I've enjoyed reading XMarks for several months now and thought I'd join the forum so I could ask a question every now and then. I started wearing kilts in June, 2006, and from what I've read, I've started in a manner that has progressed backwards from most. Lest I be misunderstood, I didn't start out wearing my kilt backwards!

I'm an air traffic controller, and I work in a building with a lot of radar scopes, no windows, and where the only people that see us are coworkers and the very occasional visitor who stops by for a tour. About May this year, my employer announced that they intended to implement a new dress code in September. Up until then, our dress code was pretty lenient. Especially since we aren’t generally visible to the public, the requirement was to dress in a neat, clean manner which would not erode public confidence in our professionalism. Added to that is the traditionally casual atmosphere of Alaska. Here, a clean pair of jeans, a casual shirt, and the insulated boots you wear to avoid frostbite will get you into our best restaurants or the theatre.

While my employer’s old dress code certainly allowed kilts, the new dress code appeared it would allow kilts too. When I checked with my employer, they agreed – albeit in a vague and noncommittal way – that kilts would be allowed after September. Several years prior, I'd seen Patrick Norton wear a Utilikilt on TechTV and thought that it looked pretty sharp. At the time, though, I couldn't imagine where I'd feel comfortable wearing one. Here was my excuse to wear a kilt! I ordered a couple of Utilikilt Mockers (their casual dress version) and started wearing them to work several times a week.

The atmosphere at work was one of dread and lament as my coworkers contemplated having to change how they’d dressed after nearly 20 years of no dress code at all. (Our workforce consists largely of long-time employees like myself, most with nearly 20 years of service.) By wearing a kilt, I was able to inject a little fun into the impending change. Although it was fun, I was primarily motivated by a desire to take the edge off of being told how to dress. For me, I was sort of saying, “I’ll dress your way, but it’s still my way!”

I started wearing my kilt three to five times a week. I’ve never been much of a conformist, so nobody was too surprised. I always wore a nice dress shirt and tie, some Doc Martin-style boots and scrunched-down socks, and one of my ever-present Scottish wool sweaters. I received plenty of positive comments (mainly from women). I figured if I could establish my kilt as something classy under the more lenient dress code, I’d have a better chance of the kilt being allowed under the new “business casual” dress code that was coming in a few months.

I’m told that I was a topic of discussion at the national level of our organization (I work for the government) just before the new dress code was implemented in September. When the dress code went into effect, the briefing to all employees started with “Yes, kilts are allowed.” I was quite happy with that result and interested to see if anyone else would wear a kilt. Several other people had mentioned they were going to “protest the dress code" by wearing a kilt too. I don’t think they understood that I wasn’t trying to somehow punish my employer for changing the dress code, but that I wanted to preserve a bit of who I was.

I don’t know if I’ve properly explained my exact motivations for wearing a kilt for the first time, but it turns out that whatever those reasons were, they didn’t really matter. By this accident, I discovered that I really like wearing a kilt. It’s a good fit with how I feel about myself. That’s the good part . . . a minor distraction follows.

Once the dress code was actually implemented, a lot of people became angry (and there were many other issues for which they had cause to be angry). A few people started wearing clothes intended to irk their employer. Nationally, probably a half-dozen men decided to wear dresses to work, stemming from their mistaken belief that separate dress codes could not legally be applied to men and women. Although I know of several people at other facilities who wore the kilt in a neat and respectful manner, there were also a few people who rented cheap costumes that caricatured kilts. Finally, out of frustration with improper behavior, my employer banned all sorts of garments including togas, sarongs, wraps, men in dresses . . . and kilts.

Up until this point, I had been wearing kilts only to work, still getting comfortable with wearing something unique in public. For a moment, I wondered what was I going to do with my kilts. But I quickly decided I wasn’t going to stop wearing kilts just because the dress code had changed. So I started wearing kilts wherever my wife and I went. I’ve seen the entire gamut of reactions at shops and restaurants, most of them neutral or positive, just like the reception of my coworkers. And, as it turns out, our new dress code and the prohibition of kilts is suspended during midnight shifts. So I still wear a kilt to work once a week late at night.

I’ve got a great box-pleated kilt on order from Matt Newsome in 16 ounce Brodie Hunting Weathered (it should be only a couple of weeks away), and a really sharp-looking Freelander sporran coming from over the pole. I’m still working on selecting some good hose, but I really look forward to having a more traditional kilt and accessories in my wardrobe very soon.

Abax