A Little Help Please. Kilts at Work Research

[escherblacksmith]

I also work for a bank, but on the servicing side, so I don't see our external customers directly.

That said, I work extensively with folks from temp's all the way to EVP's, and, by an large, everyone likes it.

The ones who don't, tend to not like things out of there perception of normal. So, if your customer base is such, this can be an issue. If not, and if indeed they are coming in fearful of corporate things, then a kilt is the perfect way to go.

[R. Anderson]

I'm an elementary school teacher and wear my kilt to work on occasion. The kilt is a big hit with my fellow teachers and the principal. The kids were at first a bit suprised but that wore off after a few wearings.
The only bad experience I have had at work was with a parent. This fellow said "Nice skirt". I glared at him and corrected his mistake in proper elem. teacher style. I wanted to add &^#$head but there was a few students wondering around at the time. He didn't say anything else.

[Fearnest]

Ron (and everyone else) -

I'm the training manager for six career fields in the National Park Service and work at one of our training centers. I frequently wear a kilt on "casual Friday" when the uniform isn't required (in fact, I started wearing my kilt to work because some staff members didn't feel I was dressing casually enough on "casual Friday" - when I wear a long-sleeved shirt I tend to wear a tie and that caused some raised hackles).

Anyway, I had no kilt problems with my supervisor or senior manager (GS 14/15 level) - in fact they both encouraged it, but both have recently retired - so I'm waiting to see if their successors have any issues with my attire. Nothing has popped up yet, and our uniform policy/dress code isn't real specific for civilian clothing (other than to say "jeans are out unless you're going to be doing physical labor and getting dirty"). Clients (internal and external), students in the classroom, general public in and around the park and most staff members have been OK with it (after the "why is John wearing a kilt?" questions amongst themselves initially).

There are a few staff members with lingering issues just below the surface - typically "oh, you're wearing your skirt again" kind of thing trying to get a rise out of me (it hasn't worked in two years, why would it work now?), but there's one who feels he's been unduly chastised for wearing the wrong uniform during the week (field uniform, when the dress uniform is appropriate for wear in the office) - he thinks that the field uniform is more formal than a Matt Newsome 4 yard box pleated 16 ounce wool kilt. Well, there's no accounting for some taste, and opinions are like the "fourth point of contact" (a nod and a wink to my fellow paratroopers), everybody has one.

So I do get occasional sidelong glances at work, but more often than not (especially when dealing with folks from outside the center) those turn into opportunities to break the ice, talk, and do some networking/relationship building/partnering, etc.

Hope that helps a bit!

[Frog]

I've been wearing Utilikilts for almost a year, sometimes to work - depends on what I'm doing. I work in behavioral intervention with kids from 3 thru 21 years of age, and it occasionally gets physical, whether doing a restraint or providing sensory input for kids with autism or sensory integration difficulties. When it comes to this job, I'll wear a kilt for paperwork days or special events; I won't wear it when I expect to be doing a restraint, climbing playground equipment with younger kids, and haven't made up my mind about junior high settings where it could be a serious distraction in classes with kids with high levels of defiant, aggressive or oppositional behavior for whom I'm not directly responsible. I also work as a dog trainer, and don't mind wearing a kilt as long as I know I'm not working with an aggressive animal. One place I work (with dogs) requires all staff to wear pants or knee-length shorts of particular colors while working, otherwise, it's pretty much common sense and what one is comfortable in the way of FRIENDLY teasing from peers.

Occasionally I've gotten questions from parents of children, but no negative comments; a couple of kids have zinged me as well, not always in a friendly or appropriate fashion - that's the chance you take with these kids, whether you're kilted, overweight, bald, or otherwise apart in appearance - for me, it's often about being the only man in a field dominated by women in my area. You take the good with the occasional bad and keep on keepin' on.

Frog

[Robin]

I'm self employed and my customers wear kilts also, so no eyebrows raised.

I'm probably of no use for your research

[ConfusedPollock]

I work in a decent sized machine shop. I've worn my trusty SWK Blackwatch Economy many times, it gets a lot of wear time. That and the 2 camo and 1 brown twill I made. I got a good bit of grief in the beginning from co-workers but anymore they all have gotten used to it. I'm more comfortable in them. The shop owner gets a huge kick out of it and has no problem with it at all. I saw in another post about the light weight of the SWK acrylic material. I think its just fine. Especially in the summer in a shop.

One guy gets a big kick out of it all. He asks if I "feel a lil constricted" whenever I wear pants. I'm tryin to get him to give them a try. No luck yet. I'm trying to convert others but not too much luck yet. One would like a "paintball" kilt though.

Granted I work 3rd and if they brought customers through I might get a lil warning on not to wear it on those days. Then again we have a lot of heavily tattooed guys there.

[McMurdo]

We had a meeting yesterday in regards to Harrasement in the workplace, some of the things the company does not want empolyees to feel bothered about is your ethnicity or the way you dress, well I was very happy to hear that. Of course I thought about this post, I will find you the exact wording and reasoning behind it when I have a chance.

[Perldog007]

My second day wearing my UK original to work in a warehouse. Unlike the other poster, I don't have to "go up" on lifts or ladders. As an act of kindness I wear shorts or pants during times I am expected to stand on a loading dock and issue gear to chaps standing below.

I work in Denton Md. Where nobody wears a kilt unless the are playing pipes.

Some folks seem to be uncomfortable around a man in a kilt. In the case of men, this newbie would venture to speculate some kind of insecurity or lingering traumatic memory.

If your CEO is one of these you may have a tough row to hoe. As a former seller of cars, you can't close 'em all.

In mine own case, I let everyone know that I would be wearing a kilt and gave them ample time to joke, gossip, etc before I actually wore it to work. I am not wearing it every day all the time (yet).

I try to be understanding with those that have issues. Just because it is in their head doesn't mean it isn't real to them.

In the case of this poster, my coworkers know about lingering injuries that are prone to infection and in fact put me down for a couple of weeks last year. That helps when I talk about the health benefits.

At the end of the day if they can be sold that their acceptance is of greater benefit to them than their fears, those fears will be banished.

For dealing with my fundamentalist immediate supervisor, the articles on this site were helpful. When she understood that her presumed religious objections would have to apply to her own wearing of pants, she started to come around.

Since her boss supports my license to kilt her objections are somewhat irrelevant. Still, working with her may prevent other problems down the road.

A good Irish-American lady who is a coworker helped me out with another supervisor outside my chain who has issues. She is feisty and sharp of wit and word. Her riposte cannot be posted in a family friendly forum.

That gentleman seems to be getting over it gradually. It probably helps that I don't wear it all the time right off the bat.

In the case of dealing with this man, I endeavor to ensure that my level of service to his technicians more than makes up for any temporary discomfort he is feeling.

I have no illusions though. A change in management or somebody up the chain deciding to exercise leadership and I will be in the same situation you are.

The old "unprofessional" catch all is usually a red flag for some sort of prohibited bias. The question is; "Is this the battle I want to fight?". It sounds like you do and I wish you well.

In my own case, I would take such a situation as a sign from above to seek other employment.

Best of Luck,

Doug

[JayFilomena]

I had an incident during my brief time with Starbucks. The woman actually complaind to the manager that I called her "My Lady" when I served her her drink. My manager told the girl that the complaint was the silliest she had ever herd. The complaintent then went on to say something about my kilt. The manager informed her, that the women are allowed to wear skirts, and Star bucks does not discriminate. The dress code is unisex. I did not last long at StarBucks, but that was for reasons other then the kilt.

[Raptor]

I'm self-employed, & luckily I work in an industry where I'm almost expected to be a "character", so I dont encounter problems at all.

Actually the only negative was from an employee's wife: "Oh, it WAS you..." "What was?" "I just said to Geoff: I just saw a guy in a dress". I answered "it's not... it's a kilt". "Oh. What do Scottish women wear then?" Jeans mostly, it's a bit cold over there!"