How were you introduced to kiltdom?

[Lance (Montana)]

For me it was a sort of odd thing. Two years ago I got interested in bagpipe music. For Valentines day that year my wife bought me a Set of Great highland Pipes. That Iv'e been fiddeling with ever sence. I still cant play them very well. Mostly becouse I cant find a teacher here. Well last year I thought that for St.Patrick's Day It would be fun to Make and Wear a kilt. So the day before I went down to the local fabric store and bought some Plad fabrick.
Looked on the internet for kilt paterns. And that night my wife and I spent about six hrs making my first kilt. It was not the most wonderfull kilt ever made.But we were impressed with it and so I wore I proudly to the St Pady's Party. At first I was the only one in a Kilt. The another guy went and put on his great kilt. It was a smashing good time ane the kilt was very comfy. The next week I found the Breavehearts Kilt forum. Now I wear a kilt whenever and wear ever I can.
I think the thing that realy made me want to wear one was this sight. http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/chegc/kiltsite/kilt.htm

Just read ther front page
This is the place that I got the patern for makilg my first Kilt, and the thing about not having to be a Scott stuck in my head. I am part Scott. But more Welsh And German than any thing. Maby a wee bit Irish. And All American!!

KEEP ON KILTING!

[Andrew]

This question is a great one. I like finding out how and why everyone here became Kilted.
From me I started wearing a Kilt as a kid. I had one Kilt and enjoyed wearing it at special occations. I grew out of it very quickly, (for those of you who know me you probably that didn't take long!). Anyway I have been wanting another Kilt for years but never wanted to part with all the money for one. Well I was introduced to Bear Kilts and here I am now Kilted and very proud to be! Now that I am not a kid anymore I don't have to wait for a special occation to wear my Kilt, I just wear it because I want to.
I have always had lots of respect for the Kilt and those who wear it, ever since I was a kid. I see how people on the street look with a knowing respect as the Kilted Brothers of Vancouver stroll by them and it fills me with pride. Pride for the history of family and country, and a pride for the Men that wear their Kilts out and about.
To you all, CHEERS!

[Kiltedmusiclover]

That Iv'e been fiddeling with ever sence. I still cant play them very well. Mostly becouse I cant find a teacher here.
KEEP ON KILTING!

Lance,
You might consider one of the week long courses
offered at some Highland games. Near Grandfather
Mt. they offer classes all summer. I will list
the link. They offer week long classes for beginners to as far as you can go.
It's just a thought.


http://www.naapd.org/vallecrucis.htm
Nelson

[richardljohnson]

Mine started 20 years ago in '84. I got my first 2 Clan Kilts, 1 my own and another I liked (in '84 this was not done and admitted to but, I liked the tartan). The Clan tartan was a celebration of my newly dicsovered family link to Scotland. A visit to a Kilt maker in Houston (at that time it was a wonder what was in the yellow pages in those days) set me up with my first Clan kilt and also a 2 hour lesson in how to wear the kilt. Between this and the book "So Your Going to Wear the Kilt" that got me started. Shortly after this I got my second kilt from a kilt maker in Scotland. I wore them off and on and I fell out of wearing them over the year I got them.

Last Oct. my wife and I started watching 'Monarch of the Glen' on a local PBS station. It reminded me of how much I did enjoy the kilt. I dug them out and started investing in sport kilts and making my own camo kilts. I have made a commitment to the kilts. I can't wear them at work because of a clothing policy (although I have told my boss on April 6th policy be damned!) but I wear them on my Saturday and Sunday outings, family (wife's side) events and yard work...I would say 95% of the comments are positive and the other 5% I don't care about!

I am wondering if a common event for other guys are the double and triple takes by women? My wife finds it funny and even threated to pull a 'Braveheart' on me when we walked past a woman that was staring ESPECIALLY hard! Yes, regemental that day too...

How did it start...basically on a whim and restarted because of a TV show...Life...go figure!

RLJ-

[aikinut]

Copied from an earlier post I made:
I was an exchange student to Southeast Asia back in the late 80's, and every evening everybody would take a shower and put on a sarong. It was a revelation of comfort, and I knew that I wanted to wear something so comfortable on a regular basis. The sarongs I wore are impractical in day-to-day life for a few reasons, but kilts seemed to cover those deficiencies nicely. Then I found out how much a tartan kilt costs. I also wondered how comfortable 8 yards of wool would be in the middle of summer, and it seemed that so many accessories were mandatory, driving the price up even further. So much for that idea. Then Utilikilts came along, and it was like someone had said "y'know, you've got a point. Here, have some freedom." For what my 12 kilts cost, I could only have bought 3 traditional tartan kilts, and I'd be so worked up about how much I'd paid for them that I'd never wear them! Instead, I haven't worn pants in close to two years (except on the motorcycle) and I couldn't be happier.

[Rhino]

Hi chaps,
Always liked the look of kilts, the epitomy of masculinity, and the idea sort of floated around in the back of my mind. I've always been a bit wary of claiming heritage as I am English but have a couple of scots, an irish and a welsh in my recent family history. My great grandad was Russian so I'm a total mongrel. Anyway last year I was at clothes show live NEC, (it's a fashion show + market based on a Uk tv show), treating my wife for Christmas, and saw the 21st century kilt stand. Very curious and bored with looking at the latest exfoliator I wandered over and started chatting to one of the guys there. Howie. Surrounded by signs saying no smoking and no food or drink, we sparked up and cracked a cold one while he picked a kilt off the rack for me to try.
Sales technique went like this,'I don't want you to buy one I'm just trying to raise awareness. Have another beer. ' An hour later I'd ordered a black barathea and was still drinking in the kilt he'd lent me. Him and his mate were laughing about the fact they were going out with all the girl models that night and how much weight they'd need in their sporran. The idea of all the models and the attention we got while there sold me on how good we looked.
Now got 3 the black, a pinstripe and a marine cammo. My wife insisted I had them. I'm lucky too Sorry to have gone on.
Cheers Rhino

[Graham]

I also have been influenced by movies such as Monarch of the Glen. Duncan was always my hero, I admired him for his kilt-wearing, but sadly it didn't seem to help him with the fairer sex

Braveheart was also an influence, it must be my favourite film.

My one regret is that I didn't start wearing kilts a long time ago, so Im pleased for young people like my eldest son, who are showing an interest early.

[rjpowell]

My interest goes back to 1986 when the original Highlander film came out. I have always been drawn to the medieval period and the movie just sucked me in. In 1990, I met my wife who is from Dublin Ireland and we began attending the CNY Scottish Games - mostly because we both love the bagpipes. Well after a little research we discovered that my Mother's maiden name (Russell) was Scottish & had it's own tartan. My wife made me a kilt from a plaid that was close to the Russell tartan and a few years later purchased the "real McCoy" from Scotland Yard in Kentucky for Christmas - they have a great payment plan!
Two years ago we picked up a kilt for my (then) 6 year old son at our games and he loves wearing it!

Slainte,
Rick

[Mr. Kilt]

I always thought kilts were cool, but never paid much attention to them.
One night I was watching a rerun of the TV show "Home Improvement". The episode had teh star, Tim Allen, dressed in a kilt most of the show.
I happened to be wearing a housecoat at the time, and all of a sudden I realized something! It suddenly dawned on me that I was the most comfortable lounging around in the housecoat. No pinches, pulls, or other problems that I was constantly "adjusting for" when wearing my usual jeans.
Watching the show made me realize that perhaps a kilt was the way towards a much more comfortable state of being. It's taken my wife some time to get used to it, but I love my kilts. I'm slowly getting out more in them, most of the time I wear them just around the house.
I hope that soon I'll be wearing kilts almost exclusively.

[kimsey]

i was introduced to the idea of kilt wearing 2 years ago.a friend of mine and our 2 boys had driven from nc to taos,nm for a few days of skiing.on our last day we met a guy in the lift line to kachina basin skiing in a kilt,we chatted a bit and i suppose this kilt thing started. a year later i ordered a utilikilt..the first place i wore it was to a string cheese incident in ashevile...i'm 52 years old and it was great fun,also great ego boost to have 20 year old women ask whats under your kilt. so if you want kilts to become more common place, wear your kilt publicly on occasion.