spreading legs in kilt

[mcnice]

hi there,
i m an austrian student who started wearing kilts last summer and felt immediatly strongly in love with it. if the weather allows, actually the hole year except our really hard winters here, i only wear my kilts.
what is important to me also is that i can wear my skirt, without having to sit like a girl.
most of the kilts i purchased (two of them are made by my mother) had their under apron going far to the left leg, at least it goes just around the hole leg. now with this kilts i had worry spreading my leg, because the under apron could´nt come between my legs from itself, if i just spread my legs. manual adjustment does it, but is it better having such a long under apron that needs my hands between my legs in public?

i ve got a tailormade second hand kilt now and its under apron covers also my whole left leg. usually i had my private seamstress to shorten the apron in order that it comes just to the middle of my left leg, so i can sit down, spread my legs and the under apron just falls down from itself. from the other kilts i thought it was a too long apron, but when i even saw the tailormade kilt from edinburgh high street, i worried about why the under apron is so long, because sitting then and spreading its legs, needs absolutely a little manual adjustment to get our anatomy covered... how do you sit in your kilt if your apron is not coming down by itself is it usual that i ve cut it? because i m not weraing my sporran everyday, but even with, the kilts with those apron can t fall properly... thanks for your experiences.

other thing is: does anybody got experience in wearing the kilt in winter time? winter and even summer in scotland is quite moderate, in opposite to central europe, where we got very hot summers and really cold winters.
thanks all and kind regards,
daniel

[GMan]

Daniel,

First of all welcome to Xmarks, it is a pleasure to have you here. I have distant relatives in Graz, so I am somewhat familiar with the Austrian's, and hope to learn more by having you here.

I will address your wintering first. I have been kilted in the winter as well as the summer, and I really find them both extremely comfortable any time of year. Granted you will get some aren't you cold comments, but with the insulating factor and your own body heat I find the kilt a very warm article of clothing, even when the wind blows.

I have noticed that when I sit down in a kilt, I take a swoop of the back and adjust the pleats, when that is done at the same time one or both of my hands goes to the front to push down both aprons between my legs. It takes practice, and I would suggest that you practice by placing a chair in front of a mirror, and keep practicing. I know the tendancy is to spread your legs, but as long as the aprons are place well between the legs and every so often you keep pushing down the aprons, you should be fine. But the mirror shoud be your guide, until it becomes a habit which it will be soon.

I hope that this is of some help, and maybe some of the others can offer other advice that may of be some help, but that is why this board is here. Good Luck, and again welcome.

[Canuck]

When sitting with your legs open do a karate chop with your hand on the centre of the apron as you sit down. Thus forcing the material between your legs. I wouldn't cut the under apron as it is there for a reason, when the wind blows you have full coverage.
In the wintertime a kilt is rather warm because of the airflow. Which is warmer, gloves or mitts? If you answer mitts, you're right! same with a kilt compared to trousers. It does help wearing long kilt hose but I have hairy legs so it doesn't much matter to me.
Cheers
Robert

[Colin]

When sitting with your legs open do a karate chop with your hand on the centre of the apron as you sit down.

Not too forcefully, you don't want to injure yourself. You're only tucking the apron, not trying to break concrete blocks.

[Freelander Sporrano]

Daniel,
First of all welcome to xmarks. I had the pleasure of visiting your fine country this past summer.So if you've heard of anyone in a kilt in Salzberg this summer it was me

The winters in Norway and Austria have a lot in common.I wear my 8 yard trad outside in the winter. It does help to keep moving. I do a fair amount of outdoor camping in the winter for that I use ordinary layered clothing. If needs be a snow scooter dress.No kilt

Off course this doesn't stop me. I often wear it to church in the winter and out shopping. It is very cosy and not a little bracing

For your other problem use the chop technic. Just be careful

All the best......David

[Canuck]

When sitting with your legs open do a karate chop with your hand on the centre of the apron as you sit down.

Not too forcefully, you don't want to injure yourself. You're only tucking the apron, not trying to break concrete blocks.

Depends if you've been out in freezing rain in the winter

[Rufus]

I do the soft karate chop too, and then kind of push the sporran into a modesty protecting position where it sits down in the dip of the aprons.

[mcnice]

thanks a lot for your warm welcome and your helpful replys.
i´ve naturally made the experience that each kilt is different. now with those made or adjusted from my mother (and these were the first i wore until i got some from scotland)i didn´t even mind about the topic. their under apron went down from itself, because they go only to the middle of my left knee. That was part of the fascinating things among the kilt, that i could move and sit like in a trouser without to have to touch anything on the garment.
i ve to add that with these kilts i made an other mistake too: stitching the pin threw both aprons. in this way the under apron hold with the outer one, it went down.
now when i got my geoffrey tailor kilt from ebay last week, and i saw the huge under apron, that was the beginning of making me thinking. i was worrying and thought it was for larger waists, but as i understand now from u it is the way they are made. in fact those needs the karate chop, but i would claim to achieve the same result without even touch the kilt while sitting down. (excepting the pleats) that belongs to the mystery of wearing kilt for me, because one could sit down, spread its legs, without any touch. is my method and aim so weird to you?
i already had my sessions in front of the mirror and came to the result, that for some kilts the way i discribed, was the best. some kilts, don t blame me, fulfill the sitting quest better, when both aprons are stitched together.

i m thinking about what to do with the tailormade kilt but as i know now from u guys, that this long aprons are the koscher way, i ll finally try this way.

the winter is for sure like in norway, and i absolutely need a really heavy kilt. my heaviest so far is maybe a 13 oz one. but i m doubting about the cold air coming from bottom... but if my body is well packed should work maybe?

i only have seen once a guy wearing the kilt in vienna, where i live and even in austria, and this was the day when we had highland games in vienna. the composer gustav mahler said, "if something happens, it happens with 20 years delay in vienna".

[Freelander Sporrano]

Mcnice Wrote

i only have seen once a guy wearing the kilt in vienna, where i live and even in austria, and this was the day when we had highland games in vienna. the composer gustav mahler said, "if something happens, it happens with 20 years delay in vienna

I wore my kilt in Vienna too.

Just do one thing .....Never pin the two aprons together your asking for all kinds of trouble.The others will tell you the same thing...It'll end in tears....Sorry

All the best...David

[Andrew Breecher]

other thing is: does anybody got experience in wearing the kilt in winter time? winter and even summer in scotland is quite moderate, in opposite to central europe, where we got very hot summers and really cold winters.

I've worn several different styles of kilts in temperatures as low as -26C and as high as 35C (with 100% humidity to boot). While chilly in the winter, I was certainly no colder than anyone else around me. In the humid heat the kilt is definitely warmer than short shorts, but otherwise isn't as bad as one might think. I always find it ironic that in the winter people ask you, "Aren't you cold with that kilt on?" and in the summer they ask, "Aren't you hot with that kilt on?"

Andrew.