I suspect that the claim is true: 97% of women prefer a man in a kilt.
So surprised that there should be so many wives/ partners of kilties that are ambivalent {or worse} that I thought I'd check again just in case I missed something.
I suspect that many of the wives (or girlfriends) who don't want their man to wear a kilt are not saying this because they dislike kilts. Indeed, I'll bet that they really do like a man in a kilt. But they are intimidated by the idea of being in public with a kilted man because he will be pointed at and possibly laughed at by the rude, insensitive jerks out there. So it's not that she doesn't like the kilt, it's that she is terrified of being publicly attached to someone who is different than everybody else.

A good way to get past that is to take her to a Highland Games or other event where kilts are the norm. Let her get used to being "out and about" with a kilted man in a safe environment. And go from there, with the idea of transitioning to being kilted in normal everyday life. Her apprehensions will dissipate with more exposure, as she gets used to the idea.