Kilts and Humidity / Heat

[KFCarter]

However, not all of my kilts are suitable for 90 degrees F combined with 90 percent humidity, which is what you have to deal with here. If I wear anything made of 16oz weight material, even if its only a 4 yd kilt, in these conditions it is too hot, period. Mind you, even then, jeans are worse than that, so it's all relative.

I think it has a lot to do with what you're acclimated to. And in Savannah, from June through September, business men are accustomed to sweating through their suits if they half to walk much more than a block downtown. It's just part of the culture. You do see a lot of seersucker, cotton poplin and linen, and even so, with a jacket, shirt, tie and pants...you sweat. There's nothing more uncomfortable to me than pants that are literally soaked, adhering to my legs and the kilt totally solves that problem. VENTILATION is the saving grace. My 16 oz. tanks are simply not as uncomfortable as my full business suits... yes, there is a patch around the true waist, where the kilt is the most snug that does get a bit warm and I do not wear a belt when it is really hot for that reason... that said, I'd be in kilts more often for work if I had business-appropriate jackets that weren't tweed... and I'm working on that right now, having a kilt-cut jacket made in tropical weight cloth. Probably about a month away from having pics of it.

[O'Callaghan]

I think it has a lot to do with what you're acclimated to. And in Savannah, from June through September, business men are accustomed to sweating through their suits if they half to walk much more than a block downtown. It's just part of the culture. You do see a lot of seersucker, cotton poplin and linen, and even so, with a jacket, shirt, tie and pants...you sweat. There's nothing more uncomfortable to me than pants that are literally soaked, adhering to my legs and the kilt totally solves that problem. VENTILATION is the saving grace. My 16 oz. tanks are simply not as uncomfortable as my full business suits... yes, there is a patch around the true waist, where the kilt is the most snug that does get a bit warm and I do not wear a belt when it is really hot for that reason... that said, I'd be in kilts more often for work if I had business-appropriate jackets that weren't tweed... and I'm working on that right now, having a kilt-cut jacket made in tropical weight cloth. Probably about a month away from having pics of it.

You're first comment hit the nail on the head. I'm not from Maryland, and even after 20 years I still suffer because it is both hotter in summer and colder in winter than London. God only knows how I could cope with summer in Georgia atall.

You are also probably right that any kilt is better than a pair of trousers in the heat, even if made of ridiculously warm fabric, but why suffer more than you have to? Nobody makes shorts out of 16oz wool, after all!

16oz wool kilts were designed for the Scottish highlands, where the temperatures are all appreciably cooler than in my native London, and thus their summers are very much cooler (and shorter) than here in Maryland, although their winters may be comparable. A 16oz weight kilt is about right for winter weather here, although your knees freeze with the gap between the kilt and the hose, which would be why kilties are called redshanks!

For office attire here in the summer I currently wear an undyed Irish linen jacket with the sort of khaki trousers that are ubiquitous around here. The dress code does not allow kilts, but thankfully doesn't require a tie either.