12 degrees F

[OC Richard]

All this talk about the cold weather you all live in is a bit dismaying for me, who's lived in SoCal since the early 60's.

I wear shorts and zorries the year round...the only long pants I own are black slacks I need for the non-kilted music gigs I do. I and my son have never owned jeans. I actually didn't have any proper shoes save for my ghillies until all the rain inspired me to go out and buy a pair of trainers/tennis shoes two weeks ago.

Last Monday it rained all day and was the coldest day I can remember recently, the high being around 50 or maybe in the upper 40s... anyhow you could see your breath in the mid afternoon, extremely rare here. It almost never gets below freezing overnight this close to the beach, but that morning my car was covered with ice, also rare.

[jrmiller]

Thanks for all your advice, I particularly like the advice about chopping the long underwear off at the knees -- that would take care of the issues I had.

No one said anything about kilt length, since the modern kilt was invented just 200 years ago (a small number of years in the overall evolution of human fashion), why is it so inconceivable to have a longer kilt as an option when the temperature dips below freezing? I mean, women do it with their skirts, I almost feel like an idiot running around in something cut-off at my knees when it's so damn cold out.

My wife, who generally doesn't comment much one way or another about my kilts, did comment before we went out Friday night when it was 12 degrees. She said "you are either crazy or very brave to try something like that on a night like this". Naturally, I prefer the "brave" portion of her statement, but the "crazy" part of it probably applies too.

In some ways, women, who have a lot more experience in wearing skirted garments, have more common sense about what works and what doesn't under varying conditions. Since I am relatively new to this field, I am as a 10 year-old when picking colors and layers....

[auld argonian]

I think that the answer to your question about why not longer kilts lies in the text of your last post: women wear longer skirts...when the kilt gets too long it looks like a skirt and not a kilt. I figger that the range of kilt length is from the bottom to just over the top of the knee cap...anywhere else and it either looks like a mini-skirt or a hostess skirt.

The wading socks from Cabela's have been brought up as a kilt hose alternative and I might suggest that you try wearing those and maybe doubling up with a pair of thinner synthetic knee socks underneath...you can turn the tops of the wading socks up over the tops of your knees when you're outside and they look so darn grey and wooly and scratchy that no one is going to mistake them for anything other than big, grey, wooly, scratchy socks. When you get where you're going, just turn the tops down to a respectable cuff and you should look okay.

All this obsession with dealing with the cold weather! If you physically can't take the cold while wearing a kilt (not to be a wise-*** here, but...) just wear long-johns and your LL Bean flannel lined jeans or your ski pants and change when you get there...honest, this is not some kind of macho contest to see how miserable you can be and still keep a stiff upper lip; it's just about wearing the kilt and looking good and feeling good about it, nothing more.

Best

AA

[NewGuise]

...honest, this is not some kind of macho contest to see how miserable you can be and still keep a stiff upper lip

No, it's all about colour coordination: I'm good farmer stock; I want red knees to match my red neck.

[wildrover]

Twenty-four feet of heavy wool makes a great block against the wind. Thin silk sock liners, heavy wool hose, skip the elastic garters and get some traditional style wool wraps from the Tartan Museum, wool sweater, hat, your usual jacket, appropriate footwear, gloves, and you should be fine. Tested to the teens by me, without the silk sock liners...a good kilt is surprisingly warm. Only thing I've found I don't like is the lower vents blowing cold air up my kilt before the car is warm.

-Sean

[Everett]

Twelve degrees ain't nothin... Jk. I've worn a kilt in similar temps and subzero. If you aren't dressed properly (with the right hose and all) you will be uncomfortable. I stop enjoying it at around zero f. If you're not comfortable break out the old military trews.