Hello Again, from California!

[KennethSime]

Hello all!

Apparently, I joined this forum nearly 10 years ago, made a single post, and never returned. Whoops!

To recap, I grew up wearing an 8-yard at Highland games & weddings. I've worn Utilikilts and other contemporary kilts for backpacking quite a bit, but never much around town. During quarantine, I asked "what better time to go kilted?" and began searching for a more practical, everyday "casual" kind of kilt. I decided that pockets were essential, and finally settled on a "Works" kilt from Sportkilt. Man, those pockets are useful! The PV material is great. It's sure not wool, but it's quite comfortable. I do think I'll have to press the pleats fairly often.

Recently, I've begun watching USA Kilts' Kilts & Culture Podcast on Youtube. Rocky & Eric are great. I love the Q&A. I'm thinking my next kilt will be a tweed from them, or maybe a Fraser Weathered 5 Yard.

Here's a picture of my Fraser Hunting Sport Kilt & Flashes with some old acrylic kilt hose. Pardon the lack of sporran; I lost my old one in the last move and with the pockets on the Sport Kilt, I'm not in a rush to replace it. I am planning on ordering some Navy and Bottle Green hose & t-shirts to go with the kilt.



Few questions about my outfit, if you'd indulge me:

• Is my kilt too low?
• Is my hose too high?
• Is my jacket too long?

Look forward to chatting wit your ladies & gents!

[Steve Ashton]

If you will send me a PM with your old username and the old email address, I'll be happy to merge the two registrations.

[Kiltedjohn]

Welcome back. I'm a Scotsman living in middle England. Glad to hear that you have taken the opportunity to be kilted during Covid restrictions.

[Father Bill]

Welcome back to the “Great Rabble”!

[MichiganKyle]

I have several Sport Kilts (with pockets). If I could make a recommendation, check out USA Kilts's casual kilts. Exceedingly easy to care for and very durable.

[Tomak]

Welcome back.

[KennethSime]

If you will send me a PM with your old username and the old email address, I'll be happy to merge the two registrations.

Hey Steve,

Thanks! As it happens, I remembered the password, and am posting from the same account. :-)

[KennethSime]

I have several Sport Kilts (with pockets). If I could make a recommendation, check out USA Kilts's casual kilts. Exceedingly easy to care for and very durable.

Hey Kyle,

How do you like the USA Kilts P.V. vs. Sport Kilt's?

Their Semi-Traditional Kilts look like a nicer version of my sport kilt, but without pockets. I do think the pockets affect the drape of the kilt, but I don't most people will notice.

[MichiganKyle]

How do you like the USA Kilts P.V. vs. Sport Kilt's?

Their Semi-Traditional Kilts look like a nicer version of my sport kilt, but without pockets. I do think the pockets affect the drape of the kilt, but I don't most people will notice.

All of my USA Kilts are casuals. A semi-trad might be cool someday, but honestly I'm happy enough with the casuals that I've stuck with them. Only reason I'd be interested in the semi-trad is for the additional material/smaller pleats. All of my Sport Kilts have buckles in addition to the Velcro, and I actually much prefer not having buckles. USA Kilts's kilts are much more...structurally sound, for lack of a better way to put it, than the Sport Kilts, so there's not as much need for the buckles. My situation's not going to be the same as yours - I wear kilts as regular clothes and don't really do much for formal events and such, but you might, and a semi-trad might be a better fit for you. But I love my casuals - they're quite a bit nicer than what I've consider acceptable for a casual kilt, and they're a darned good value.

The materials are rather shockingly different between Sport Kilt and USA Kilts. Sport Kilt's material is much fluffier and softer. USA Kilts's P/V material is a much more crisp material and holds a pleat pretty much without even trying. It's approximately like the difference between sweat pants and dress pants.

I'm a big fan of pockets, and carry quite a bit of stuff. And all of my Sport Kilts have pockets. Indeed, I got into kilts via Sport Kilt because they offered pockets. However, although the pockets on the Sport Kilts are nice, with how fluffy and stretchy the material is, the tartan on them does tend to distort far more readily. I think part of that comes from how fluffy the Sport Kilt material is - it tends to catch on itself and stick, so the outer apron sticks to the inner apron at weird angles. Plus the distortion from the pockets. It works well enough, but I find myself readjusting the outer apron on the Sport Kilts quite frequently to straighten out the tartan. I don't think I've ever done that with any of my USA Kilts casuals. The P/V that USA Kilts uses glides over itself and doesn't really stretch, so the front apron always hangs nice, and even where there are weird forces going on (like around the hips) it doesn't really distort.

I have to re-pleat my Sport Kilts every time I wash them, and despite that, the pleats continue to get softer over time, even with hanging them to dry. I usually straighten out the pleats on the USA Kilts when I hang them to dry, but they've also been machine-dried with no problems, and the pleats are just as crisp as when I first got them. Sometimes I neither hang nor fold my USA Kilts but just drape them over something. Pleats stay nice. I can sit on them all day, and they may get a little wrinkled temporarily, but after a little bit the wrinkles fall right out and the pleats are nice again. They're just darn near impossible to mess up badly.

Overall, I love some of the Sport Kilt tartans which don't seem to be available anywhere else. But anymore, I tend to reserve my Sport Kilts for colder weather, mostly just when I'm going to be home and don't care whether the tartan's straight. Perfect for shovelling snow - nice and fluffy and warm. But I've found myself wearing my USA Kilts casuals with far more frequency just due to them looking great all the time and requiring almost no care whatsoever to keep them looking that way. Pretty much like wearing sweat pants at home vs. pretty much anything else for going out.

That said, get your measurements right. USA Kilts isn't just "small/medium/large/etc." You will need to measure yourself to get a proper fit. The casuals are pretty forgiving with the Velcro waistband, but they do fit better if they have a fairly accurate starting point. I've tweaked mine a few times from my initial measurements as I've bought more of them. In particular, I had to go down in waist size and up in hip size. I think part of that is that, because they're tailored for the shape you give them, they're very comfortable to wear at your actual anatomical waist, which means I wear them higher than my Sport Kilts like to sit. They're darned comfortable that way, but be aware that when measuring for them it does make a difference.

Hope that helps!

[MichiganKyle]

Their Semi-Traditional Kilts look like a nicer version of my sport kilt, but without pockets.

Upon re-reading this sentence, I realized I should post a TL;DR for this aspect specifically. I consider my USA Kilts casual kilts to be "nicer" than my Sport Kilts, even without going so far as a semi-trad. Sweat pants vs. dress pants.