I too have come to the kilt recently. We have no family history of kilts whatsoever, other than admiration and respect. XMarks has been beautifully formative to me, for which I am grateful. I quickly gave up cream hose in favour of solid colours and am saving for diced for more formal occasions. I picked up a tweed Crail jacket and vest to replace the occasions when I had only the choice of Argyle with silver buttons. I would no longer ever wear an "evening" sporran during the day or for an informal occasion.

But oh yes, I learned other things by "family osmosis." When to remove my hat. To always have clean, shiny shoes. To dress "well" (whatever that means) and to touch my hat when I speak to a lady.

The comment that kids have no adult role models is spot on. In the school system for 32 years, I spent a lot of time teaching the fellows how to dress a mite better. When skirts and dresses came back into style, I tossed the boys out of the room for recess and gave the girls "lady lessons" about how to sit with a skirt. They were appreciative, as were their Moms, who wore slacks and didn't realize how their daughters were sitting. I taught the kids that they looked more correct in a shirt with a collar and no writing on it, with non-denim pants, and with clean shoes... and they commented that they were treated better by everyone else when they followed those suggestions - all of which were optional for them, not requirements. They liked the respect they received and it became infections throughout the school. Oddly, disciplinary incidents decreased, and spirit increased. It didn't seem so odd to me.

Both osmosis and direct instruction work. The former is, in my experience, far more effective.

Thanks for the opportunity to rant on a wee bit.