Not really my first kilt; I've been wearing a greatkilt to certain events for years. But the Washington Post's feature on the Kilted Nation store in Manassas has me thinking of getting off my bum and finally buying a wee kilt.

Here's my problem: My thoughts on the matter used to be, "Those Utilikilts look interesting. One of these days I'll have to try one." Then I started reading all the excellent reviews here of other North American kiltmakers. Now I have complete brain-lock over the many great choices that seem to be available.

I really like the features of the modern casual kilts from places like UK, SK, and FK. Lightweight or non-wool: Perfect for a city built on a malarial swamp where it can be beastly hot and humid nine months of the year and never cold the other three. Pockets: Pockets rock. Price: At about a hundred bucks, give or take, the purchase is what I'd spend on a night at the ballpark.

What I'm looking for is a kilt to wear around the house and the yard, around the neighborhood or to the store on weekends, maybe out to the pub of an evening or to the ballgame. That last is the complicating factor: If I'm going to wear a kilt with the custom Nationals jersey I usually wear to the ballpark, it pretty much has to be a tartan, not the solid-color of most contemporary casual kilts with their pockets.

The obvious solution is to order a tartan kilt with pockets from FK, but even in the $400 range that's too rich for me to spend on a first-and-a-half kilt. Plus, I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel wearing a $400 kilt to a place where visiting Phillies fans regularly throw beer at the locals.

I'm willing to consider a tartan kilt, whether a basic SK model (love Hawaii's recently adopted tartan!) or SW or CC, but I'm hesitant to give up on the pockets thing.

So, with my not-entirely-compatible kilt-wishes in mind, where would you steer this wee-kilt newbie?

Many thanks for any advice.