What pushes your buttons.....?

[Jewddha]

Well, a lady friend suggested it to me first, never had thought much about it before that. But then I checked out some websites, got to thinking "hey, that looks pretty cool, and there are some absolutely stellar reviews", and in all honesty I've been thinking, why the heck not?!?1 I'll have to see how I feel once I actualyl get into one still ;)

[chacbalam]

I bought my traditional kilt for my wedding. My Grandfather is very ill and I thought it would be a great way to honor my heritage. Unfortunately by the time my wedding arrived he could no longer see me, but he knows that I walked down the aisle in Gordon tartan.

A little over a month ago, I purchased an Utilikilt from the good people in Seattle. My motivation was simple, I wanted to wear a kilt on a daily basis, but my traditional is simply to expensive and too hard to clean to wear at work everyday. I am now on my second UK and will probably order more. I really like the way they feel.

Of course the appreciative comments from the women don't hurt either.

[Hamish]

I began wearing the kilt at the age of 14, whilst at Portsmouth Grammar School on England's south coast. It came about because Scottish Country Dancing was introduced to 5th and 6th Formers as an extra curricular activity on Saturday evenings - being an all-boys school, our partners had to be bused-in from the Girls High School!! But, I digress!

The kilt came into my life at that time because that was what boys/men wore for Scottish Country Dancing. It was as natural as putting on shorts and running shoes for cross-country running! I then wore the kilt several times a week for almost the next fifty years - but only when going dancing. It was not until after I had taken early retirement, in 1998, that I came to fully appreciate the supreme comfort and freedom afforded by the kilt, began wearing it much more often and started building my Kilt Kollection.

Although I am one-quarter Scottish (the rest is English), heritage has never come into the equation - in spite of my always having had a deep love of all things Scottish. I didn't even get to visit Scotland until six years ago! My father never told me of our Scottish links through his mother (she died before I was born), and Scotland was never mentioned as I recall, so I was not aware of any 'heritage'. My mother certainly never spoke of it, nor of our English heritage on her side of our family. That generation was not concerned about such things really, and so it was not something I grew up with.

Even now, I have little more than a mild interest in our family history, probably because I have no starting point from which to start 'digging'. Not that I have the time

So, to get back to the subject! My kilt wearing which, after fifty four years, has become (almost!) an obsession is fuelled by the comfort and freedom that no other garment known to me can provide.

[Declan Rowan]

I think I agree with all of the above, though one things stands out most of all, even more than the comfort/non-binding, the comments, the attention, one thing stands out in my mind:

Floor mounted AC vents on a hot day.

I believe that is what heaven must be: Wall to wall floor mounted AC vents, and me standing in my kilt.

[bubba]

And don't forget the ability to moon politicians and run away fast.

[erudite]

My ex-girlfriend ran away with my Scottish Nanny's son. Well actually they ran across the street where she had just rented an apartment. In retrospect, having a girlfriend as a neighbor is not such a great idea. He was a really nice kid (19), she is a really sweet lass closer in age to him than to me. But he did not wear a kilt, as I understand (now) that Scots don't very often, but I thought to myself, if I could out-Scot this lad, I could win back her heart. Sadly, he went back back to Scotland, and she was broken hearted, but not to the point that she came back to my waiting kilted loins. *SIGH*

OK. This story is true. Except it has no bearing on why I bought a kilt. I wanted to get married in a kilt, but my ex wife talked me out of it. In all fairness, as my 4 yr old pointed out today, brides are princesses and the wedding day is their one shot at being a princess, so far be it from me to be non-compliant.

We look good in kilts. We look smarter than the average joe, because we are more than them. We are not tag whores in a consumerist society. What will I ever do if I have to choose between a Ralph Lauren Kilt and a Nautica Kilt?

Women come up and talk to us, they have an opening. (The child in me appreciates the attention.) I want to meet and marry a confident woman who appreciates the non-conformity and cultural heritage, and will let me wear one to the wedding. (truth in advertising.)

Did I mention that my ex wife despises my kilt? That's a bonus, not a reason to wear it. (See my post: Kilts, Lawyers and Relationships) Did I mention my sons (4&6yrs) think it's cool? That is a reason to wear it.

So my ex-girlfriend and I are now friends, and she likes the kilt. My girlfriend likes the kilt. My female friends like the kilt. Women I have never met tell me they like my kilt. So of course I wear a kilt.

Oh, and there's some Ulster Scots / Lamont blood in the veins somwhere, yet to be formally documented. so that makes me feel more comfortable.

[Rob Wright]

I began wearing the kilt at the age of 14, whilst at Portsmouth Grammar School on England's south coast. It came about because Scottish Country Dancing was introduced to 5th and 6th Formers as an extra curricular activity on Saturday evenings - being an all-boys school, our partners had to be bused-in from the Girls High School!! But, I digress!

Now we learn the truth

Rob

[Hamish]

I began wearing the kilt at the age of 14, whilst at Portsmouth Grammar School on England's south coast. It came about because Scottish Country Dancing was introduced to 5th and 6th Formers as an extra curricular activity on Saturday evenings - being an all-boys school, our partners had to be bused-in from the Girls High School!! But, I digress!

Now we learn the truth

Rob

That's what you think, Rob!!!

[Magnus Sporrano]

You want the truth?

You can't handle the truth!

OK enough of my Jack Nicholson...

I started wearing the kilt late last year. I've always had this idea in my head that modern men's clothing was just wrong on so many levels. It is not ergonomic, not even very attractive, and doesn't scale up well to look good on "full figured men" like me.

OK as historically inaccurate as it is, I really enjoyed the movie Braveheart. And even though they had no business being in great kilts in that movie, it got me to thinking that yes this garment affords a man the freedom he needs and allows one to make a statement at the same time.

So last autumn I was invited to join some of my friends to a concert that you might consider part punk rock part electronica (i.e. loud angry music with a lot of people wearing all black). I didn't want to look like everyone else there and I didn't want to wear the boring old clothes I wear to work every day either. Aha! Great time to wear a kilt!

I had a false start with Amerikilt who gave me some bad advice on measuring myself for the kilt and I ended up having to send it back (but he was very good about refunding my money without giving me a lot of crap about it). I then found Xmarks and through Xmarks I found Rocky & Kelly @ USA Kilts and they were able to come up with something for me in time for the show.

So I showed up for the show with an ensemble that in retrospect I have regrets about. Brown worman's steel toe boots, green kilt hose, USAK Philabeg in Scottish Nat'l tartan (that kilt is still my favorite), and a black tee shirt that sings praise to the virtues of some BBQ joint in Tennessee but has the wonderful quote on the back "You have to be hung to eat at Judge Bean's" with a picture of a gallows next to it. All of my other leather bits (belt, sporran) were black. And I wore my sporran far too low.

So as badly put together as this was, the magic started pretty early on. I could overhear people talking about the kilt when I was standing in line outside to get in. When I got up to the security check, I was asked to turn out my pockets. I opened my sporran and emptied it out and he says "no, your pockets, I need to see you turn out your pockets". I said something about the only weapon I have being under the kilt and there were no pockets. This really confused him and he just waved me on in.

This was my first introduction to kilt fetishists. Though there weren't many in this crowd, and I think I lacked the confidence at that point to really work it, I did have some ... ermmmm... "incidents" with ladies that wanted to be closer to me.

That might not sound like anything to most of you, but I am an ugly guy. I mean, really, there are stillborn rhinos that look more handsome than me. The only reason I married such a beautiful woman is because of persistance. Otherwise, I'm not even on the radar when I walk into a pub. I'm just a 300 pound hairy gorilla. But not in the kilt! In the kilt, I'm someone worth meeting. It doesn't make me Prince Charming or anything, but it puts me boldly on the radar. In the last six months since taking up the kilt, I have met and danced with more beautiful ladies than in the previous 15 years (and always go home to my lovely wife).

The kilt is not the be-all end-all of male fashion for me but it has definitely earned a very prominent place in wherever this experiment leads.

[Alan H]

I do the rounds of the local Celtic music faires and just see kilts around all the time. Finally I went up to the Sonora Faire last year to catch a favorite band of mine, "Wolfstone". The Utilikilt guys were there and I almost bought one. It finally just "clicked". I could do this, they look great.

Well, I haven't bought a UK yet, but the second tartan kilt is here and there's a third one on order. I've notions about stitching up one or two or maybe gulping hard and buying a custom job in the California tartan. Now there's an X Marks tartan getting going. AAaaiiiieee!

I'm getting more enamoured of this notion of stitching up my own pretty soon. I started out that way and I keep coming back to it.