Greetings from a kilted vagabond archaeologist

[Cymrych]

Hi everyone!

I've been a lurker here for quite some time, so I finally decided to officially sign up and say hi. This forum has been a fantastic resource for me, who, being from the US, doesn't really have that much exposure to kilts aside from the occasional parade or Highland Games. Every time I jump on here, I find myself learning considerably more than merely the answer to whatever prompted me to search the forum in the first place! A truly great forum you have here, with a huge amount of info and knowledge from the community, and a seemingly endless supply of (sometimes rather entertaining) discourse and dialogue. Well done, and thank you!!

As for me, I'm a professional archaeologist, traveling this fantastic country in search of the relics of its prehistoric cultural past. Of course, the archaeology is almost exclusively Native American over here (well, discounting some of the old timers' tales about Viking or ancient Welsh settlements in Wisconsin and other parts of the upper midwest!), but my academic concentration was late European prehistoric archaeology, with a focus on the Atlantic seaboard from the Neolithic through the Iron Age, and more specifically, the British Isles during that 4000 year plus period of prehistory. As such, I've had an academic love affair with all things Brittonic and Goidelic for quite some time!

I'm currently on my second kilt, and this latter is what I'm considering my first "real" kilt. The first was a PV casual, which was OK, but it just never felt right. It sat too low on the hip, and the material just felt ... well, wrong. I've had it for a year, but rarely wore it because, frankly, it felt a little silly, like wearing a costume rather than a garment. So earlier this summer I ordered my first "real" kilt in 8 yards of happily hefty 16 once wool, and I could not be happier! This is something I should have done YEARS ago!

What has most surprised me is that I really enjoy the process of dressing a bit snazzy for a change. As an itinerant archy, the clothes in my travel bag are effectively ALL field clothes, that is to say, dirt stained jeans, t-shirts, and flannels. We live out of hotels for 9 months out of the year or so (for example, my home is in Pennsylvania, but I'm typing this in my hotel room in north central South Dakota!), and really, there aren't many social events that necessitate dressing up much. The closest thing to business wear I had in my possession until my kilt arrived was my 1 remaining "good" t-shirt, lol!

But now, I have a small but growing plethora of new digs, all of which are comfortable and, if I do say so myself, look pretty darned good on this otherwise wild-bearded fella from the hills of Pennsylvania! And let's face it, a kilt is just plain comfortable! That my kilt fits my rather eclectic nature and lifestyle certainly doesn't hurt either!

So, all rambling introductions aside, thanks for inviting me into the rabble, and I look forward to chatting with you all in the threads!

Lechyd da!

-Jason

[Spartan Tartan]

from Rhode Island!

[McClef]

from South Wales UK!

[RCAnderson]

Aloha, and from Hawaii.

I recently started wearing the kilt, and over the past few weeks am now up to 7 of them, all 8yard PV except for a 6yard one which is a wool and acrylic blend which I absolutely love. It looks like wool, feels like wool, drapes like wool, and moves like wool, but at a lower cost than pure wool.

I am hoping to order a few more of these wool blend kilts just like it to get me by until I can afford to start investing in 8yard wool kilts. Unfortunately I have only seen them available from one supplier on eBay, and he doesn't list one in my tartan very often. I wish I could find them in this material with this quality elsewhere.

[roller63118]

Hello and welcome! From St. Louis MO.

A real "Kilty-ana Jones" as part of the rabble. Enjoy the forum and dig safe, many wonderful things to discover.

[GMan]

Welcome my Kilted friend!!

[Father Bill]

Welcome ti the "Great Rabble!"

[Tarheel]

Well met Jason. As a lurker (baited) and now a newbie (hooked), I expect you've browsed the recent "Contemporary Kilt wear" forum. There even a "good t-shirt" can be presentable with a kilt. OH! This is a "Catch and Release" site. Welcome from Tarheel in Oxford, MS.

[Mel1721L]

Hola from Spain.

[kiltedtom]

Jason,

Welcome from the Midwest. Not sure if any vikings or welsh made it to Muncie, Indiana, but do know a few American Indians lived here, and still do. As a historian, your work helps me a lot. Thanks.

Have a good week and enjoy your kilt.

Tom