I'm relatively new to X Marks (I joined in early August). In my original newbie post, I had mentioned that I am disabled due to a disease that is damaging my peripheral nervous system. I had become curious about kilts as a garment to help with my medical condition because the sweat glands in my legs no longer function, and I thought wearing a kilt might provide me with some extra air conditioning to prevent overheating.

I'm happy to report that I now have 7 kilts and wear them everyday, including to parks, grocery stores, restaurants, etc. Now I have to be honest and tell you that all 7 of my kilts are SportKilts. I order them with sewn down pleats, belt loops, and a custom length that just touches the top of the knee. I have a flat backside, and the kilts hang very well and evenly from my waist, even though they are not custom tailored.

I know from the amount that I have spent, that I could have 2 well-tailored traditional kilts that would last a lifetime. In my case, a lifetime is a rather relative term since I face a 50% probability that my condition will be fatal within 5 years. So, I decided to go with less expensive, casual kilts (pretend kilts as some might call them), which has given me the pleasant task of deciding which kilt to wear on a particular day.

So far, wearing my SportKilts in public has resulted either in no response at all from other people, or very positive responses. One women leaving a grocery store as I was just entering remarked, "How wonderful to see a man wearing a kilt." She went on to say that men in the US should lose their "John Wayne" attitude, and that the kilt was a natural garment for a man to wear.

A checkout girl at a convenient store remarks "fabulous looking kilt." A workman at a local city park came to a table where I was seated and remarked, "my ancestors wore kilts." He asked me to stand because he really liked the "plaid." I expained to him that the plaids are actually called tartans, and the one I was wearing was the official USA tartan. He asked about my kilt pin (a sword with an Irish clover), and I told him it was Irish. I explained that my ancestory was Irish, and that I wore the Irish kilt pin with the USA tartan to honor my ancestory, and to honor the Irish immigrants that played a major role into building this country into what it is today.

To summarize, I have fallen in love with these garments. Everyone who has commented to me about them has immediately called them a kilt. So even though they are SportKilts, I wear them with pride and dignity for what they represent.

Darrell Kennedy Lawrence