Anyone's spouse/significant other vehemently opposed to you kilting?

[Jimmy]

" In my experience in the Highlands the kilt is male territory and females if they dare, including brides to be, tread very carefully should they venture there."

I wrote this in another thread yesterday and I quote it here as it illustrates a very different thought process in much of Scotland. Now a large part of this comes from "I am a Scot and I am a "MacOnion", so I wear the "MacOnion" kilt if I want to." Any female Scot has grown up with that and "Her Man" is what he is, he wears the kilt if he wants to and he wears HIS tartan and that is that.

I read the posts on this thread with absolute dismay that the kilt should cause such division and not a little upset in the home, but frankly that is what happens when you wear a garment ---the kilt---outwith its natural surroundings. How you get round it I really don't know, but it is plain to see that compromise is the best course.

My ex-wife had no qualms about me wearing the kilt as often as I wanted but I have some friends whom I run about with and during the summer, I like being kilted a lot and generally this is accepted well but I have just been talking to Cessna152Towser who has asked me if I will be going to the Old Vintage Bus Parade in Glasgow next month, I met him there last year and he was kilted, I was not. He asked me if I will be kilted at the event this year, I have told him as this is not a particular Scottish event, my friends would expect me not to be kilted and they would think I was daft wearing a kilt on that day. It is an attitude that even in Scotland we have ''Why are you wearing a kilt'
Sometimes on the occasional Friday night out at a pub in the west of Glasgow, I have randomly been kilted and still you get many questions from many people on why you are kilted.

[Jock Scot]

My ex-wife had no qualms about me wearing the kilt as often as I wanted but I have some friends whom I run about with and during the summer, I like being kilted a lot and generally this is accepted well but I have just been talking to Cessna152Towser who has asked me if I will be going to the Old Vintage Bus Parade in Glasgow next month, I met him there last year and he was kilted, I was not. He asked me if I will be kilted at the event this year, I have told him as this is not a particular Scottish event, my friends would expect me not to be kilted and they would think I was daft wearing a kilt on that day. It is an attitude that even in Scotland we have ''Why are you wearing a kilt'
Sometimes on the occasional Friday night out at a pub in the west of Glasgow, I have randomly been kilted and still you get many questions from many people on why you are kilted.

I think your friends question of, "why are you wearing the kilt?" is fairly universal in Scotland these days, although it may not always be asked out loud. In my youth, too many years ago to mention, I think that the kilt was worn without prompting this particular question , although I do think that the kilt was not as common in those days. Even these days, Alex would be fairly unusual in his fairly regular kilt wearing escapades, I would say.

[Damocles]

interesting thread. basically i'm not married. so as for a spouse hating my rig that's not a problem. though my ex thinks its a bit ethnocentric. but as i'm sure the ex is aware i would tell any one that objected to my kilting ways to go take a long walk of a short pier. the bigger problem for me is my mothe.r though i am 49 years old and she is 75 when i kilt she stops talking to me. frankly i don't see what the big deal is. i think it has to do with the fact that my father is Scottish and she is German. they divorst decades ago. she just cant let go of this association with my dad. i love her but as i told her what i ware when i ware it is my bisness and iv been dressing my self sins i was 5 years old so that's that. if you don't like it you can not come around me in my kilt that's your choice. but as i'm sure any one here with a German parent can attest to the fact that they give new meaning to the idea of being stubborn. i am too so i understand some what. sins i don't live near her its not a big problem most of the time. and lastly im an artist people kind of expect a certain amount of eccentricity in there artist/painter LOL.
not that im saying any one that wars any particular style of clothing is wired. o contrair i think if the world was full of more people that did there own thing what a much more excepting place it would be RIGHT?
Paul

[Baldybrown]

I'm beginning to come to the understanding that Scots in Scotland don't think twice about wearing a kilt to a special occasion like a wedding or a soccer (football) match, and that wearing it for everyday use is not the norm (but is, I think, becoming more so lately). It might be compared with someone in the US wearing a tux to the bar. People will want to know if there's a 'special occasion'. This forum is proof of the resurgence of the popularity of the kilt. Remember, a fashion trend starts from confident people, not clothes.

[BuchananBiker]

Well, back to the main question: I probably wouldn't be wearing kilts at all had it not been for my wife who encouraged me to buy one at a highlands games over ten years ago. Now I have several kilts, sporrans, balmorals, jackets, shoes... all with her encouragement. She also encouraged me to buy a set of pipes which I am learning to play, and NEVER discourages me -- quite the contrary -- from wearing a kilt whenever and wherever. Now my ex-wife, not so much.... Hmmm, I wonder if there's a connection there?

I hear ya. My ex-wife was generally spiteful and abusive (it's easy to punch a man in the face when you know he won't swing back) and hateful of everything that brought me joy.
I HAD a kilt. It was a nice 5 yard wool kilt in Buchanan tartan. While I was at work one day she cut it up, kid you not, to make a handbag for herself and a wee little bonnet for her mother's scots terrier. One of many reasons she's an "ex-wife" now.... Lost my shirt on it, but I'd do it again.

Do you know why divorce costs so much?

Because it's so darn WORTH IT!!!

[Hamilton pride]

Yes, my wife definately disagrees with me wearing a kilt. I have started learning to play the pipes, she also doesn't like that. She has told me " your just not the right type to wear a kilt, your legs are too short". I do have short legs, but it doesn't really look like it with the kilt and kilt hose on (in my opinion). I think a lot of her problem is her family is from a German heritage and they have no desire to search their heritage or family history and dont know why I would want to honor my ancestors. My family has been traced back to Scotland and I am proud, so she's just going to have to learn to live with it, and my kilt.

[privypiper2002]

I would tell her that "your legs are long enough to touch the ground." What else do you need? Most Scots I have met are not that tall either.

[SteveB]

This month has been a busy one for me. Most of it kilted. My spouse of 6 years and SO of 28 years has been used to the idea that I wear the kilt. Early on in our relationship, he told me that I could not accompany him to an event in my kilt, that I would need to change to trousers. I simply moved the materials that we were to take to the event from my car to his, and wished him a pleasant evening, as I would be up when he returned, and he could tell me all about it. He was displeased and went of to the family event without me. He told everyone why I was not there, and his whole family asked him when he was going to get a kilt of his own. He has yet to wear a kilt, but is quite happy to be with me in mine.
We attended the triennial Congress of the Mayflower Society from the 8th through the 14th. i packed only kilts and no trousers. I wore my clan (MacNeill) tartan for all but on Sunday the 11th. For the 11th I wore my USAK American Heritage kilt. The usual question of what tartan is it came up quite often as I worked the registration table. It was interesting to many as I explained the significance of the threads in the pattern. After the fifth time of explaining it to others, my spouse was quite pleased to help with the details.
We went home long enough to do laundry and pack for the New Hampshire Highland Games (his first). I naturally only packed along kilts. He asked if I should pack some jeans in case the weather turned cold. We awoke on Friday to a very windy and cool morning (39F). He noticed that as we were in the member's tent that he was the ONLY one in trousers, and the ONLY one who was cold.

[cormacmacguardhe]

My wife does not have any major objections to my wearing my kilt wherever or whenever I please. She does ask why I am getting dressed up. This is even when I am wearing t-shirt and going casual. By the way her mother always complimented me when I went kilted around her.

[Damocles]

i just don't get why any one would object to some one else s style of clothing. if you told a woman that she couldn't dress to pleas her own sens of fashion she would accuse you of being maybe a bit controlling. woman get to ware any thing they want mostly we all have to conform at times to certain standers for work and safety that sort of thing. but look at the options woman have in comparison to men's fashions. wearing a kilt is such a small thing in the grand picture. its got nothing to do with any thing other then a personal choice. maybe the kilt is more of a focus for bad relationships or personal inbarisment for the spouse. they are in every sens a practical garment for men warm in the winter and cool if made right for the summer. there is ample room for the parts that need space. i get that some times we need to please your spouse but personally for them to ask you to go other wise has nothing to do with the kit. i guess being gay gives one a greater latitude in regards to personal self expression. if you can't dress to please your self then the bigger question in my mind is just who are you trying to please and to what end would sacrificing your Independence in such a mundane thing be doing to your self asteme. wife boy friend girl friend mother son dauter friend no person that truly cared about your well being would ask you to make these kinds of decisions to save your relationship its unhealthy. i hope that doesn't offend any one. of course i apply this standard to my self and i'm not judging any one i mostly just speaking from my sens of what i personally think is right for me. but again on the subject of men and woman isn't it suppose to be a supportive and loving relationship?