"Ritualistic circumstances"?

[Bugbear]

A copy of "American Gothic," and my picture standing by the Indian Fig cacti with a pitchfork while wearing a canvas kilt are both still in my profile album. That's all I have to say.

[Bugbear]

I love that picture!

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Thank you, and also thanks to Grant Wood's. When I was a kid, we had a print of American Gothic on the wall that I saw every day.
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Knowing that my kilt-wearing may be perceived incorrectly by outsiders makes me reserve it for more or less ritualistic circumstances; I'm only a daily kilt-wearer in the privacy of my own home.
In terms of my own impression of other people, I try to keep an open mind. When I read clothing semiotically, I will usually hold the symbolically available meanings balanced against the contextual information, and then try to make the most charitable interpretation. If there is someone that I am interacting with (as opposed to just observing) and I am perplexed by their clothing, I would try to politely ask them for clarification of their intended meaning. And I'm quite difficult to offend...

The flip side of freedom of dress should be tolerance of difference. I am all too aware, however, that inclusiveness and permissiveness are lofty ideals, so I try to dress according to the circumstances.

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I suppose it could be dancing or boxing.

It occurs to me that both people in an interaction could end up feeling like the "outsider." That's a little funny because that leaves them with something in common; neither being an outsider to being an outsider in the interaction.
Ehh, what do I know.

On the other hand, I have not yet decided how I will use the canvas kilt I have started wearing again; perhaps ceremonially in a garden ritual.

Thank you for the interesting discussion, Chirs and CMcG.