Hello from the smokey Pacific Northwest!

[MrScott]

Hello all from the smokey Pacific Northwest Oregon! I just got into kilts, found this forum, and will enjoy talking with like minded folks. Little background: Just about two weeks ago I started doing some genealogical digging using Ancestry into my family to trace the origin of my surname, "Elliott". My name is Scott Elliott. To my surprise, it's Scottish. Clan Elliott. Tartans. Family Crest. Family Motto. Yup, the whole eight yards. See what I did there? Not gonna lie, that blew me away! Of course, I'm far from purebred, I've got Irish, English, German and Dutch in me, just to name a few. My best guess is my 3rd great grandfather may have been a Scotsman, but the record trail goes cold after him. My surname is what I somehow ended up with all these generations later, so I'm on a quest to learn all I can.

Go back about five months ago and buddy of mine showed up in his utility kilt. I didn't even know he had one or why, but I was genuinely intrigued. As he later told me he has MacGregor blood in him (his last name is Dutch, as are most names out here). While a kilt was unusual and seemingly strange to me, I thought it was fascinating and looked very comfortable. Anyway, the past couple months I had one in my Amazon cart and was trying to work up the guts to buy it. Now, here's my "mental curb" as Rocky & Eric would say. (Those guys are great) I live, work, and play it in a small country community. Everybody knows everybody, everybody goes to the same church, everybody drinks beer and likes guns, everybody drives old Ford and Chevy pickups with dirtbikes in the bed. Traditional small farming country community where nothing ever changes, right? And I'm right there with them, but then there's the kilt factor. This past weekend I finally ordered the Sport Utility by DNKE in black, and I dare say I looked great in it (after I learned how to wear it). Around the house that is, but I need some advice on how some of you guys got over your mental curb and worked up the guts to wear it outside of home.

While I don't intend to become a full time kilt wearer, I'd like to make myself a student of the culture and explore kilts as part of my heritage. My life style and job simply don't permit me to wear them full time, and I'm ok with that. Anyway, at least I found a community of kilters (Can I say that here?) that I can learn and appreciate them with. Thanks for reading my rambling post, I look forward to many more years of pleats and culture!

[Kiltedjohn]

Welcome from a Scotsman living in the English midlands. You'll learn a lot hear. I'm continuing to learn all the time.

[Liam]

Welcome to the forum from Western Canada!

[Father Bill]

Welcome to the "Great Rabble"!

[MichiganKyle]

Welcome from Michigan, where almost all the last names are Dutch as well. I'm an American mutt of mixed European ancestry, with Dutch, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, French, British, and likely Italian.

I got comfortable with wearing a kilt by going to largely anonymous places (like the mall) where nobody really knows you. After the first few compliments and "hey, I've got a kilt and I love it but only wish I had the courage you have to wear it in public" comments, you realize that way more guys would love to wear a kilt if they thought they could. I think the first or second time I went out in a kilt, I got two guys that said they owned a kilt but never wore it, one gal who bought one for her husband and wanted to know how to get him to wear it, and one gal who wanted to buy one for her dad. That pretty well sold me on the general public's quiet love of kilts in America.

That said, when I visit the tiny little farming town in Iowa that one side of my family's from, I ditch my kilts. I'm already considered an oddball outsider because I'm not "country" enough for them (only a small farm here with vegetables, horses, and chickens, not a big industrial-scale farm), so I try to do as little as I can to stand out more. So it may not be something that'll ever be comfortable for you as daily wear. That's entirely up to your own judgement. You may well be able to get away with it if you're part of the small town rural community clique culture. I can't when I'm there.

The big thing to realize is how much interest there is in kilts from folks who don't wear them. You discover that a lot of people would love to wear them but never even considered it as an option.

[Tomak]

Hello and welcome from Southern California.

[KennethSime]

Hey Scott,

Welcome from Northern California!

Most of us are mutts here in the States, and that's ok. I trace my Scottish heritage through my grandmother, which is far from the most direct link, but she's the reason we went to Highland games growing up so I think it's ok.

I've worn a traditional kilt for years to weddings etc, but I just picked up a Sport Kilt to start wearing more casually during quarantine. I started by wearing around the house, then walking the dog. The other day, we had a few people come over to socially distance in the backyard. Oddly enough, the kilt hasn't really come up yet. I'm sure it will eventually.

One other thing I've done that helps is to photograph myself when I kilt up. Part of this is that the modern tartan colors don't really tone super well with a lot of my clothing (I mostly wear earth tones), so I'm trying to figure out what matches and what doesn't. As you get more comfortable wearing your kilt, your confidence increases, and confident folks look good. :-)

If you want an extra confidence booster, post up your best pics on the Kilts & Culture Facebook group, run by Rocky & Eric from USA Kilts. It's a very supportive community! Oh, and do tell us how you like your DNKE utility kilt.

[MichiganKyle]

Part of this is that the modern tartan colors don't really tone super well with a lot of my clothing (I mostly wear earth tones), so I'm trying to figure out what matches and what doesn't. As you get more comfortable wearing your kilt, your confidence increases, and confident folks look good. :-)

Yeah, the confidence thing is huge. If you're confident that what you're wearing is cool, everyone else kind of assumes you're right.

As far as earth tones go, I've found that my more earthy-color stuff (especially brown) goes great with both my Isle of Skye and Holyrood kilts. For that matter, both of them have so much color variety that they pretty much go with everything.
So if you want a tartan suggestion for that, maybe try one of those for your next kilt?

Oh, and do tell us how you like your DNKE utility kilt.

Oh, forgot about this part. I've got a DNKE Highlander that I wear in the summer, usually just with t-shirts and such when I'm working around the farm or fixing up old machinery. I love mine, and I love the detachable side pockets that I can take off when I'll be crawling around under a truck. I've got a Survival Sporran from SWK that I usually wear with it:

https://store.stillwaterkilts.com/survivalsporran.html

[KennethSime]

As far as earth tones go, I've found that my more earthy-color stuff (especially brown) goes great with both my Isle of Skye and Holyrood kilts. For that matter, both of them have so much color variety that they pretty much go with everything.
So if you want a tartan suggestion for that, maybe try one of those for your next kilt?

Hey, thanks for the recommendation Kyle!

I'm still debating, but I think my next kilt will be one of the following:

• A 5oz tweed in one of the brown Locharron tweeds
• A Semi-Trad PV in Isle of Skye
• A 5oz Wool Fraser Hunting Weathered
• A 5oz Wool Fraser Hunting Modern, but with the Locharron 16oz fabric pictures in my avatar

The Isle of Skye PV seems like it'd be a great every day wear kilt!

[MrScott]

Yup, you said it best Kenneth, I'm a mutt. Haha. Of wide European descent.

I order the DNKE because that was what my buddy had, and that's an awesome name for a kilt brand. I really like my DNKE. It's an easy get-started kilt, but has plenty of room to expand. D-rings around the belt, external pockets, more pleats and mobility than I could ask for, and it looks sharp. My usual wear 99% of the time is black Carhartt jeans (Cuz Carhartt jeans are the only thing that fit me) and a t-shirt, so the black kilt fit right in. Plus I had a pair of low rise black/grey hiking boots that complimented it nicely. I put on sandals and instantly took them off. Open toed shoes with a kilt made me feel on the feminine side, a definite no from me. Another advantage I found was all my tall lean guy problems were solved. I'm 6'2" 150lbs and finding clothes that fit my frame and are long enough is a battle. Never felt comfortable in any shorts I could find. They always miss my knee by at least two inches and/or are tight in the waist and inseam. Some would say that's how they're meant to ride, but I still think its like wearing a medieval torture device. Men BELONG in kilts here people, we should not have inseams. The comfort level is very low, too tight, too SHORT, and it feels a bit... revealing. So either put up with the shorts or tough out 95-100* days in heavy Carhartt jeans, and it is mostly the latter. Now don the woven marvel of Scottish seamstress engineering called "The Kilt". It's long enough. Hallelujah! It has no inseam. Hear the angels sing! It has more mobility and ventilation than bifurcated garments could ever ask for! Changed my life and the way I see pants; wanted to soak my shorts gas and burn them. I am a believer! I will stick with the DNKE for now, but I'd like to pick up a hybrid utilikilt in black and Elliott tartan. It's a good combination of traditional and modern style. I think they look slick.

I hear you Kyle, "The usual way of things" runs pretty deep and it's not always something you want to shake up. Then I could become, "that guy in a dress-er kilt". That has a good chance of happening in my immediate community. Would probably be worse for me, since I am accepted and fit into it. My dad has that mentality and would soil his bifurcated garments if he saw me in a kilt. The anonymous outings are not a bad idea. I will watch for those opportunities.

I've heard rumor of a "kilts don'ts" thread. Can anyone direct me to that? I'm doing my best to wear my kilt properly. There's a lot of how-to, but I want to see some how not. Pleats in the back, knee to belly button, shirt tucked, no long jackets, are a few things I've been learning.