how many of you have told your coworkers?

[Joe Gondek]

Thus far when I have told friends about this they were so shocked they didn't know what to say.

People generally just don't know how to handle this - you would think I was breaking the law or something the way they act.

Trying to live your life through another persons view of what is acceptable is a hard path to walk.

If They are truly your friends it shouldn't matter to them what you wear.
If it makes a big difference to them, and they treat you differently,
then they are not your Friends and the loss of their friendship shouldn't bother you, because they were not your friends to begin with.

[Roan Carter]

I'll tell you my experience ...

I walked into work the other day in my kilt. (I was carrying my work clothes in my arms and changed before I clocked in.) I work in an arcade and the people I work with are like 20-27. The guy who trained me, the assistant manager, saw me and asked why I was wearing a kilt. I just explained that kilts are all I wear. He was surprisingly accepting of that. I bumped into him at the movies the other day and we talked briefly. It would seem that the kilt had no real effect on how he treats me.

I wear a tartan Black Stewart kilt though. With more modern Utilikilts, you could just call it what it is and say they're the rage in Seattle (isn't that where they're from?). Modern heritage, really. Kinda like those jet black kilts people use in weddings. I guess it's a convenient way to avoid the contraversy of the warring clans represented by tartans.

My advice is not to let anyone make you feel like less for what you do, no matter their tone or authority.

[Mithral]

All my coworkers are mad because I can't wear my kilt to work.

[Ugly Bear]

I have not told any co-workers, though about a dozen have run into me kilted outside of work.

Some have run into me in my local supermarket. A couple pretended not to notice. One guy noticed, and has not made eye contact with me since (and that was over two years ago) (what a jackass). Another was a woman who likes to wear high skirts; she sort of giggled as I said hi and walked past.

One saw me in the crowd at a parade. He talked to me about it the following Monday, saying, "So, I saw you out in a ... kilt, right?" Yeah, I said. That was the sum of that.

The whole IT department saw me pallbearing at a funeral. A couple initial cracks about the "outfit," and that was that.

I was out touring the wine country on a beautiful October day, and went to the restroom. I almost literally ran into a coworker as he was stepping out. We chatted about wine for a minute or two, but we were so close, and his eye contact so consistent, and I was into the restroom so quickly, that I don't even know if he noticed I was kilted. (The folks from the wine trail remember me for being kilted, and express disappointment when I'm not.)

Do these chance encounters amount to anything? Do they chat about it amongst themselves, comparing notes? If they have, I haven't heard about it. Moral of the story: they'll handle kilt-wearing as easily as they'll handle any other quirk of yours or of any other co-worker.

[Mr. Kilt]

When I started training for my job last year, we were asked to stand up, introduce ourselves, and say a little bit about us. So, on the very first day of training everyone in my class of 12 found out about my kilts. They all thought it was cool, as did the trainers.

Fast forward a month to the end of training...
The day before we "graduated" the city held it's annual Transit employee appreciation party. A nice little shindig for 2500 of your closest friends. LOL I wasn't even officially a bus driver at that point but went to the party anyway. Wore my Bear Kilt. Got a GREAT response from everyone I met. Alot of the other drivers, both female AND male, think I should be allowed to wear a kilt on the job. Wishful thinking. The rest is history.

[jfellrath]

I haven't mentioned it, but I rarely talk about stuff outside work with my cow-orkers. I am an IT person, but my office is (unfortunately) right in the midst of my users. I'm the lone programmer in our IT group. My boss's boss (not an IT person) thought it made the most sense for me to sit amongst the users, so I can get their constant input and be immediately available to them, instead of separated from them as I'd prefer.

So I have co-workers, who I rarely see because they're located on a different part of campus (I work at a University), and I have users, who I see a lot. One of my users has seen me in a UK at a store once, and she didn't really seem to care about it. I think I mentioned wearing kilts to one of my co-workers when he came over to check on a network issue in my office area and we were shooting the **** for a while. But he knows I'm into Irish and Celtic stuff so he didn't really seem to be surprised.

To be honest, I don't socialize with my co-workers or users outside of work. Most of my co-workers are 10-15 years younger than me, and most of my users are 5-10 years older. And I just don't like to mix my business and social life. To me, work is work, play is play, and never the twain shall meet. So it really doesn't matter to me if they know I wear kilts or not.

If I did run into one of them? My co-workers would probably think it was pretty cool, and my users wouldn't know what to make of it. I'm sure I'd be the talk of the office for a day or so after one of them saw me.

[Kilted KT]

... My boss's boss (not an IT person) thought it made the most sense for me to sit amongst the users, so I can get their constant input and be immediately available to them, instead of separated from them as I'd prefer.

Ouch..that is possibly the worst decision I've ever heard! I would never want to be stuck right in the middle of my clients!

[pbpersson]

Ouch..that is possibly the worst decision I've ever heard! I would never want to be stuck right in the middle of my clients!

Well....from the point of view of customer support it might make sense but I don't think you could get much work done. :confused:

Anyway, people in Phoenix might think differently about Utilikilts. Maybe they just are not that popular here.

I'm trying to change that a little at a time, I'm doing four kilt walks this weekend.

[Chris Webb]

For many of us who live in Conservative areas it really is like 'coming out' when we first let our peers and family know we wear kilts. Frankly not everyone in a conservative area is going to like them, the 'men are supposed to wear pants' mentality can be very strong. My Step-dad hates my kilts and I've been kilted full time for over 3 years. My Rich Uncle believes whole heartedly that I need to give up my kilts, doesn't matter that I'm getting all the business I can handle while kilted, he still thinks I'm losing business over it.

My experience is that the only way to wear a kilt successfully and consistently is to wear it with out apology or explanation. There is no need to tell anyone, no, you just wear your kilts any time you want to. If you are wearing it with confidence, with out apology so to speak, then it is likely that you'll get nothing but positive comments to your face and only a few negative comments behind your back. Try your best to disregard those negative comments, they are largely from closed minded people who will never be satisfied with your life until it is just like theirs.

In my 4 C's of Kilting you can read about Courage in regards to kilting. The 4' C's of Kilting are both here at Xmarks and also at Kiltmens. Be EN-COURAGED, brother, try not to let closed minded people steal your joy and by all means don't let the worry over someone you know seeing you keep you from enjoying your kilts. I'll bet you look great in your Utilikilts, shoot, you can't look like anything but a Man's Man in one of those things!

Kilt On.

Chris Webb

[jfellrath]

Ouch..that is possibly the worst decision I've ever heard! I would never want to be stuck right in the middle of my clients!

It's... um... not great, no. I'd much prefer to sit... heck, in our data center. I sort of let it go because I am still getting used to not being a consultant. I am a full time employee now with the organization that was my last client as a consultant. But I'm still sort of in the mindset of "anything the client wants, they get," after 10 years of consulting it's tough to shake it. But hey, the pay is good, the benefits and security are great.