The "Don of Fear"

[KentuckyCeltophile]

Kiltedjohn wrote:


My wife doesn’t like the attention, and she also doesn’t like the kilt. Period. But I love the freedom it gives me.
She says people mock me and she feels hurt for my part. But I don’t care if people mock me. A great many more folk pay me compliments.
Long live the kilt!
Regards,
Mike

Hey Mike_Oettle! Fortunately, I don't have that problem. My wife loves it, but she still has apprehension about me wearing it out and about. Maybe point out to her the wonderful practicalities of the kilt as it relates to "adult matters". It's all on how you sell it.

[KentuckyCeltophile]

Mate, I have to ask....why do you care what other people think?

I mean, there's no reason to be a raging, aggressive jerk about the kilt, or about anything else, eh? However, exactly whom are you hurting by wearing a kilt, so that you should be concerned about anybody elses thoughts regarding it?

People will notice you in your kilt. Yes, they will. So what? It's not like you're parading around stark naked. If you're absolutely terrified about anybody "noticing" you for any reason, whatsoever, then the issues you have, have NOTHING to do with "kilts" and everything to do with self-esteem. Those are hard words, eh?

If you want to wear your kilt, then wear it. If you don't, then don't. Simple enough. Don't make more out of it than it is.

Just so you know, the first time I wore a kilt I was ready to stare down or beat down anybody who called me out on it and was a jerk about it. After one day went by I realized that simply wasn't going to happen. In seven years of frequent kilt-wearing, I can recount about four negative interactions, balanced by literally hundreds of positive ones. Note that those are sprinkled throughout THOUSANDS of hours of nobody saying a darned thing to me about the kilt, at all. A few people notice, here and there. Mostly nobody says a word and I just go about my business.

On the other hand, a seriously hot babe, easily twenty-five years my junior spotted me coming around the corner behind the bank today, and stopped and looked me up and down. She quite brazenly and said... "Now, that's NICE". I looked her up and down and said... "I could say the same thing about you." She smiled. Everybody wins.

Relax. Don't make more out of it, than it is.

Hey Alan H! I think everyone on here has that uncomfortable feeling. You seem very confident and yet you still anticipated some negative remarks. That's my point exactly. Some people, myself included, who are just beginning to wear the kilt are not used to wearing something they like and it getting the response that a kilt brings positive or negative. Maybe its more like "stage fright" than a fear of negative comments. Yes, self-esteem does play a role in it. I'm not the most confident person in the world. But don't throw me to the wolves just yet. The more I learn about how to where them and dress properly the better my confidence becomes.

"The less you are up on something, the more you are down on it."

[tpa]

Kiltedjohn wrote:


My wife doesn’t like the attention, and she also doesn’t like the kilt. Period. But I love the freedom it gives me.
She says people mock me and she feels hurt for my part. But I don’t care if people mock me. A great many more folk pay me compliments.
Long live the kilt!
Regards,
Mike

I am fortunate in that my wife likes me in a kilt. She should do as I married her in one. However, as I have said before, because I wear one most of the time, she says she no longer notices. So the answer is: wear it all the time, around the house, out and about and familiarity will bring, hopefully, content; to adapt the well known idiom.

[Chaps]

Kentucky,
I just started wearing a kilt earlier this year. The first time was fairly easy as the Church I attend celebrates a Scottish Reformation Sunday and there were about 20 of us wearing kilts including the Pastor. My wife had rented me a kilt for that event and I shortly thereafter purchased my own and all the kit that goes with it. I have since worn it to a Tartan Day, a Scottish Festival, Easter Sunday Services. I now wear it whenever I want to be well dressed such as to the theater, to a nice restaurant for my birthday, etc. as well as to cultural events like highland games. I have not yet worn it to a work related social event though I am planning to do so at the very least at our annual Christmas party. This particular thread has caused me to wonder why do I choose to wear a kilt. I think while wearing the kilt does reflect the heritage of my religious tradition, and I do have a wee bit of Scottish ancestry several generations back. I think that I have to admit that I wear the kilt to nice restaurants and the theater because I like the attention. I think I look good in the kilt and my wife likes it, so I wear it. I will continue to do so and have just purchased my 2nd kilt so I will probably kilt up even more often. I also think that being part of this forum has helped me be more comfortable wearing the kilt. While I don't wear the kilt as often as some of the rest of the rabble, I will continue to wear the kilt when I think it is appropriate. I have theater tickets for next weekend and will break out my kilt once again. I have friends who wear their kilts once or twice a year and there are a few among the rabble who wear them daily. Bottom line: Be honest with yourself and wear the kilt as you feel comfortable.

[briansbarkery]

Like most of the responders here I say just do it. I first wore my kilt to the local Highland Games a couple weeks back. I fit right in of course. Then came the time right after the games that my fiance wanted to go to Petsmart to buy the new pup its bimonthly $50 of chew toys. I was skeptical at first. After all I was going to be the only kilted one there. Well after Petsmart came the gas station to pick up some bottled water to drink for the drive home. At the gas station it hit me that it really doesn't matter that I was in a kilt. I was enjoying the attention of the general public. Had several people come up to me and start conversations at all 3 places. Complete strangers that would have passed me by if it wasn't for the kilt....ok I admit one was about my fiances corset she was wearing but still.

[KentuckyCeltophile]

Kentucky,
I just started wearing a kilt earlier this year. The first time was fairly easy as the Church I attend celebrates a Scottish Reformation Sunday and there were about 20 of us wearing kilts including the Pastor.

Chaps,
I would love it if my church had a "Kilt Day". Is that something closely tied with your denomination? As a Baptist, we are not encouraged to do fun things like…fun.
I might try to start something like that.
KC

[Chaps]

KC,
I am Presbyterian and our roots come from the Church of Scotland. It is still not that common even among Presbyterians. Having served or attended dozens of Presbyterian churches, my current church, Graham Memorial, is the only one that has taken our Scottish heritage to this level. It could have something to do with the fact that the Pastor's name in McElrath. There is also a tradition in some Presbyterian churches called the Kirkin' o' the tartans that was created or revived by a Presbyterian Pastor, Peter Marshall(originally from Scotland) shortly after WWII.
I have been trying to convince a Baptist Chaplain friend of mine that he too should wear a kilt, but so far no luck. With Baptists you might have a tougher connection with the Church of Scotland except that many of the first leaders of the Baptist Church in the U.S. had originally been Presbyterians and then saw the light or fell into heresy (depending on your point of view). I did wear my kilt on Easter Sunday as did another member of the congregation who is from Scotland. So you don't have to wait for a "Kilt Day" or "Scottish Reformation Sunday" to wear your kilt. As I wrote in my previous post, I will wear my kilt as I feel it is appropriate, I encourage you to do the same. Who knows, maybe you can start a new trend in Baptist churches.
Chaps

[tpa]

From the age of 8, when wearing a kilt to church was mandatory (at school), I have done so almost exclusively, though have to admit my church attendance is few and far between nowadays. The obvious reason being that there are very few services I have been to which would appear make any effort to engage with the audience. I have a very good friend who is a minister (in a parish a long way from where I live) and I know from him how difficult this can be - please one section and you alienate another. However he always remarks on my kilt when he sees me, probably because it is the only one he encounters with any frequency. He is of course a minister in Scotland and I currently live south of the border.

[Chaps]

I can't speak to experiences with Presbyterian Churches across the pond whether in Wales, Ireland, or with the Church of Scotland. After I leave the Navy, at whatever church I end up serving in the US, kilts will be welcome and encouraged. If nothing else the wearing of kilts will serve as a reminder of our historical ties to the Church of Scotland. While attire and church history are not central to worship, we forget our history, church or otherwise, at our own peril. Even today, if any of you rabble venture to Coronado, California on a Sunday and want to wear your kilt to Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church, you would be welcome. Let me know you are coming and I will ensure you are not the only one there wearing a kilt on that Sunday.

[KentuckyCeltophile]

My Pastor promised to go to the "Jug and Kilt" pub in Barboursville, WV or "The Pub" Restaurant in Lexington, KY. He has encouraged me to wear my kilt (possibly for the humor factor). However, I'm not sure a kilt day would be well received. Funnily though, church is the first place I wore my kilt. Seriously, I still think it's really cool that you guys, tpa and Chaps, wear them to church all the time. That definitely proves that you are really close to God.
KC