reasons

[akaussie]

G'day all, Finally found out yesterday why my wife doesnt like me wearing a kilt. its not that she against the idea its the way the amerikilt fits me, or rather doesnt quite fit properly. when i put it on and belt it up the pleats taper too much out from my waistline as though my hips should be bigger which as she says that to her it looks too girly. we are waiting for the pattern for a traditional kilt to arrive and she is going to help me make a kilt that fits me properly. I stiil beleive that the amerikilt is a good kilt and that it is hard for michael to make a kilt that would be perfect for every buyer especially having not met most of us in person. I noticed in his measureing instructions that there is nowhere to state the difference between you waist and hip measurements maybe that would help. I also noticed with my measurements there is not much difference between my waist and hip measurents anyway meaning my kilt doesnt need taper much if at all.
Cheers Andrew

[zeytoun]

I noticed your pictures in your gallery. It looks like the Amerikilt fits you just right, and you wear it well. I wouldn't say it looks even a little bit girly. The only difference between that and a fitted traditional kilt would probably be that the waist comes a bit higher. The way it tapers out is part of the "look", if it were straight-cut, no taper, it would look like a tube-skirt, and really look girly.

My guess is that it's not really the cut that bothers your wife deep down. I know she says it's not the idea of it, but it takes a while to get used to something as new as you not wearing trousers. I wouldn't be surprised if she tells you that your traditional kilt looks girly when it's completed. I know a few people who would look at you with a straight face and tell you that a pair of ladies' jeans would look more masculine on you than a men's kilt.

Just be patient with the Missus, she may need some time to warm up to your new masculine calling, and no doubt she'll need to hear some compliments from other women before she starts to perceive it as something wonderful.

Back me up guys, look at our friend's pictures. Does it look even slightly feminine?

[Kilted_John]

To me, it looks perfectly normal. Might be worn a little low, but, that's personal preference. I usually wear my trad kilts a little higher so the top of the kneecap is exposed. But, that's how a kilt normally looks. I think Oliver is correct in saying that she's just not used to it yet. Both the women in my family are the same way, even though I've been kilting since August of 2002. They still say that they're "warming up to it", and, in the case of my sister, wish that I would wear pants or shorts.
-J

[Graham]

Andrew, for a very brief (several hours) period I owned a Victory Kilt in green.

My wife felt the same way about it, she used the word "skirty".

Frankly, while I think you look great in your kilt and others who wear plain kilts mostly look very fine in them, for me - in Australia it doesn't work.

Have you considered a tartan kilt? If you don't have any clan links there are tartans you can wear, Black Watch, Stewart Hunting, Australian tartan and others.

My feeling is that in Australia a tartan kilt sends a clear and undeniable message that this is a male garment.
However, because we are somewhat blinkered in our perceptions, the plain kilt may not send that clear message.

Depending on how you feel about tartan, this may be another way around your wife.

[zeytoun]

The tartan does send a clearer "kilt" message then plain, and I notice that I get more positive reaction with my traditional than my black Utilikilt. But I often still get asked about where my bagpipes are. In fact, just today, a lady told me she loved my kilt. I think partly because I wear the Utilikilt with kilt hose like you, it still has a moderate kilt connotation.

[beverlonian]

Andrew,

Your kilt looks fine

As for the old plain versus tartan argument, I think both look equally masculine and it's just a matter of personal taste. I own both. The only kilt which I have reservations about being 'acceptable' to others is my Utilikilt which is not always perceived as a kilt. However, I do find the large cargo pockets very useful.

[Graham]

Joe, forgive me saying so, but there is no arguement that Andrew looks fine, I agree, the issue is how to help his wife to see it and accept his kilts.

I showed his picture to my wife just now and asked her how she would feel about ME wearing the black kilt, she said she prefers me in tartan, "it's more like a kilt".

My wife has also struggled with accepting me in a kilt all the time, it's getting better all the time. Careful choice of colours, accessorising etc all go to help her accept kilts more (and makes me feel better too).

My comments (again) are strictly in the context of Australian women.
It's been said before that plain kilts appear to be more acceptable in America (Hamish may disagree)

[Rob Wright]

Thee is something about the tartan patterns that just automatically make people say "oh, thats a kilt".
I love my victory kilt especially for what I use it for and when on vacation in California wore most days and recieved numerous compliments especially from the guys in the army/navy store. Many people have a hard time breaking away from their preconcieved notions of how things should be. There are no set in stone rules. I like how both the modern and the traditional can be accepted.

Rob Wright

[Jimmy Carbomb]

The kilt looks fine... and no, there are no hip measurement instructions on AmeriKilts since they're more of an "A-Frame" hang.

There is one HUGE difference between the tartans and the neo-American solid kilts... and that's what to wear with it. Tartans can take just about anything and look GREAT (taking in account that a Nascar t-shirt and UGGS would look ridiculous). With the neo-American solids, you need to "toughen them up" for them to really appear NOT to be the "S word". That's why AmeriKilt has all the snaps and hardware. Some call them "butch, while others call them "tough". Wear a Powerpuff girls t-shirt and sandals and they're "butch". Wear a Dropkick Murphys shirt and Doc Martins and they're tough.

YES, I know that there are other solids! YES, they can look great with anything. We're specifically talking about the AmeriKilts and what they're intended for. Look at Mike's pictures and the logo. That's not an invitation to wear these things to the a Liza Minelli retrospective in the artsy part of town.

[Rigged]

Are you sure you're wife isn't just jealous that you look better in a "skirt" than she does?