Your first experiance with a kilt.

[CMcG]

Growing up, I remember taking a keen interest in my father's horsehair sporran. He had worn it as a member of pipe band in his youth but had not worn the kilt since then. Nonetheless, that sporran led me to do some research and learn a bit about kilts. I suppose I had seen pipers here and there at events, but it wasn't until I began to learn more about my heritage that I eventually read about civilians wearing the kilt as formal attire.

When it came time for junior high school graduation, I decided that I wanted to wear the kilt. My dad found an old piper friend who was willing to loan me some of the kit and away I went. Three years later at high school graduation, I asked my Scottish auntie to help me find some kit to borrow. Neither of these cobbled together outfits was really all that great but I got to wear my dad's old horsehair sporran with them, so I was happy.

Flash forward to two year ago when a buddy wanted me to wear the kilt as a member of his wedding party. I decided that the time had come to start acquiring my own kit, I found Xmarks, and the rest is forum history!

ith:

Here is the sporran that started it all for me:

[LewdiKris]

Six years ago my wife and I moved to a new home, where we discovered a fish pond which had been filled in. We thought it would be good to clean it out, refill it and put some fish in. The time I was digging and moving soil in a wheelbarrow was very hot, and I found my trousers continually being dragged down over my butt, so decided to carry on the job in shorts. This resulted in the opposite effect, with the seam of the shorts continually being dragged very uncomfortably upwards!!. One of the guys I worked with suggested I should work in a kilt. I thought "in my own backyard, why not", and purchased my first casual kilt for just 40GBP.

After wearing the kilt at home, I was amazed how comfortable I found it, and began to look for opportunities to wear it elsewhere. The first outing was to Whitby Goth Weekend in North Yorkshire, where you will always find a lot of kilted folks.

From then on there has been no stopping me. I now have nine kilts of various tartans and indeed quality, and go kilted at every opportunity, e.g. masons ladies festival, relatives weddings, local fetes shows, and other days out.

LK

[Santa Wally]

I started to type a reply and had the background done, but I had to check out the spelling for the town in FL, Zephyrhills. When I came back, the reply I had started was gone. I'll need more time than I have right now to retype the background and the rest of the story of my first kilt, so I come back later to do so. Stay tuned....

My grandfather had 11 siblings. As a kid in the 50's, my family went to the Wallace family reunion of the descendants of those siblings. Nothing was said about when the ancestors came from Scotland. I learned last year that it was in the 1720's.

After I retired and became a winter "snowbird" to Florida, we happened to be in Zephyrhills the weekend of the Celtic Festival there and went out of curiosity since we had never attended any games. I saw Wallace Sport Kilts at one vendor tent, but not my size. We enjoyed the day and the following year, March of 2009, we made it a point to drive, from where we were, about an hour and a half to Zephyrhills for the festival/games. The same vendor had a Wallace Sport Kilt in my size. I bought it and changed into it. My wife said, "when are you ever going to wear it again".

One week later, we were in Gatlinburg Tennessee for a Santa festival with a parade on St. Patrick's Day. I wore my Wallace kilt and marched in the parade with the newly formed Clan Claus Society which I had joined as a Charter Member.

Fast forward, I now have 5 kilts which I wear regularly. First was a USA Casual Stewart Royal, the tartan of Edinboro University PA, where I earned my bachelors degree. That kilt was the "test mule" for my measurements (there were a couple of changes to my measurements) when I ordered, in the summer of 2009, my wool kilt in the "Claus of the North Pole" tartan (Scottish Tartan Authority ITI # 7869). In January, 2010, at the Central FL Highland Games, I bought a previously enjoyed, House of Edgar heavy weight wool 8 yard kilt. Last summer, that original Sport kilt got turned in to Rocky during his "kilts for clunkers" for a Wallace PV casual and an Isle of Skye casual.

I wear one of my USA casuals to and from campground showers and when driving or riding on long day trips. My Clan Claus kilt is worn at Santa gatherings and when there was/is a Clan Claus Society tent. Clan Claus was at 2010 games in Gatlinburg TN, Ligonier PA and Niagara County NY. My H O E wool Wallace kilt was worn at the Tampa FL Bay Area Ren Festival, in the Clan Wallace tent at the Central FL Games and VA Games. As you can see, I have answered my wife' question about when I'd wear a kilt again.

[FireKilt58]

Well i have always been interested in bagpipes and the scots and irish. kinda always thought it would be weird to wear one but a co-worker of mine (Graham-who started this post) i soon found out shared the same interest and actually wore kilts! i was ecstatic! we were talking everything scottish, to include single malts which i have found to love now. he had wanted me to come see a band at Tir Na Nog irish pub. band was My Three Kilts. i had mentioned that i wished i had the money to get my kilt and what not, and he said well hell i got 2 and we arent far off in size wear mine and just see how u like it. so i did. found and made my own kilt pin, my own belt and even found a great pouch that works well as a sporran. needless to say i had he so impressed that i pulled it off. and to say the least i freaking love wearing a kilt the freedom and history of kilt just makes it wonderful. so that was my first.

[Duke of Delrio]

My first experience with a kilt was one of great embarrassment to me. It was the occasion of my eighth grade graduation. In those days, that was an event of some importance, and, in my family, it was regarded as a rite of passage.

My great- uncle had requested that I be photographed in a kilt he had sent to us through the mail, and if I were to do that, the tartan tie that had been included in the package was mine to keep as a graduation gift. I was mortified. I did not particularly want a tie of that sort, and I was not going to be photographed in a kilt of any sort. Period.

My mother explained that the kilt was in "your tartan"; the Gordon tartan stood for a long and proud history; and it was not the place of a 14 year old boy to say no to his mother, let alone to a great-uncle. My German/Swedish father explained that he knew little about tartans; that he knew less of their histories; but if my mother had said to wear the kilt, I was gong to wear the kilt. Period. My father's punctuation was more emphatic than mine, and I wore the kilt just long enough to have the picture taken.

Over time, I came to know my great-uncle as not only a fine man, but also as an out and out sorcerer with the pipes. I gained a great a love of pipe music, and of all music really, from him. Treatment for cancer ended his piping, but not his enjoyment of it. "I can hear them," he said, " as clearly as I ever did!"

My second experience with the kilt was at his funeral. I wore it to honor him, and to show what he had come to mean to me. I was self-conscious and felt awkward in it . . . and more than a little ashamed of how I had felt that first time had I worn a kilt for him. I have since worn kilts for my reasons , but I still have the tie he gave me, and when I hear the pipes played really well . . . I like to think I see him as clearly as I ever did.

[rir179]

I was an 8 year old inner city wee lad on holiday with my Aunt visiting family up in the highlands at Brora where the family had settled.

We arrived on a Tuesday and by Friday everything I'd brought in my suitcase was dirty (this before the washing machine became commonplace) My "Great Granny Brora" produced two kilt outfits and that was me hooked! I never wore trousers again for the rest of that 6 weeks holiday and even travelled back home to Manchester fully kilted. I still have the sporran which was actually my Grandfathers when he was a lad

Those experiences stayed with me always, So after some 30 years service with the British Army where incidentally all my mates seemed to be Jocks! I started researching my family tree and my Scottish roots and finding that my Great Great Grandfather was a 78th Highlander and served in the Indian Mutiny, this only enforced the idea that I should have a kilt to show my heritage.

So with the bit between my teeth I now have 5 kilt outfits and wear them as often as I can (2 of which are my family tartan - RUSSELL (Ancient & Modern) I'll be kilted at a wedding on the 4th of June

[Teufel Hunden]

I was but a young lad in high school. Thanks to my parents, I knew my heritage and where my ancestors came from, but it stopped basically at the knowledge itself.. I wasn't terribly interested in much else.

Then I met my good friend, Brandon, and as it turned out, he was heavily interested in his Scottish roots, owned a kilt and everything. His grandpa was even an importer of Kilts and accessories. We got to talking, and discovered we were both MacDonalds. More specifically, MacDonald of the Isles. The rest all flowed from there. I started getting VERY interested in my own Scottish side, and wanted to enjoy every bit of it. The first time I ever wore a kilt, we just decided to wear them on some arbitrarily picked day to school. I borrowed his cousin's kilt (can't remember the tartan, it was mostly blue), while he wore his MacDonald of the Isles hunting ancient tartan. People loved it. It was chilly day, maybe around 20 degrees out, overcast, and there's a pic of us in the year book standing outside for it. Not one negative comment all day.

The summer between my sophomore and junior year, I got my own kilt for my birthday. Brandon and I had a few more kilted outings, tartan day, the highland games, all sorts of fun stuff. I even wore it for my senior pic.

[PEEDYC]

Oh dear .... I can't remember I think I was about 4. (I'm 64 this year) I wore the kilt every day to school and was one of about four kilted, one other being my brother. I returned to kilt wearing about five years ago having found after my divorce I somehow had extra money to spend. My first experience was not a good one as it was a funeral but I was complimented and thanked for making an effort and making it seem like a special occasion.

[Joshua]

After I retired and became a winter "snowbird" to Florida, we happened to be in Zephyrhills the weekend of the Celtic Festival there and went out of curiosity since we had never attended any games.

Z-Hills was my first time competing in the Games! Small world indeed!

[Dale Seago]

I'll post my own kilted experience sometime soon. Was going to do it now, but after reading Duke of Delrio's account I seem to have gotten something in my eyes that's making it hard to see the keyboard.