Why did you start wearing a kilt?

[kilted_brewer]

My short version amounts to what Rocky wrote to himself at the link below, only I was 35 when I had the a similar realization: I didn't want to hit my next birthday and still be afraid to wear the clothes I thought looked good.

I don't think I've ever had a chance to relate the longer version, so thanks for asking!

I had been interested in tartans since high school, and had a copy of Bain's Clans & Tartans of Scotland, as well as a necktie in what I now know is Cumming Hunting Modern dating from that time (one day, I'll have a tank in that tartan, too, but it would have to be an asymmetrical tartan, so I don't think I'll be attempting to make it myself; that will likely remain a cherished dream).

But it really took a series of events to get me started wearing a kilt. First, seeing a Utilikilts booth at an event my workplace co-produces in Washington, DC made me see that contemporary kilts could be just another option for everyday wear. The death of my maternal grandfather, who was proud of his Scottish heritage (however distant it may have been), and my personal/private/eccentric effort to honor his memory brought back the interest in Scottish history and culture, and my own ancestry. Finally, a few weeks' parental leave from work in late 2006 gave me the chance to try out being kilted everyday.

I think I went 2 years kilted fulltime, but in 2009, I reconciled with shorts. Jeans and I still have an uncomfortable working relationship, and my khakis and I have long since parted company.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/articles_id.php?id=7

Here's mine (written up a few years back).