new mannerisms required by kilt?

[pbpersson]

First of all, I'm brand new here and I must voice my admiration at you guys bravely forging this new frontier for all men. I don't have a kilt yet but I have been interested in this for years.

So....I was looking at another thread and someone mentioned when sitting you are supposed to take both hands and do a "butt sweep" to keep your pleats from getting wrinkled. Oh my goodness! I thought that was a "female" action and while I never knew why they did it I somehow thought men would never do it. If I ever wore a kilt I thought that would be a no-no.

What other mannerisms do male kilt wearers exhibit that many of us would associate with women? For instance, do you always sit with your legs together or crossed in such a way that no one can see anything?

It seems to me that you those of you who are "regimental" would be more concerned than women about showing all your secret regions....how in the world do you get in and out of cars, go up stairs, etc????

Inquiring minds want to know....


Phil

[Pour1Malt]

walcome Phil lad....

a' yur answers arr contained in the assorted (& sorted) pages o' xmarks....

dae some diggin' lad... an get yursel an education!


cheers fur finin' us!

[Kilted KT]

I can answer all of your questions very quickly...

to all of the "how do you < instert action > in a kilt?" questions, the answer is "Better than most"

as for people seeing anything, unless you are jumping from a plane, or doing twirls, no one will see anything unless they are trying to see in the first place!


more specific questions have been answered all over this board, just run a quick search...

[GlassMan]

Well, to answer the questions mentioned by you (butt sweep and sitting) it's not so much that men are imitating female mannerisms as it is that we functionally have come to the same solution on some issues and different solutions for other issues.

Take sitting for example. Without a butt sweep you will often sit with your bare bottom (or undewear) directly on the seat. This will lead to a wrinkled kilt or discomfort (especially if you are going regimental and sit down on a black leather car seat after your car is sitting in the hot sun on a 100 degree summer's day for several hours). So just like skirt wearing ladies, kilt wearers have found the butt sweep to be a necessity. Now, you don't have to do a butt sweep in a lady-like manner, nor even do it two-handed. I have to walk with a cane, and I definitely need the extra support while sitting, otherwise I'd just fall backwards onto the chair, couch, etc. So I do a one-handed butt sweep. It means twisting the upper body more to the side and reaching farther under your posterior, but it does work. I've also been told that it definitely does not look lady-like at all, in fact one female friend says that I definitely turned the motion into a masculine action (although she meant that in a derogatory way).

As for sitting, men in traditional kilts definitely have not solved the problem of exposure in the same manner as the women folk. For ladies, the skirt tends to be more fitted to the body and of lighter material. As such, the only way to avoid views up the skirt while sitting is to either wear a skirt that is longer than knee length or to cross your legs.

Well, for us guys we don't wear kilts that are longer than knee length. And crossing legs is just not comfortable. Thankfully our kilts are much more voluminous and much heavier. Plus, we have the sporran to aid us. Once you've done the butt sweep, sit and spread your knees wide. Not only does it feel truly manly to sit in this manner, but it leaves room for your sporran to fall between your thighs, force the kilt material down, and close off the view up your kilt completely.

It's all a manner of finding a functional solution to a given problem, and has nothing to do with wanting to imitate a woman or not.

[TechBear]

So....I was looking at another thread and someone mentioned when sitting you are supposed to take both hands and do a "butt sweep" to keep your pleats from getting wrinkled. Oh my goodness! I thought that was a "female" action and while I never knew why they did it I somehow thought men would never do it. If I ever wore a kilt I thought that would be a no-no.

It is not just a matter of keeping the pleats from getting wrinkled; it also keeps the kilt from bunching up in revealing ways when you sit. Trust me on this. :rolleyes:

What other mannerisms do male kilt wearers exhibit that many of us would associate with women? For instance, do you always sit with your legs together or crossed in such a way that no one can see anything?

I wear Utilikilts, which have a heavier, narrower apron than a traditional kilt. When I sit with my legs apart, the apron comes down and keeps the mystery far more effectively (and far more comfortably) than sitting with my legs together.

It seems to me that you those of you who are "regimental" would be more concerned than women about showing all your secret regions....how in the world do you get in and out of cars, go up stairs, etc????

Practice, practice, practice!

[Iolaus]

Once, at school, I had to sit down while my hands were full, so I couldn't do "the sweep;" I swung my kilt forward with my hips instead. A girl that was behind me giggled and said "you sat like a girl" to which I replied "and why do girls sit that way? Form follows function."

[Rex_Tremende]

Once, at school, I had to sit down while my hands were full, so I couldn't do "the sweep;" I swung my kilt forward with my hips instead.

Hm. Was at a party once with a drink in one hand and a plate of nosh in the other. I think I stood until I could find a place to set my things down before sitting my kilted butt down. I haven't mastered that technique yet, though I'll have to practice at home a while so I don't slosh cocktails on my friends' wool rugs.

Regards,
Rex "club soda will get that out" in Cincinnati

[Chris Webb]

What you are asking about is what I like to call "Kiltmanship". Somewhere here at Xmarks you'll find an essay called the 4 C's of kilting. You can also find it easily at the Bravehearts' Kilt Forum. The C 'competence' is presented below:

Competence: Put on your kilt and practice kiltmanship. Get a full length mirror and learn everything you can about how to move in your kilt. Know exactly what will show under different circumstances, going up stairs, down stairs, sitting, standing back up, crossing your legs, wind effects, bending over. Know how to wear your kilt, practice it. If you can't go Regimental for fear of being exposed it is because you are not Competent to wear your damned kilt. Competence protects Freedom.

You really do get better and better at wearing your kilt ... the more you wear it the better you get. Practice really does make perfect.

As for specific techiques, well, they often vary greatly amongst us for all kinds of reasons. Glassman does a great job of explaining many of them. A good example of the variety of ways to do the same thing is this: rather than using the 'butt sweep' Glassman described, I will put my hands down to the chair on both sides using my wrists to capture my kilt as I sit down and slide back into the chair. If my hands are full I'll stand a few inches further from the chair, sit down on the edge of it and then slide back, smothing my kilt with my bottom.

Of course, men actually talking about this requires them to mometarily set aside their machisimo. Believe me, though, once you are Competent to wear your kilt you will look anything but feminine when you wear it. Conversations like this are a necessary part of perfecting your Kilt Competence.

One piece of advice from me, others may well disagree: In the wind concern yourself only with the front of your kilt. Nothing looks more rediculously feminine than a blushing man slapping at the back of his kilt. Consider it the Finger of God or the Wind of the Spirit and count those who may have glimpsed your **** Blessed. LOL!

Kilt On.

Chris Webb

[jjoseph]

What you are asking about is what I like to call "Kiltmanship". .....
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Believe me, though, once you are competent to wear your kilt, you will look anything but feminine when you wear it.
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One piece of advice from me, others may well disagree: In the wind, concern yourself only with the front of your kilt. Nothing looks more ridiculously feminine than a blushing man slapping at the back of his kilt. Consider it the Finger of God or the Wind of the Spirit and count those who may have glimpsed your **** Blessed.

AMEN!!!
Just walk on thru that Marilyn moment with your head held high and MOVE ON. Besides, unless you are jumping from a cliff, your sporran is gonna keep the goods covered.

[smaughazard]

I'll have to agree on the practice aspect. Once I started going kilted constantly at home, going out in public became much easier because my "kilted reflexes" had developed. But the swirling updrafts when walking a ridgeline in the Blue Ridge can still be interesting…