Just becasue your clientele cannot afford to wear a suit and tie to the unemployment line, or maybe even to their job interviews, does not mean that you cannot wear the same to your job working with them.

As a physician, I am expected by my clientele to dress up to certain standards---usually meaning nice dress pants and shoes, a dress shirt with tie, and either a white coat or a sport coat--in most circumstances. I doubt that many if any of my patients feel put down when I show up in said outfit and they in blue jeans and a tee shirt. I do occasionally wear a kilt to work (yesterday for instance) usually when I am on administrative time and do not anticipate a high degree of patient contact, if any, but that is more personal security becasue I also work with children as my patients and never know what they may do with their curiosity over my kilt instead of pants. I think if your outfit is respectful of them as people, people who have come to you in need of your help, that wearing a kilt as part of an appropriate dress outfit for your job would not be out of the question. Try it out once and see how you feel about it and how your clients react to it. You may find that it gets you a little attention, breaks the ice a bit with them, takes some of their daily stress away with the whimsy effect of seeing someone kilted, and may even get you a reputation as "that kilted guy who helps us out". You never know until you try.

As far as a kilt being a luxury, I agree with Matt that it is beyond a necessity of daily living so therefor would classify as a luxury. But then again, I drive a car to work when I could bike or take a bus, with the car being my luxury, but not that many folks, save for the "green" movement, would begrudge me my car if it helped me get to work to help them find a job, or in my case to help my pediatric patients get better.

Just a few thoughts on the matter.

jeff