Is this how you feel?

[M. A. C. Newsome]

A short while ago, another fellow drove some 150 kms to join in our dancing. It was still wintry, but he wore shorts for the journey and changed on arrival, and before departure to return home. The usual excuse for this is they don't want to spoil their kilts, but I really think it is the fear of having to stop on route and being seen kilted.

I know a lot of people who do this, and there are a variety of reasons. One is, yes, not wanting to mess up the kilt. I've been wearing the kilt long enough and know how to sit well in it, so I don't think twice about going for a car ride in the kilt. However, I know a lot of people who do not wear the kilt as regularly and are not as used to sitting in it would not have the same experience. Their kilts would be horribly wrinkled by the time they got their event!

I always have a pair of shorts or something I can change into just in case of emergency. Once I was at a Highland Games that is a little over an hour's drive from my house. Great weather... untill it was time to pack up. I got caught in a downpour and my kilt got soaking wet. I didn't have any other clothes, so I had to sit on my wet kilt for an hour as I drove home. By the time I got home my kilt was so horribly wrinkled I had to completely repress the whole thing. Since then I always take shorts.

I mean what if I got into trouble on the road and had to change a tire, or push my car to a gas station? While you certainly can do any of these things in a kilt, it would be nice to have the option to change into some shorts and not risk your kilt getting grease or oil on it.

Also, while I find the kilt very comfortable most of the time, while driving (especially in the summer) it is not always so. During the summer months, on a sunny day, the sun can really bear down through the window, heating up the wool that is lying right on my bare leg. It gets very warm, very fast. This is the only time I really find the kilt to be less than comfortable.

Do some people not want to wear their kilts into service stations, rest stops, or restaraunts while on the road? Sure. Sometimes I don't. It's not a matter of being afraid to be seen in the kilt in public or anything like that. It's just a fact that when you wear the kilt you draw attention to yourself. Sometimes you might not want to stand out. And that's just fine.

And this is coming from a full-time kilt advocate who wears a kilt most of the time! Sometimes I just want to blend in, go incognito, and be able to run an errand or go about my business without having to answer questions about the kilt. There's nothing wrong with that.

My personal ruleof thiumb is that if I am going to be in the car for more than one hour, I usually wear comfy driving clothes (pants or shorts) and change when I get to my destination. For trips shorter than that, it's not worth it to me to change clothes, so I drive kilted.

The point is, though, there are all kinds of reasons why people might choose to wear the kilt, and all kinds of reasons why they might choose not to wear the kilt, and we should respect that.