafe history / Split

[Iolaus]

I'm going to be touching on the freestyler/braveheart split during my speech in class tuesday and I wanted to run this by the people who were there since I wasn't. Most of this history I've picked up along the way by listening to people who were part of the early days, but not from direct questions, so if I got things wrong let me know. Thanks.

In 1996, Tom’s Café was established as a web presence. From what I have been able to glean from early participants of that forum, the initial focus was to be on fashion freedom and accepting of all types of traditional men’s wraps - kilts and other types of wraps traditionally associated with men, such as the lava-lava of Polynesia, and the dashiki of Africa. However, soon after its inception, men of a different opinion began to gravitate toward the forum. These men were of the opinion that any type of wrap should be allowable, indeed, that all forms of gender classification in clothes should be done away with, and that it should be acceptable to wear anything, including, in some cases, blatantly feminine styles such as full-length gowns and mini-skirts, and accessories like high heels and purses.
This caused a rift in the forum membership, leading to a war of sorts over the future direction of the forum. The traditionalists, or “Bravehearts”, wanted to limit the discussions to the garments that were traditionally men’s styles, while the new people, who called themselves “Freestylers” argued that since the premise of the forum was “fashion freedom”, their viewpoints were valid contributions to the discussions. The Bravehearts, most of whom were kilt wearing men, soon tired of the constant flame wars and moved on to establish their own sites on the web.

[Graham]

Others know much more than me, but what you've said seems accurate to my understanding.
Is it worth mentioning the sad and untimely passing of Tom and the demise of the forum since?
Also, could Bravehearts be confused with the forum of that name? not sure what info is relevant in your talk, hope it goes well, make sure you wear the kilt for it :-D

[bubba]

Tom's Cafe is still there. I don't know how it's doing since I haven't been there in quite some time and am no longer in the userbase.

[GMan]

Good luck on your speech. I echo Graham's sentiments that I do not know much of the history of Tom's as I only visited from time to time. Yes after the passing of Tom I am sure it is different. Bubba is right that it is still going to the best of my knowledge. I did like the idea of it being a place for all men's garments that do not fit the "norm" of trousers. It just seemed to get hi-jacked, and not just with threads.

[Iolaus]

Others know much more than me, but what you've said seems accurate to my understanding.
Is it worth mentioning the sad and untimely passing of Tom and the demise of the forum since?
Also, could Bravehearts be confused with the forum of that name? not sure what info is relevant in your talk, hope it goes well, make sure you wear the kilt for it :-D

The very next paragraph is going to be mentioning kiltmen.com, with their by-line "Bravehearts in Kilts Against Trouser Tyranny," as well as XMarks and their focus on kilts exclusively.

Which brings up another point. I noticed that both sites are copyrighted starting in 2000. would it be correct to say that they are the two main sites that arose in response to the exodus?

...and of course I'll be wearing a kilt! (...A Utlilkit, but that's all I've got)

[GMan]

Another idea, is that you can contact WDP, the admin at kiltmen (and does at times post here) from either his kiltmen or PM here.

[The Wizard of BC]

Your best source for information on the early days of Tom's is our own Hamish.
He was there.

[Iolaus]

I haven't actually clarified exactly what I'm talking about, so for those who are curious...

My main emphasis in this speech is going to be about the renewed interest in wearing the kilt, how "Breavehearts" differ from the the other "skirt-wearers", and where the kilt has been seen in public - first on celebs, but extending that portion of the speech to include pics of everyday people in everyday situations like work and school.

I'm including a short history of the kilt's developement (great kilt, etc.) to provide some historical continuity, but mainly, I'm trying to convince a class of teen and twenty-somethings that a man wearing a kilt is not an aberration, but a representitive of a current social movement.

[highlander_Daz]

I never had any dealings with any of these aforementioned, I must admit as a traditionalist I dont like to mix the kilt up with boards that advocate the wearing of high heels purses or the lava-lava of Polynesia whatever that may be!!!

Ive nothing against men that want to wear womens attire, however its completly seperate issue than the kilt, as of course its a mans garment.

[Iolaus]

I've nothing against men that want to wear womens attire, however its completly seperate issue than the kilt, as of course its a man's garment.

Exactly my point. I want to deliniate the seperation of men's/women's garments in the minds of these college students.