Worth the wait - a story

[12stones]

No interesting story for me either. I've always loved the look of a kilt and thought I'd like to wear one. So, last year I decided to look into my celtic heritage and do some genealogy work, and in my search I came upon this forum. Soon after (thanks to XMTS) I was able to find and obtain my first SWK Leatherneck and was hooked.

[Arlen]

I can't remember my very first Kilts because my mum would make them for us when we were wee.
Here's a picture of myself and my two sisters as well as some of the other neighbourhood bairns with the Kilts my mum would make. (We were all going on some sort of march for something. I don't recall.) I'm the wee one in the middle of the bottom row. The girl holding my hand on MY left is one of my sisters and the tall one in the midle, back is my other sister.



As far as the first Kilt I purchased, that's quite a story.
I'd gone some years without wearing anything more than a hire Kilt on special occasions.
I had a cousin's wedding coming up, I was 18 and working in my first full time job. (Only 7 years ago but it feels like 20!) I had thought about renting again but decided I wanted a Kilt of my own and headed out to Hector Russell on Buchanan street.
I'd hoped to get an ex-rental Kilt but the ones in my size (I was very overweight at the time) were out of my range.
They did, however, have some full, 8 yard PV kilts. (Remember, this was a good bit before the market was swamped with cheap PV kilts and these ones were good quality.)
So I got one in the Macdonald Modern tartan with a new sporran, hose and a shire that I liked.
I wore it proudly to my cousin's wedding but I soon lost a lot of the weight and now my Dad has the Kilt for his own!

It was a 5 more years before I went ahead and decided I could wear Kilts whenever I wanted and started my Kollection.
Now I am waiting for my seventh and I have a list of 6 more that I want to get at some point in the future!


Here's my Dad in the Kilt that was the first I bought on my own. (I don't have any pictures of myself in it.)
Yes, his sporran is fat too low.

[Cynthia]

I love this thread! Great stories, everyone!

When my husband and I first started dating 16 years ago, he had mentioned to me how he always wanted a kilt. He wanted to wear one to our wedding, but we never had an actual wedding (we're hoping to have a vow renewal someday and change that!). He finally purchased a SWK Standard in Black Stewart and loves the whole kilt/accessory thing (he also wants to start training for the Highland Games when he drops a little more weight).

One of his great grandmothers (I think, I have trouble keeping my own family straight) always said she had Scottish ancestry. We're still trying to look into his genealogy, but he did discover Welsh ancestry (he also has Danish, Swedish, Italian, and a few others like German, I believe). He was so thrilled to at least discover the Welsh, because although he knows he can still wear the kilt, it really bothered him that he couldn't find that Scottish connection yet (plus, it made it harder for him to find tartans he likes). He has seen some of the Welsh tartans and loves them! The great thing is, I would be more than happy to wear those as well because my last name (Griffith) is apparently of Welsh origin (I still need to research my genealogy mysteries, augh! Why do all of our trails just stop??).

Speaking of me.... My Dad told me that his mother and her mother both thought they had Irish ancestry. While looking into kilt information for my hubby, I decided I wanted to get back to my genealogy searches (I dive into it heavily and then take long breaks from it). I discovered one of the names (Grant) was of Scottish origins, and then I was contacted by someone researching their family. She not only gave me a few more ancestors that I didn't know about, but told me one of hers (McNeill) married mine! That totally had me hooked on looking into tartans of my own, aside from the Griffith tartan, of course. My Dad hasn't been in good health the past few months, and I wanted to get something tartan because I was feeling left out. SWK finally got some of the Irish National in my size in the Thrifty line, and I bought one. Although I haven't found my supposed Irish ancestors, the tartan makes me think of my Dad and I'm glad I bought it (I also sent photos to my Mom to print out for my Dad to see).

I would still love to trace my ancestors back so I can travel to the places they came from. I'm also hoping to find out for certain if the names I have are correct, where they're from, and add more tartans to my list. And I'm determined to find out the mystery of Christopher's supposed Scottish ancestors.

Until then, we have plenty of tartans we can get and enjoy. Now to just get more extra cash to buy them, and finish losing weight

[Jaggy thistle]

I always wanted a kilt when Iwas a boy but had to wait till I was earning before I could get one , my first was an ex army kilt bought for £5 in 1958 Ihave worn the kilt since on retiring I wear one daily I now have five

[Jack Daw]

My First Experience in a Kilt -

It was mid-November 1999 and I was visiting my piper buddy in Austin, TX. He, his wife, another couple, and I were going to drive north to visit the Salado Highland Games. My piper buddy lent me his MacGregor kilt, which he rarely wore and which fit me to a T, and I was hooked. After I purchased my first two kilts in my own tartan in early 2000, my piper bud sold me that MacGregor kilt. I still wear it and it is featured in my avatar.