I think it's OK if I chime in on this thread as I am one of the advocates of the Contemporary Kilt. (Heck, I'm the one who started using that term).

And I guess I have a slightly different take on the question because I make kilts that if made from Tartan fabric can easily be taking for a Traditional Kilt, but if I make the exact same kilt from a solid colored fabric or a Camo fabric looks completely different.

I find that, in general, it has less to do with the style of kilt I am wearing as it does with the overall appearance and style I am trying to portray to the public with the accessories I choose to accompany the kilt.

For example, If I wear one of my Contemporary Style Kilts with my usual button-down collar shirt and penny loafer shoes, I get the reaction from the public that I am just a normal guy wearing a kilt with cool pockets. I get comments like "Oh that is a bit different". "I think I could wear one of those." "Where did you get it?"

If I wear the exact same shirt and shoes with the same Model Kilt, but instead of Solid color fabric, made from a Tartan I get asked the "do you play the pipes" question. The Tartan brings the almost automatic assumption that I am involved in some "Scottish Function".

Now let's wear the first kilt in the solid color fabric and pair it with a t-shirt with heavy metal logo on it, a pair of big clunky boots, and add enough accessories with metal studs and chains I would get a completely different reaction.

This idea that it is "not the kilt as much as it is the overall style of the wearer" that is part of something that has been on my mind for a while now, I just haven't been able to put it in words yet.

Here's a rough stab at the idea;

It seems to me that some of us in N. America view the kilt as a way to "dress-down". While the tradition from Europe is to use the kilt as a way to "Dress-up".

You can see the two schools of thought right here on this forum. The Traditionalists among us us the Kilt to harken back to their Heritage, to their Scottish roots. The "I'm American, a mutt and a rebel" among us use the Kilt as a way of showing we are different from those older Traditions.

I'm going to use an example here but please no one get upset. I'm not being negative in any way.
The style presented by The Utilikilts Company is one of "Outside the Scottish Tradition" They are the leaders of the "We're not in a Pipe Band" image.
The UK is a good garment. The people who buy and wear them are not thinking that it is a Traditional Kilt. They know this up front and they know that if they wanted to wear it with the Traditional accessories they could, but they want something different.
A UK paired with a shirt and tie, dress shoes and hose, will pass very well on the street as a Kilt. But the reaction from the public will be very different from the same UK paired with less formal accessories.

So, what I'm trying to say is it is not the kilt by itself that gets a certain reaction. It is the overall style that the kilt wearer portrays that is at the root of the original question.

OK, I'm off my soapbox now.