Garment Names For Dummies

[Abax]

While I was talking to a friend at work about my next kilt, a coworker kept butting into the conversation with snide comments about skirts. I finally stopped and told Stan (not his real name), "When you're man enough to wear a kilt, come talk to me. Until then, don't bother."

He thought about that a minute while my friend and I continued talking. Suddenly Stan had his retort ready and he blurted out "I don't think I'll be measuring my manhood based on whether or not I wear a skirt!"

Really now. Measuring and all.

"Well Stan," I said, "if you wear a skirt, I can assure you we will all be judging your manhood."

Everybody in the vicinity paused, waiting for Stan's comeback that never materialized. Too bad for him that he insists on calling kilts skirts.

Stan is one of three - out of more than a hundred at work - for whom my kilt has revealed who they really are. The other two people I would have never expected to be so hostile towards something they didn't understand. Their vitriol strikes me as being in the same vein as the intolerance that leads to things like racism. The hostility they've shown when I'm dressed in a kilt was surprising.

Abax

[Kilted_John]

Some people just don't have their brains at the right end of their torso... ;-) Don't let him bother ya.

-J

[David Dalglish]

Ignore him. he's not worth the time & effort

[Blu (Ontario)]

..... Stan is one of three - out of more than a hundred at work - for whom my kilt has revealed who they really are. The other two people I would have never expected to be so hostile towards something they didn't understand. Their vitriol strikes me as being in the same vein as the intolerance that leads to things like racism. The hostility they've shown when I'm dressed in a kilt was surprising.

Kilts affect people - plain and simple.

Upbringing, family life, social conditioning, relationships with the opposite gender, self confidence, personality type, and many other factors affect peoples judgement and behaviour towards kilts . People tend to rely on a rigid set of rules to evaluate the world, themselves, and their place in it. It's partly how we survive as a species.

Certain people tend to react more strongly than others. When you break their rules, they react. But it's not easy being tolerant toward the obnoxious and the ignorant. To a degree, I suppose they are to be pittied for their pettiness.

.

[crboltz]

While it seems your co-worker is a jerk, I don't get quite so upset about the skirt comment. My training in theatre design included (unfortunatly for my GPA) several semesters of Costume History. From a costume history standpoint, a skirt is a garment without seperated legs that covers the lower part of the body. A Kilt is a pleated skirt worn by a man. I still try to say "Technically its a kilt" but really, it is technically a skirt. (And lots of societies dressed their worriers and other men in skirts, so historically, it doesn't bother me much -- its better than how the greeks dressed their atheletes -- just way too cold a way to compete!)

Cheers
Chris

[Barry]

its better than how the greeks dressed their atheletes -- just way too cold a way to compete!)

Ah, but soooo nice under a hot Greek sun with a balmy breeze.

[Abax]

I appreciate all your comments of encouragement. One thing people in my profession have plenty (sometimes too much) of is self-confidence. We don't usually worry about being wrong, and we don't often need other people's approval. Exchanges between people like that can be pretty brutal.

Stan intended to offend. It wasn't what he was saying, but how he was saying it. He doesn't discourage me (just the opposite), but I was disappointed that someone who ought to be more intelligent didn't act intelligently.

I'm learning that social conventions aren't subject to logic, and that makes me think about how I react to others too.

Abax

[Cawdorian]

One of my co-workers (he is a piper) and I were discussing some of the finer points of kilt wearing, another of our co-workers was listening in on our conversation. He said "you will never catch me in one of those skirts." I turned and looked at him and said, "You know why they call them kilts don't you?" He gave me a blank look and said "no.' I told him "because that was what happened to the last guy who called a kilt a skirt." He looked at both of us kind of strangely and made a hasty exit from the room.

I have a picture of my wife and I (kilted) on the bookcase in my offfice. One of the employees in my department was looking at the picture and asked me what we really wore under the kilt, I told him that is a pretty personal question, but we always wonder why other guys want to know what we wear under the kilt. Another startled look and another hasty retreat.

Most of these people think they are being funny, but little do they know that all kilt wearers are quite capable of handling their questions and comments.

[Riverkilt]

Freud, were he alive and kilted up, would probably tell you that Stan secretly wants to wear the kilt too, he's just afraid that other men would hassle him like he's hassling you.

Sounds like you're showing him well how to deal with such flak. Hand him a few kiltmaker's cards or email him a list of kiltmaker's websites.

If he hassles you again, just say, "You know you want one too." and see if he doesn't blush.

No person's opinion of my kilt is more important than my freedom to wear the kilt.

Ron

[motorman4life]

We have gone round-and-round here on this topic and while it is true that a kilt is technically a man's skirt, calling a kilt is a skirt would be like calling a tuxedo a mere suit or calling a diamond a stone.

The fact is, there is a difference between a kilt and a woman's skirt and when idiots choose to contemptuously and mockingly label your kilt a skirt, they are not trying to be technical, literal or precise; they are trying to disparage the wearer (as being a transvestite) by demeaning the kilt as being a common women’s skirt.

My usual response is “If you prefer to call my kilt a skirt, because it turns you on (to think of me in a skirt), then knock yourself out!”