In Your Face Kilting

[Tobus]

I understand completely what you're saying. The way I see it is this - my wearing of the kilt is more in line with my heritage and my homage to it and my family. The fact that it's "in your face" is simply a product that it's different. I don't wear it to garner attention but it does simply because it's not something one sees every day. I went to the opera on Saturday. I dressed my best...MacDonald modern, vest, kilt jacket, semi formal sporran, and a nice black silk tie. My wife was dressed stunningly as always. At the opera, people looked but some made flattering comments like "love the kilt", or questions about the tartan. Only ran into one question I would consider inappropriate about whether or not I was "commando". One young lady even asked if I minded taking a picture with her, which I obliged.

Now if I were wearing a suit, no one would have yelled "nice suit" nor would people have wanted their picture with me. I did not dress in the kilt for this response, although I knew to expect it, as it's happened before. But I will not stop wearing my kilt because of these responses. Nay, I will wear it more as it allows me to tell people who I am, a proud man with deep Scottish heritage. If one of the products is the possibility of "in your face" attitude, the so be it. I will not let people's looks or comments stop me from being me. That's one reason why I love working my clan's tent at highland games, we are the norm there...not the bifurcated. I am half tempted, in jest, to say "nice jeans" to someone walking the clan village.

Some are small minded and will see nothing but fringe in men wearing a kilt. The vast majority are curious and honestly interested in the garment when I wear it. I say with pride when people ask the tartan, "I am of Clan MacDonald" and it gives me a chance to give them my Deputy State Commissioner card for the State of Missouri.

So all I'm trying to say is that a natural byproduct of wearing the kilt is the "in your face" attitude simply because we dress different that society here has dictated that we dress. I also know that I am freer than that small minority who may see me in the same class as the "mohawked" as I am my own man and society will not dictate what I can wear....much like my Scottish ancestors.

From the way you describe your wearing of the kilt, I would say it's not "in your face" at all. Is it different? Sure. But it sounds like you wear it with a friendly attitude, and in a manner which invites people to approach you and ask questions or ask to have their picture taken with you. This is not "in your face" at all. It is not "messing with peoples' minds" at all. It's good public relations. That is the complete opposite of what I perceive the OP to be saying.

A lot of it has to do with how the kilt is worn in context. If you wear a kilt to the opera with a jacket and tie, as you did, it is still different than wearing a suit, but it is presented as respectable and classy. Even though you're wearing a kilt, you appear well-dressed. Had you worn it with combat boots, scrunched hose, and a t-shirt, obviously that would have garnered a different reaction. To me, that would have been "in your face" to your fellow opera-goers.

And attitude has a lot to do with it too. If you appear friendly, reserved, cultured, well-groomed, and polite, you are more likely to get a favourable response than if you are standing in an aggressive posture, throwing menacing looks around the room, puffing up your chest in defiance when someone approaches you, or generally acting uncouth and macho. It's quite possible that I have completely misinterpreted the intent of the OP, but when I think of "in your face kilting", it's the latter that comes to mind, not the former. The term "in your face" implies a sense of aggression.

Ironically, my first foray into kilt-wearing in public was done with more of an "in your face" attitude. In retrospect, it was a product of my own insecurity. I figured that if I was going to put myself out there in public, with the very real possibility of people making fun of me, I would need to take a proactive stance and try to look mean or challenging or macho. Basically, to dare them to make any sort of comment. And because of my own insecurity, I was constantly on edge. I was "that guy" who was throwing menacing looks around, overcompensating in the machismo department. Thankfully, though, that phase didn't last long. It didn't take long to realize that I'm much more comfortable when I dress nicely and keep a friendly yet reserved countenance, and I find that people are more friendly towards me in return. If it's their first time to see a man in a kilt, I feel that they come away from it with a positive impression rather than a negative one. Most importantly, their preconceived notions of mens' attire have still been challenged, but the results are far more likely to be kilt-friendly if the kilt-wearer himself is a good representative instead of a menace.