Encouragement to wear the kilt

[Wowbagger427]

I'm in need of some encouragement. I haven't worn a kilt in over 15 years, so long that I seem to have misplaced the kilt I had before. So I'm practically a kilt newbie again. Yesterday I received my USAK casual kilt in Scottish National tartan. Now all I need is the courage to actually wear it out. I'm planning on going to a concert of Christmas music held in my church tonight. I would like to wear the kilt, but I'm nervous about what people might think. I really don't know that many people there, but I do see at least some of them once a week. I know it takes courage to wear a kilt, I just need a little help getting out of the door. I live in the American Bible belt if that is relevant.

I too, was pretty nervous about wearing kilts in public at first. However, I was pleasantly surprised... I have since worn a kilt to church, to various formal functions, the hardware store, restaurants, the office, a company picnic and out for what my wife and I call "walkabout". Heck, I wore my Blackwatch kilt on Manitoulin Island this past summer - we were up there for the Perseids Meteor Shower and camped in a Dark Sky Preserve - rained practically the whole time we were there but, that's another story.

Anyway - my advice to you is, strap it on! Wear it like you were born in it. But, be prepared for one of the three inevitable questions:

1) Are you regimental?
2) What's the occasion?
3) Where's yer pipes?

Wowbagger427

[Touchstone]

I too, was pretty nervous about wearing kilts in public at first. However, I was pleasantly surprised... I have since worn a kilt to church, to various formal functions, the hardware store, restaurants, the office, a company picnic and out for what my wife and I call "walkabout". Heck, I wore my Blackwatch kilt on Manitoulin Island this past summer - we were up there for the Perseids Meteor Shower and camped in a Dark Sky Preserve - rained practically the whole time we were there but, that's another story.

Anyway - my advice to you is, strap it on! Wear it like you were born in it. But, be prepared for one of the three inevitable questions:

1) Are you regimental?
2) What's the occasion?
3) Where's yer pipes?

Wowbagger427

I presume the traditional response to #3 is to slap your "pockets" and say "I must have left them in my other kilt"?

[Wowbagger427]

I presume the traditional response to #3 is to slap your "pockets" and say "I must have left them in my other kilt"?

Nay... it's usually, "I'm a drummer..."

Don't run wi' yer bagpipes... ye could put an aye out.

[MichiganKyle]

I found when I first started wearing a kilt that the thing that got me the most comfortable with it was wearing it to the mall. Basically any semi-anonymous space where there are people but you don't know them. I will note that I wear kilts very casually, so I'm not too far outside of normal attire in a space like this. You learn very quickly that while a kilt does draw attention, there are an awful lot of other guys out there who have a kilt and never wear it. And if you don't run into one of those, you'll hear from girlfriends/wives/etc. who want their significant other to wear a kilt but don't know how to get him to. You get the occasional joke - just have a few witty responses planned for stuff like "nice skirt" (see other threads on the forum for some great and hilarious stock responses) or "you wearing underwear?", but these are less common than people who either own or are genuinely interested in kilts. The great thing about a semi-anonymous place is that you can get comfortable with it around total strangers who you never have to worry about seeing again. And if you feel like you're giving off a bad first impression and you think you need to change something, it's not like you're out much.

[DunRovinStation]

So, how'd it go? or not go?

[Crazy Dave]

or "you wearing underwear?".

My response to that question is. I read the washing instructions, so I'm wearing underwear. They invariably ask why and I say that the instructions are when you married and when you buried, and I'm already married.