Hi from North Georgia

[kiltedsawyer]

Welcome from NE Georgia! Glad to see more folks from Georgia on the forum, felt like we were overrun with Texans for a while.
Cheers,

David

[JPS]

JPS, Sounds like we are going to the Celtic Tavern before the Games!

I like this plan. I'm excited to be a part of it.

[grizzbass]

and hope you have a great time at the festival

[tripleblessed]

Kilt nights have tended to be along the northern arc of the perimeter, as @Wareyin (hint, hint; nudge, nudge; wink, wink)) is the usual organizer, and he lives west of Mayretter (spelled Marietta for those looking at the map).

The Celtic Tavern has been our pre-games and Burns locale for years. Don't know yet if they are/will be casualties of the recent insanities. If so, we'll shift gears and soldier on somewhere.

[Wareyin]

Welcome from Dallas, GA! At one time we used to get together about once a month, but a lot of the rabble has moved out of the area or left the forum. I'm certainly up for another kilt night if we can rustle up attendees!

[MichiganKyle]

Welcome from Michigan!

Isle of Skye and Holyrood are both great choices. I have a casual in each. IoS tends to go great with more colorful hose. Holyrood is strongly-patterned enough I find myself going with more earthtone, neutral, or darker hose. They both get quite a bit of use and are both great choices. A good picture's worth a thousand words, but I don't take good pictures, so here are some potato-quality pictures which are optimistically worth maybe a single word instead:

[JPS]

Welcome from Michigan!

Isle of Skye and Holyrood are both great choices. I have a casual in each. IoS tends to go great with more colorful hose. Holyrood is strongly-patterned enough I find myself going with more earthtone, neutral, or darker hose. They both get quite a bit of use and are both great choices. A good picture's worth a thousand words, but I don't take good pictures, so here are some potato-quality pictures which are optimistically worth maybe a single word instead:

Thanks, Kyle! That was very helpful.

I ended up going with a little bit of both of your recommendations, ordering a semi-trad kilt in Holyrood, but went with some bolder colors in my hose and garters.

Now we wait.

[MichiganKyle]

Thanks, Kyle! That was very helpful.

I ended up going with a little bit of both of your recommendations, ordering a semi-trad kilt in Holyrood, but went with some bolder colors in my hose and garters.

Now we wait.

Congrats! That's a great choice. As would have been IoS. You just can't go wrong with them. There are so many lovely color combinations with them.

I will note that if this is your first kilt, you should acquaint yourself with where kilts are most comfortably worn. If you got a semi-trad, I'm assuming you ordered from USA Kilts (that's kind of their term). Give them a call! Their customer service is great, and you can ask them any questions you like. And they can help guide you to making sure you measured in the right spots, because it makes a huge difference in how comfortable a kilt is to wear. Steve has an excellent post here explaining one of the most common problems for first-time kilt buyers - putting the top of the kilt at the wrong height.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...91#post1392291

If you've never worn one before, start with where you think it should be worn. And then go up. And then go up some more. The tops of my kilts are most comfortable well above my bellybutton and covering the lower couple of false ribs. But this height varies from person to person. The idea is that you want the narrowest part at your natural anatomical waist - the narrowest point of your torso - with it flaring out to rest on the crests of your hip bones. That way all of the weight is carried on structure instead of soft tissue, and if it's correct for you, it should be able to stay up without a belt. Steve's guide is an excellent place to start. But if you talk with someone at USA Kilts, they can help you with this as well.

[JPS]

Congrats! That's a great choice. *SNIP*

Thanks for those tips and that great reading material. I'm a bit of an overthinker, so I'll take whatever information you think is useful.

As for my measurements, I went right around that bottom rib, which, looking in the mirror, is where my waist is narrowest. I think that put it a couple of inches above my navel. I took the measurement myself, kneeling, plus I had two other people independently measure (I may have mentioned I'm an overthinker). I did end up about half an inch to an inch longer than the estimate on the USAKilts website, so I think I have it sitting up pretty high.

[MichiganKyle]

Thanks for those tips and that great reading material. I'm a bit of an overthinker, so I'll take whatever information you think is useful.

As for my measurements, I went right around that bottom rib, which, looking in the mirror, is where my waist is narrowest. I think that put it a couple of inches above my navel. I took the measurement myself, kneeling, plus I had two other people independently measure (I may have mentioned I'm an overthinker). I did end up about half an inch to an inch longer than the estimate on the USAKilts website, so I think I have it sitting up pretty high.

Everybody's body's different, but it sounds like you went about it the right way and have bypassed the first round of normal kilt rookie mistake. Nicely done! You did better than me with my first kilt.

I think you'll find it incredibly comfortable worn at that height. Going to need to post some pictures when you get it!