When I hear the "nice skirt" comment, I quickly determine from the tone and attitude whether it's a sincere comment or meant to be a put-down. Some people don't know what a kilt is (just as there are apparently people in this day and age who don't know the earth is round). In those cases I might say something along the lines of, "Well, yes, a kilt is type of skirt. Thank you."

If it's meant as an insult, I usually just ignore it. If the person is really in my face, well, they're just asking to be verbally ripped to shreds.

In seven or eight years of almost daily kilt-wearing, the put-downs have been very, very rare.