Why wear a kilt?

[t_challa]

Hey guys.

I think the question I have been asked most since I bought my first kilt 2 weeks ago is "why wear a kilt?".
ith:
It's obviously not to be expected from a black guy in london with dreadlocks (but obviously I never let that stop me). My answer when asked the question has been to reply "why NOT wear a kilt". But it did make me wonder, what made you decide to finally get kilted? Is it a family heritage thing? fashion? conversation ice-breaker? just a way to show off your legs? Everyone has a reason and I think it'd be fun to hear everyones reasons.

As for me, my reasons are two-fold: 1) kilts are cool. 2) after seeing Samuel L Jackson wear a kilt in The 51st State, it made me realise that black guys can carry the look off.

[Bill aka Mole]

I think that they look great and are infinitely more comfortable than pants. Just imagine how boring life would be if everyone thought and acted alike.

And I enjoy electronics engineering.

[Nighthawk]

Well, first off, I love the way they look.

Second, I have a slight deformity in the vertebrae above my tailbone. Pants put pressure on it, and after a while, cause my sciatic nerve on the left side to become inflamed. Anyone who has ever suffered sciatica knows, it's like living in nerve pain hell. So I can either wear a kilt... or pay a surgeon to cut me open and grind up my bone. So screw that!! I'll wear a kilt.

Third and most importantly... The ladies seem to love it.

[John_Carrick]

In London you can go round in a kilt or pretty much anything and hardly anyone bats an eyelid, but it is certainly not the most low key clothing you can adopt. Certainly people do ask about it - especially in pubs.
Apart from the comfort factor, I find that I can wear a kilt with a short sleeved shirt and/or a sweater as casual smart wear and feel that I am dressing in a stylish way. I used to wear shorts all the time (when not at work) and I just feel like a sack of potatoes.
I do a lot of walking at weekends and on summer evenings and it is very suitable for that too.
John

[Gaulv]

I decided to get kilted recently me self .in jr high I had worn a kilt at a couple events found it fun costuming at the time. As grew older always wanted to own them just never had the skill. Some recent family research has found strangly enough my Nan's (see mothers mother is Mac pharlane's on both her m

[Braw Cathairneach]

"...It's obviously not to be expected from a blackguy in London with dreadlocks..."

The last time I checked, my wife and wee great grandson were black as well. Have a photo of the lad kilted while Scottish dancing on stage at four years old. I need to figure out now to post a photo on this forum, but I digress. The wee bairn is kilted because his paw-paw is kilted. Maybe our Bermuda brethren as well as other diasporan will edify readers of this forum that Scottish tradition and culture are not exclusively caucasian.

[thecompaqguy]

Hey guys.

I think the question I have been asked most since I bought my first kilt 2 weeks ago is "why wear a kilt?".
ith:
It's obviously not to be expected from a black guy in london with dreadlocks (but obviously I never let that stop me). My answer when asked the question has been to reply "why NOT wear a kilt". But it did make me wonder, what made you decide to finally get kilted? Is it a family heritage thing? fashion? conversation ice-breaker? just a way to show off your legs? Everyone has a reason and I think it'd be fun to hear everyones reasons.

As for me, my reasons are two-fold: 1) kilts are cool. 2) after seeing Samuel L Jackson wear a kilt in The 51st State, it made me realise that black guys can carry the look off.

Hi from one black guy in a kilt to another

:mrgreen:

It's something different from the crowd, the same old jeans day in day out is too boring. Do you have a casual ensemble you can post a pic of? I bumped into a kilted shopper in Ikea Tottenham

and thought his ensemble looked cool. There was no reaction from other shoppers, everything's acceptable in London nowadays

[O'Searcaigh]

r ... . But it did make me wonder, what made you decide to finally get kilted? Is it a family heritage thing? fashion? conversation ice-breaker? just a way to show off your legs? Everyone has a reason and I think it'd be fun to hear everyones reasons....

My wife encouraged me to buy my first kilt while attending a highlands games (in southern California) many many years ago. The kilt was a Scottish National wool tank that had been made for someone else but he did not pay the final payment. It fit me and the vendor sold it to me for what was remaining to be paid on it. At first it was just a "holiday dress-up thing" (highland games, etc) but the more I wore it the more I liked it. It was/is so so much more comfortable than those bifurcated things. I also found that I liked the feel of the higher waist and wearing "pants" that high would look even stranger than a kilt (if you could even find them). So, bottom line for me is that yes, I do have some Scottish heritage as well as other "Celtic" ancestors but my main reason is comfort and the rest helps as an "excuse" when people ask "why are you wearing a kilt?" My responses depend on my mood when asked and range from telling about my ancestry to "it feels better given my medical condition" which usually stops the conversation dead in its tracks!

[t_challa]

here are a couple pics of me in my first kilt. I'll post some new ones when my new kilt arrives

[CMcG]

For me, the initial attraction to kilt wearing was mostly to represent my heritage, but also partly because I wanted dress clothes that were more interesting than a typical dark suit. Now that I've been wearing kilts for a while, I can add comfort to that list, as well as the fact that kilts are just so darn sharp!