I think that respect to the traditions of kilts changes depending on what I'm wearing it for.

I wear the kilt every day, and in the summer I wear it with sandals and a tank top - hey it's pretty comfortable in the heat to wear only two items of clothing! In cooler weather I'll wear kilt hose and flashes, but with sneakers (trainers). When I'm hiking, I don't wear kilt hose, and I'll even wipe the sweat off my face with my kilt. Hey, it's what I wear - it's a kilt, not a flag, I can do what I please.

But when I dress up with a shirt and tie, and a jacket, and shiny black shoes I treat the kilt differently. In fact, it's exactly the same kilt (well, one of them) that I wear every other day, but with a jacket it becomes more formal. When I dress up I tend to wear my Irish county tartan kilt rather than my other tartans, not because it's any nicer, but rather because I have a family connection to that tartan.

Andrew.