In my 11 years here, outside of Tartan Days, I have seen one guy in a kilt, one time, in a grocery store and that was about 9 years ago. There are a fair number of piping bands downtown and they are always in various parades. Most everyone in this area knows what a kilt is, but they just aren't seen in "daily wear" settings.

I kilt up at least one day each weekend and am out and about, everywhere. Like many others in this forum, I also really couldn't give a rat's ankle what people think of me or my clothing, especially being a rather non-social person. I go out expecting the worst, but have never had a negative comment (looks are a bit of a different story... a lot old guys here don't approve, but they don't approach me, or my son for that matter). However, even though I don't care about what they think of me, I do care about what they think of kilts as a whole. Similar to when I wore a uniform, I feel that I am representing something other than myself, so I pay attention to wearing it well, and even behave myself much better, making sure to be extra courteous (when normally I would be a bit of big toe to some folks).

Even though I'm Irish, I feel a certain amount of pressure to not disrespect the kilt in public. When kilted, I stick out just by being there. They won't remember me as a person one way or another, but they will remember the jerk in a skirt, or the gentleman in the kilt. It is up to me to decide that for them.