Kilts in the office

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

You know, now that I look at my own picture, I have to agree with somebody's post from another thread that I really need to match this particular kilt up with a nice belt and buckle.

Disclaimer: Settle in and grab a beverage as the rest of this is going to get a bit long, and I will probably have impressions and feelings to share tomorrow, and fallout/feedback in the coming weeks as I continue to wear the kilt to work

Anyway, it is well after 5:00PM (Hell, it is after 8:30PM) and I made it through the first day at work kilted, and I am still employed! Although Monday may prove interesting because I was seen by pretty much everyone in our 1500-2000 person north american corporate headquarters, including the vice chairman for the entire North American operations. I would have been seen by the actual CEO for NA, but he was on his way from London to Hong Kong!

Anyway, let's start from the beginning (this morning, not the thread!). Got up this AM, got my daughters ready for pre-school and got myself dressed. Took the dog out, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I was warmer today in the kilt than I was yesterday in trousers, even though both mornings were in the mid-40's. Either the kilt is as warm as advertised, or possibly I was running a little bit "hot" due to excitement and anticipation! I have to admit that before I left the house, I seriously considered throwing a pair of trousers into my vehicle "in case" somebody at the office really had a problem, and truthfully as a safety net in case I chickened out before I got there!

Anyway, after dropping the kids off at preschool (there were some looks there from the other parents, but nothing too bad, and my eldest daughter's teacher actually asked my eldest daughter (4) what I was wearing, and she answered nicely "A Kilt". The teacher then asked if I was wearing it for a special day/reason, and I said No, its just Friday!

So I drove to the office. At this point I was having significant butterflies and doubts about the consequences of my actions! I was logically convinced that nothing bad or career ending would happen, but getting out of my vehicle took a significant effort. If I HAD brought trousers, I am not sure I would have gone through with it. Even the day before, I had gone down to HR because I had not heard back from them and I am not sure if I went down to insure I had agreement to wear the kilt, or as an out NOT to wear the kilt!

Luckily, I did not have any trousers to fall back on, so walked into the office. The early morning was uneventful, mainly because I get in a little earlier than most and spend much of my morning going through emails, research, reviewing documents, etc.. My first interaction was with our group's admin. She was coming by my office with a cup of coffee in her hand when I decided to head out and get a soda. She was directly in front of my door when as I approached it and had a somewhat sever reaction. She basically looked at me, jumped back, almost soaking herself with coffee, and said "Oh!", followed by "Well, your wearing a kilt! (pause) Nice look (or some such). Now that was not exactly either the ringing endorsement or lackluster response that I really would have preferred! Especially considering that she almost ruined her beige color blouse with the coffee. I console myself with the idea that she did not see me stand up from my desk and walk toward the door, so her surprise was as much from me suddenly standing up as the kilt. She did chat about the kilt for a few minutes, and I think she has a somewhat broadre world view than most US citizens because she is from Australia.

I then went to the corporate cafeteria to get a soda, which was my second significant hurdle. On the way down, I ran into the CEO of my business unit (who either did not notice the kilt, as we met passing through the stairwell, or chose to ignnore it) who I see maybe once week. I then ran into our head of marketing in the cafeteria, and he definitely saw the kilt. The cafeteria staff did not say anything, nor did the other people getting breakfast, but I did get some looks. The cashier did compliment me and said I looked very beautiful, which I would not have appreciated coming from somebody else, but she is from a former eastern block country and meant it very sincerely.

That takes us through the morning, although I was not a recluse in my office, the only other direct interactions I had were with my 2 peer managers (both female). I walked over to their offices just to let them know (and emailed my staff) that I was wearing a kilt so that they were not taken by surprise by a question from their staff members.

Just prior to lunchtime, I walked by my managers office to discuss an afternoon meeting. He had known that I was planning on a kilt today, but had not yet seen if I had followed through. My sporran tipped him off (no, not when he saw me, then the kilt tipped him off, but as I was walking toward his office.) Does anyone else have the sporran from SW? It is a basic sporran with 3 tassles attached to the flap, and they beat against the body of the sporran at each step! I sound like my own marching band when I walk! Which is great when you want to draw attention to yourself, but not either ways.

Anyway, lunch went well, same cashier said she liked the kilt again, and had a discussion with one of the other admins while waiting for my sandwich. Always good to answer the admins' questions because they will spread the news to everybody! I even mentioned to this admin about the kiltday.com site.

So as I think I mentioned in a prior post, one of my reasons for wearing the kilt the first time today is because it was an extra "casual" day for us as is was the final day for our yearly charity drive campaign, with a raffle and door prizes awarded after lunch. I went to the final ceremonies with everyone else (everyone being all 1500-2000 people in HQ), and got some looks and a few comments from people I knew. In the walking around and talking to people, I ended up closest to the stage during the raffle, so was fully visible not only to those in the audience, but all of the senior management serving as MC's and passing out prizes!

I have some other experiences to share regarding SK hose, my SW Nightstalker standard, my new SW HW Black (Shadow tartan) which arived at the office today, and also the kilt pin that arrived today. I also have some info to post about my second kilted day in the office (on Monday) at an internal conference, but right now I am wiped! This being on the fashion forefront stuff is hardwork!