Hi All,
I'm newly registered here but have been lurking for the last month or so.

Here's my situation, and if you could give me your opinion, I'd be most grateful.

I'm new to kilts and shopping for my first.

Physical 'Situation':
I'm in the midst of a (rather successful) diet and have dropped almost 20lbs in the last month due to a combination of calorie reduction and getting off my butt and working out again after a serious back injury 4 yrs ago. This also means that I've dropped about 4 actual inches off my waist (from a true 42" to <38"). I'm hoping that by the end of the coming month I will have lost the last ~15lbs I'd like to lose, which should put me back at my 'fighting weight' of around 200 even, and back down to a 34".
I'm 6'1" with a very large bone structure (even as soft as I'd gotten, I was still dense enough to sink in salt water).

I promised myself that if I finally lost the flab, I'd buy myself a kilt, I've always wanted one.

Selection:
Here's the big issue. I don't know what to pick.
I am a pretty casual guy away from the work environment, and live in a state with pretty minimal Scottish heritage (WI). I'm not Scots myself (all German, with the accompanying big, square head). My wife is German/Irish. Her family 'colour' is Vermilion Red - so that's out as a choice.

I don't participate in highland games, can't ever see myself wearing a PC jacket, and tend to be overly warm, even in the coldest of weather (I wore shorts year round in college, when I could get away with it). So the kilt would most likely be a festival, pub, 'round the town type item, that hopefully could be dressed up a bit when needed.

After browsing the web, and most helpful sites like this for the last month, I've come up with a short-ish list of contenders, but would like the feedback of far more experienced kilties to help steer me.

1) MUG - Alphakilt's Aberdeen, without pockets in OD green. Basic black buckle belt, day sporran, oatmeal socks with black boots. T-shirt or polo.
Big benefit here is that it's pretty bland in colour and close to what I'm used to wearing

2) SWK Standard in 'Nightstalker' tartan, with the above outfit, or the ability to go with shoes, flashes, and a tweed waistcoat and black necktie for casual/dressy evenings.

I know Jerry's service and quality (for that level of kilt) are most highly regarded. I do have worries about acrylic fibres, as I tend to be WAYYY too warm in most situations.

3)USA Kilts casual. Tartan undetermined, but German Heritage, Grey Granite, Holyrood, and St. Andrews have all caught my eye as possibilities.
I'm a bit worried about being too 'dressed' in it's very casual environment. I tend to be a solid colour guy (or at least very muted patterns).
The benefit is that this kilt would be a lot easier to dress up a bit than the MUG, and the PV is regarded as more breathable than the Acrylic.

I do have one question about the casual kilt though, Can the USAK patch be left off intentionally when ordering? Browsing through their gallery, some casuals have the patch, and some clearly don't. I think it's a bit of a distraction and would chose to have it left off. I don't think it's a deal-breaker, but would annoy me a bit.

Obviously, I won't be ordering until I've hit either my ideal weight, or as close as I'm realistically going to get (and stay).
I don't know if I'll get hooked and end up with a closet full of kilts (like I have shorts) so this may be the only one. Any thoughts?
thanks in advance.