What the kilt means to you

[Jock Scot]

No kilt worn in this part of Inverness-shire at the moment!The midges are ferocious!!

[Riverkilt]

Welcome McG,

It baffles me. I went to highland games for years and never had a hankering for a kilt. One of my father's drinking buddies had the whole traditional garb and played the bagpipes in a pipe band. Yet I had no interest in wearing a kilt.

Then, a few years ago I saw a Utiliklt workman's at a Ren Faire and I just had to have one. Searching on line I read about kilts and saw how many other men embraced them and I ordered one.

Wearing that first kilt set the addiction in motion. While I do enjoy wearing "Scottish jeans" over the years I've drifted to tartan kilts, most in my clan tartans, or in honor of military service of my father, uncles, and brother. I now own 8 hand sewn kilts and a lot more machine sewn.

While my family also came to Canada in the clearances, and that is an important factor to me, the main attraction for me is comfort. Comfort on the job (I sit for a living) and comfort on the long drives from this remote area.

I'm also a great supporter of diversity and men's right to wear a manly garment if he so chooses. A great way for me to support the kilt fashion boom is to sally forth kilted.

It has taken time, but by being kilted in my little remote town I have now found two other men who own kilts, one of whom's mother used to sew kilts. Something I'd never have dreamed when I'd started. My best guess was that maybe a high school kid would get a Utilikilt or something.

But, bottom line for me is the comfort of the freedom.

Ron

[GMan]

Heritage,
Comfort,
Independance,
Look good in it.

[James MacMillan]

Comfort, Comfort, Comfort!
Ease of wear.
Style.
Heritage.
Comfort, Comfort, Comfort!
Oh, and I should mention that the kilt is very comfortable to wear......... did I say that?

:smile:

[davedove]

Well, I'm not a full time kilt wearer, so for me the kilt is another clothing choice. While I will at times wear one "because I feel like it", it is usually for some occasion or event, everything from formal night on a cruise to a beer festival to a volksmarch.

I do have some Scottish ancestry and that helps guide my tartan choice, but heritage is not a driving factor in wearing a kilt.

And, of course, I do like the attention from the ladies.

[creativeaccents]

YES to all. My folks got here with their Scots/Irish, English, French, Dutch roots in the 16 and 17 hundreds. I will never forget the incredibly deep feeling in my soul when I first returned to Britain and drove about 1400 miles. Something about a sense of being home and belonging that I have never experienced here except in the Blue Ridge. The kilt, in any style, is about that and more, all well addressed here. Too, mens clothes today are just plain boring and often uncomfortable. Ever had a torsion from one of the guys getting squashed when sitting by the legs of jeans or slacks? A few days on ice should be incentive aplenty.

[Arlen]

Well, being Scottish I've work a lot of kilts since I was a youngster. (Weddings etc) and I always found them far more comfortable and practical than trousers.
As far as wearing them now, they are comfortable, practical, they look good and I feel like I am honouring what I've come from.

[highlander_Daz]

Ive been in Prestonpans last 2 weeks nae midgies here, dont like me anyways dont get bit. (much) !!

[Coinneach]

Did your ancestors leave here after the clearances? or do you simply just like the kilt?

Yes. Well, maybe.

I haven't found my "over the water" guy yet, so I can only suspect it might have been during the clearances. I'm back almost that far. At least one family line, I'm convinced, comes from Scotland.

I first put on a kilt for a family wedding on a muggy day. If I'd known they were that comfortable before, I would have started wearing them much sooner! I have only 2 at the minute, so not only am I a late bloomer when it comes to wearing kilts, I have a ways to go before I can wear one as often as I want to.

[McG]

Ive been in Prestonpans last 2 weeks nae midgies here, dont like me anyways dont get bit. (much) !!

Yer not going to start another Jacobite rebellion big guy? I believe them to be a new strain West Coast Super Midge. Done everything i possbly could, lit fire tried to smoke them out, no. Hide indoors or run.