Kilt at the Office

[Jock Scot]

I must confess, I do find myself daydreaming about a tweed kilt suit from time to time. Modern of me? Or historical?

Sometimes they’re one and the same.

By the by, is that Robertson Hunting in your lower photos?

Follow your dream, if you wish! Should you wish to go down that route then perhaps you might seriously consider the style of jacket you might have? Might I suggest the rather more flowing and graceful lines of the traditionally cut kilt jacket------- without perhaps epaulets and Argyll cuffs---------rather than the rather severe modern cut kilt jacket style that looks more like a straight jacket!

Both of my kilts are MacLeod of Harris tartan. The top picture is a custom weave to a 10 inch sett and the colour tones were chosen to suit my eye. The bottom two are a standard Loch Carron 7 inch(I think) sett in " ancient" hues. I have worn no other Clan tartan in my life and I doubt that I ever will.

As an afterthought, I did at one time many moons ago, wear a MacLeod of Lewis tartan kilt for evening events where dress attire was needed. MacLeod of Lewis tartan is the dress tartan for the MacLeod of Harris branch of the Clan. These days few in the senior branch of the Clan bother with all that and just wear MacLeod of Harris for all events.

[Mike in Dayton]

The company I worked for had a dress code which if taken by the exact wording would preclude wearing a kilt. Looking around the office it was obvious that enforcement of that rule was rather loose. The code was mainly for employees that had interaction with customers. Being in IT we were never in contact with customers.

Those I worked with knew I wore kilts. The first time I wore a kilt was during a very hot summer. Management decided they would have a shorts and flip-flops day. This was one of the pop up team building events that the company would do from time-to-time. Shorts were not allowed per the dress code. I decided to wear a kilt. PV material, tartan kilt. I wore knee socks that were pushed down. Polo shirt if I recall. One of the directors came by and said if they were giving out prizes I would be given one for "thinking out of the box".

After that I would wear kilts in what would be considered a more traditional style. Something like a team outing, Holiday party, etc. Then I started to wear them on Friday. Friday was considered a more casual dress day. As far as I know no one complained about the kilt.

If you want to start wearing kilts do so on "casual day" if you company has such a thing. If not, try special events and go from there.

Mike

[Taskr]

I wear a kilt formal, business and casual for work. While I do take Jock's point about wool kilt over utility as being more appropriate for the workplace, I would offer that it is the design over the material. I do have a utility kilt, but I would not wear it to work. However, I do have a PV kilt that looks as good as the traditional design wool with a shirt/jumper for those casual Fridays at the office without concern about any activity that wool might not withstand.

[RichardtheLarge]

Follow your dream, if you wish! Should you wish to go down that route then perhaps you might seriously consider the style of jacket you might have? Might I suggest the rather more flowing and graceful lines of the traditionally cut kilt jacket------- without perhaps epaulets and Argyll cuffs---------rather than the rather severe modern cut kilt jacket style that looks more like a straight jacket!

Both of my kilts are MacLeod of Harris tartan. The top picture is a custom weave to a 10 inch sett and the colour tones were chosen to suit my eye. The bottom two are a standard Loch Carron 7 inch(I think) sett in " ancient" hues. I have worn no other Clan tartan in my life and I doubt that I ever will.

As an afterthought, I did at one time many moons ago, wear a MacLeod of Lewis tartan kilt for evening events where dress attire was needed. MacLeod of Lewis tartan is the dress tartan for the MacLeod of Harris branch of the Clan. These days few in the senior branch of the Clan bother with all that and just wear MacLeod of Harris for all events.

I will take that under advisement, Jock! My own inclination is for Crail cuffs in most or all contexts. Tweed and tartan are rather considerable fabrics in their own right, and can be a tad overwhelming when they’re accompanied with gauntlets, epaulettes, pocket flaps, etc.

[macmanjim]

Casual means no torn clothing, stains, or extensive skin showing. I t-shirts, no black jeans, no clothing with any graphics (only allowed small logos like those on Polo shirts).

The dress code policy was reduced, in the sense that more choices of clothing were offered for women, but no change happened for men. I brought up the question regarding kilts (as these can be rather professional looking) and my boss’s boss’s boss’s boss said it was OK. Everyone naturally expected me to show up in one the following day.

My work, while in an office setting, can be rather dirty as I need to do things with supplies.

My khaki kilt has no exterior pockets (unlike most of the Utilikilts). I could probably get away with sneakers with this and a simple sporran. Every other kilt will require a more semi-formal attire.

I live in AZ too...Haven't seen kilt wearers outside of the Caledonian Society here, but I work at ASU and a kilt would be fine. In fact, I am doing the kilt run in the west valley on Friday and I'll try the kilt at work for the first time. It's pretty laid back there as it's a college and I normally wear jeans, sneakers and a polo or button down shirt. I just ordered a traditional kilt in St Patrick's tartan and I'll wear that with a day sporran and either black sneakers and piper hose with an ASU polo or my black Sidi boots. If it goes well, I'll try it again on Tartan Day with my Scottish National in wool, with brogue gillies, coyote sporran and a shirt and tie. Maybe I'll make it into a kilted Fridays thing, like some have casual Fridays, I'll do kilted Fridays.

[Mithosphere]

Kilt went over well yesterday. Positive comments then and today. One guy even came up and was thrilled that I actually wore it - didn't like the double-standard in place for women, with more provocative clothing with the updated dress code.

Going to be kilted tomorrow too, as I have to work overtime.

[kingandrew]

For office wear, I totally agree that wool tartan is best. If your job is in more of a workshop/factory environment, I could see good reason to consider the solid colors in sturdy, machine-washable fabrics offered by Utilikilt and the like.

As a teacher, I wear the kilt at times in the classroom (wool tartan with traditional accessories). I had intended to wear it Friday as a nod to St. Patrick's Day, but the weather here in Beijing did not cooperate. Although it felt like springtime on Tuesday and Wednesday, Friday was icy and windy, with snow predicted for Saturday (which arrived as predicted). Since I had to be outside for several hours for a schoolwide event, I went with a tweed suit instead (and still needed my overcoat).

Since conditions are supposed to improve this week, I will probably have a "do-over."

Andrew

[Steve Ashton]

I think that post is antiquated. I've never been able to see a number of those photos in the year I've been at x-marks. Maybe our good-natured brethren could update it.

I'm very sorry but if you are seeing a blank box or one with a clock in it where a photo is supposed to be what you are seeing are where photos were posted before photobucket updated their terms and began blocking any sharing of photos with any third party.

There is nothing that the forum can do in these cases. It is a matter between photobucket and the photo owner.

Most of us have stopped using photobucket for this policy change.

I personally have moved all of the photos that used to be on photobucket to another hosting site.

[Mithosphere]

Sorry, no photos yet, but did wear a kilt yesterday with below-the-ankle socks and sneakers and a sweater at work (yeah, on a Saturday). Again, no issues, only compliments from people. Best of all, and I hadn't thought of it until yesterday, I've circumvented the "no shorts" policy. Looks like I can wear my non-cargo pocket kilts without issue.

[glynrb]

In 2014 it was confirmed that I had an epididymal cyst. Women don't get it - Look it up if you can handle gore. I was a self employed IT consultant working in a UK hospital. The problem was that it would be 2 months+ before the cyst could be operated on, I had a project on that was critical to the operation of the hospital, and trousers were NOT an option. AND I needed to earn my keep!

I remembered seeing an elegant gentleman at a social event wearing a Utility Kilt (as I later discovered). As a result I purchased a Utility Kilt and, with some trepidation, wore it to the "office". All of my colleagues were interested. My main customer asked about it. No one complained. The really interesting bit was when I was out in the "public" part of the hospital. I found I had to allow an extra 5 minutes or so to each visit because patients, usually women, would want to discuss my utility kilt with me. I never had a negative response from anyone, directors, staff or patients.

Over time I purchased more utility kilts and traditional kilts. I gained the impression that a utility kilt with a smart shirt (no tie), long black socks and brogue shoes was best for most purposes. Flashes seemed to be a bit too "flash".

Traditional Scottish kilts seemed to distract people a bit too much, but when wearing a traditional tartan with flashes, etc, I DID get a LOT of attention from female patients.

When my operation came around it wasn't an immediate success ("collateral damage from a mis-spent youth" was how the surgeon described it). So I had to wear kilts for another 6 months. At the end of that time I decided I wasn't going to go back to trousers and since then I have worn jeans or trousers on about 10 occasions.

In conclusion:

Utility Kilt with T-shirt replaces Jeans
Utility Kilt with smart shirt and brogues replaces "smart casual"
Full Scottish Tartan without flashes is the equivalent of a smart suit and tie

Hope that helps