My father was always keen on telling me about my Scottish ancestry, even though it was only a minority percentage, so I became interested in things Scottish at a very early age. When I was about seven years old, I attended a cousin’s wedding, and found that there was a boy at the reception who was about my age and was wearing a kilt. I suppose I knew from that point on that I wanted one.

It wasn’t till I was in my twenties that I actually got to wear a kilt. This was at the wedding of a friend from university, who was a Scott. It was in Scotland and all the men at the wedding wore kilts. I was really hooked on the kilt, but wasn’t too keen on being formally dressed (I have always preferred casual wear).

I was rather ignorant about tartans at that time. I thought you had to be a clan member to wear a clan tartan kilt, so I didn’t pursue my interest in a kilt further. However, when I went on to the Internet about four years ago, I started to look into my family history, and discovered that there was actually a family tartan. Unfortunately, I didn’t like it at all, as it contained a lot of bright red (I prefer more subdued darker colours), so I again abandoned the idea of getting myself a kilt. I then discovered that my (English) county of origin had two of its own District Tartans, one of which I liked a lot. I contacted a few kilt makers and eventually found one who was able to get the tartan specially woven for me. Despite this, the price she quoted for a kilt was very reasonable, so I went ahead with the purchase. The quality of workmanship was excellent, and I have been delighted with the kilt (8 yd, 15 oz, pleated to the sett). I usually wear it casually (around home) and also for hill walking, for which it is ideal in the temperate British climate.

Most important of all, it received Hamish's seal of approval when we met last year.

Tartan:-
http://www.tartans.scotland.net/tart...?tartan_id=318

Kilt maker:-
http://www.mccalman-kilts.co.uk


Rob