Just let the wife know

[Blu (Ontario)]

I may have mentioned this before, but my wife goes off on one too sometimes."why the kilt" routine. but she knows I'm not gunna change...

My wife has pretty much given up with her vocal objections although I do occasionally get "the look". I think that her having been to a couple of pub nights and seeing first hand that kilts wearers are typically decent, intelligent, fun people, has really helped. Is St. Louis devoid of men in kilts or pub nights?

...anyway,yesterday,very cold here in Canada...

No kidding! And the temperature plummeted through the day! (-30c windchill here.)I was wearing my kilt yesterday trying to get some Christmas shopping done. It was not an ideal day to be authentic. I should have known better.

[phil h]

I just dont wanna get frostbite on mi bits

[bubba]

I haven't had a problem with the cold so far down to 16 degrees F.

[macwilkin]

Is St. Louis devoid of men in kilts or pub nights?

There is actually a fairly large Scottish community in St. Louis; the state's Tartan Day celebrations are held in St. Charles, just west of the city on the Missouri River, and they have a large St. Andrew's Society (over 400 members) and a large Highland Games in October.

Besides the Scots, there is also a large Irish population that dates back before the Civil War, and two Welsh pubs, so it is certainly a city with Celtic influences.

Cheers,

T.

[Andrew Breecher]

I haven't had a problem with the cold down to -20F (without the wind chill), last winter.

Today it's currently 7F out (-11F with the windchill) and I was out and about without worry of freezing my bits off, and that was in my 4-yard Bear kilt. Imagine how warm I'd be if I wore my "tank" wool kilt!

Andrew.

[dana]

My wife has pretty much given up with her vocal objections although I do occasionally get "the look". I think that her having been to a couple of pub nights and seeing first hand that kilts wearers are typically decent, intelligent, fun people, has really helped. Is St. Louis devoid of men in kilts or pub nights?

Well being the non-drinking type, I'm not the best source for pub related questions. And I've never seen anyone in St. Louis wearing a kilt, except the occasional marching band

I'm sure there are people in St. Louis that wear kilts, I just haven't run accross them. But I guess I'll start looking now

dana

[Graham]

Well Dana, I'm probably one of only two men on our island state that wears a kilt all the time.
The other guy leads a quiet life and isn't seen about a lot.

However, there is a chap down south who has become addicted to USA Kilts and many more i know who like to wear a kilt for "special occasions" (I think every day is special).

We are a special breed indeed!

[dana]

Well Dana, I'm probably one of only two men on our island state that wears a kilt all the time.
The other guy leads a quiet life and isn't seen about a lot.

However, there is a chap down south who has become addicted to USA Kilts and many more i know who like to wear a kilt for "special occasions" (I think every day is special).

We are a special breed indeed!

Unless you're in one of the kilt hotbeds (if there is such a thing), I think a kilt siting would still be considered rare. But from the sounds of things here at X Marks, they should be on the rise.

Btw Graham, I enjoyed your pictures of you and your son working kilted. It must have been a proud day for you.

dana

[Gary]

I'm Gary's wife. I thought I'd reply. My husband has been wearing kilts much of the time for the past 5 years. He wears them to work, to church, shopping, to school events, just about everywhere except the pool. I wasn't thrilled when my husband started wearing them. My first issue was "is this it or is it just the first step toward a sex change?" Another major issue was the cost. My husband now has 20 kilts and a kilt jacket, along with the usual kilt accessories. It hasn't come cheap. How people will respond in public was a concern. We have had very few rude comments in the 5 years; however, he does attract a lot of attention. I was uncomfortable being in the spotlight until I realized that only he was in the spotlight, unless I was wearing a tartan skirt while he is wearing a tartan kilt. What my friends and acquaintances would say was a major concern. No one has been rude to me, but I had a lot of friends ask me what I thought of it, and if it bothered me. I still have one friend who asks at least once a year about it. Most of our friends were not surprised since my husband has been considered an eccentric since he got his first earring in 1981. The final concern I had was what the boys and relatives would think. Our second son immediately liked it. Our oldest was in high school at the time, and all his friends thought it was cool, so our son thought it was cool, and so the rest of our boys thought it was cool. My parents never said a thing. In fact, my husband wore a kilt to my mother's funeral. His mom and sister asked all the usual questions and then some. Then his sister started questioning me.

My advice, take it or leave it. Be patient with her since you've been thinking about it for a while and she has only had a few days to get used to the idea. Be polite to everyone in public when you're out with her, no matter what is said or how many people call it a skirt. Look put together when you go out in a kilt. I still cringe at the thought of some of the combinations my husband wore when he started kilting.

Hopefully she'll come around. The first few times out will be nerveracking since so many people will comment; it's like having a broken arm, everyone has to ask.

Clara

[bubba]

Clara, excellent comments and advice. I'm one of the fortunate ones. My wife loved it from the start and I have to say I did pay more attention to what I wear than when I was wearing jeans.