Kilting at work

[Nick]

A couple months ago I posted about asking if I could wear a kilt at work. Well, there have been a few developments.

I asked my boss, and she said she would talk to the district manager. The DM never answered about it, so I was told that yes, I could wear a kilt as long as it conformed to the color guidelines. So I wore my black UK Mocker.

Well, Jo-Ann Fabrics is closing the store I work at. Now that we are actually owned by the liquidation company and not JAS (it's kind of an odd arrangement), my boss said I could wear any kilt I want, so I wore my SWK Hunting MacLeod the next day.

I've gotten a lot of reactions at work. The girls at work (I'm the only male) all think it's great. Lots of people in the store ask me about it, too. I've gotten "Why are you wearing a skirt?" from a couple wee ones, and the standard "Are you Scottish?" One of the more interesting ones was "There'd better be a joke behind that getup."

The funniest reaction, though, has been from the representaive from the liquidation company. She's a less than 30 blonde from LA of all places. She's there every day, so she always know's when I'm kilted. She thought it was cold when she first got here, and it's about 30 degrees less than that now, so she is puzzled and amazed that I'll go about with my knees exposed. I told here, I've lived here my whole life, and I'm used to the cold, plus the kilt isn't cold anyway, but she still doesn't get it.

Cheers,
Nick

[cessna152towser]

Excellent

[Tattoo Bradley]

Good stuff.

[Riverkilt]

Hope that doesn't mean you're losing your job soon Nick.

But, if it does, consider interviewing for your next job kilted...gets the issue out of the way right up front...if you think you can pull it off...and my sense is you present yourself well kilted and can and will.

Ron

[Fionn MacCumhaill]

Gum bi fortan math leibh - good luck. May your next job be as kilt-friendly.

[Frog]

The first time I wore my kilt to work was at a meeting with the Head Cheese of our company, to discus our new compensation plan. Initially it was a raised eyebrows kind of thing, but at one point he said something along the lines of "You gotta respect the opinion of a man wearing a kilt" and my coworkers were rather surprised, I think, that I'd have the temerity to do something unorthodox when meeting the Big Boss for the first time - but I'd just gotten my first kilt (the mocker I wore to my wedding a few weeks later) and there was no way I wasn't gonna wear it! I don't go to work kilted often because like Riverkilt and MacHummel I occasionally find myself on the floor with an incredibly angry or frustrated young person and am slightly averse to flashing the other children who might be around when the stuff hits the fan - especially since I'm part of an outside agency providing services primarily in the local schools.

Frog

[Blu (Ontario)]

.... She thought it was cold when she first got here, and it's about 30 degrees less than that now, so she is puzzled and amazed that I'll go about with my knees exposed.... she still doesn't get it....

They don't get it.

From the average womans perspective, a kilt is just another skirt which, 99% of the time, are very light weight by comparison. I've encountered some women who don't believe me when I tell them there's close to 24 feet of cloth in my heavyweight kilt. I measured the hemline once to prove it.

The truth about Kilts can be just as much an education for women as it is for men.

.

[RockyR]

A SIMPLE explanation that helps them "get it"...

I have over 6 yards of wool bunched up on my backside and 2 yards across my front. It's like wearing a blanket all day.

[Nick]

Thanks much all.

I'm afraid that this does mean that I'll be unemployed again within a month or so. It took 4 months to find this job, and I'm going to have had it only as long Which really bites, because I like working there, and I like sewing. I had a bunch of ideas for nice things to make for my wife (she works at a credit union and therefor has to dress up at work), and for myself, but now that there won't be a full size fabric store in town it'll be more difficult.

I haven't worn my wool kilt to work yet, and while I think it may help my boss finally get it, I don't think the liquidator will. As far as she's concerned, any exposed skin in this frigid clime is crazy.

Nick

[Canadian_Kilt]

Hope that doesn't mean you're losing your job soon Nick.

But, if it does, consider interviewing for your next job kilted...gets the issue out of the way right up front...if you think you can pull it off...and my sense is you present yourself well kilted and can and will.

Ron

I'm not sure I agree with this. While I see your point, I think that job interviews are difficult as it is and introducing a volitile factor such as kilt-wearing would be risky.

Look at it this way. If another kiltie is interviewing you, it could be fantastic - your kilt makes you stand out, he understands kilts and thinks it looks great, and may even be more likely to give you the job because of it. But if they have a differeing opinion - maybe they think kilts are for girls or just plain not appropriate for work attire - you could ruin your chances of getting a job that you may have otherwise gotten. And lets face it, the chances of it working against you are much greater.

The bottom line is that while we all love our kilts, there are a great many people that dont understand them, don't like them, or will not feel that it is appropriate for their employees to wear to work. And if you're wearing it to the interview, you're basically declaring you plan to wear it to work as well.

If being able to wear your kilt is an important factor to you, I think a better approach might be to ask them about the dress code in the interview, and depending on the answer, follow up with a question about wearing kilts.

Good luck in your job search!