Told NO!

[JimB]

I think that the kilt would be totally appropriate and that you would not steal the show. It would draw attention though and your wife may not want to deal with that on this occasion.
Wear it often casually and let her get more used to it. It's not worth a fight in my opinon.
Best of luck

[auld argonian]

Well, I think that it's wise to work this out...to paraphrase an old saying: a wife will get you through times of no kilts better than a kilt will get you through times of no wife...I am, however, sure that some of you who are convinced that kilts are the ultimate chick magnets will take exception to that.

Several things occur to me about your situation and they touch on my situation as well...so you're not alone in this.

One is how - shall we say - humble or grand is your outfit? A recent thread concerned one of our fellows who showed up in full Jacobean garb to an event and got the hammer dropped on him by his companion...I feel sorry for his trouble but perhaps his outfit was a little too much for the circumstances. I appreciate that a lot of the kilted brethren are Traditionalists but we are talking about a mode of dress that is firmly anchored in the Nineteenth Century...is it any wonder that the average person has to pause and digest it when they see someone in a kilt let alone in a full dress kilt outfit. I personally try to keep it looking like I'm wearing clothing appropriate to "today" but with a kilt instead of trousers...not easy but worth a try. I'm not out to attract attention and I REALLY don't want to spend any of my time explaining why I'm wearing a kilt let alone having some dimwit asking "the Question". I'm really going to try to match the level of dress to the occasion...can't show up looking like you're part of the entourage at the Opening of Parliament...I know that a lot of the gang love the way they look in their Prince Charlie jackets but the PC's look very formal to me and I could only wear one to a real formal event.

One of the things that I've encountered is that you will always run into someone who has had a couple of Psych 100 level courses that will assume that you have some deep seated craving for attention and that you are intentionally trying to upstage everyone else at the event...usually these folks resent the fact that you might be taking attention away from THEM, thus frustrating THEIR deep seated craving for attention...hey, it's a Hard Knock Life, y'know?

I figure that you can probably work the kilt into your wardrobe without undue criticism by planning to attend some events where it's a low key situation, take your dear wife and don't let it be a big deal. My logic is that if it's YOUR event then YOU should have the final word on what you're going to wear. Some kind of casual concert event like a Folk Music group or (if you're lucky) some good ol' Celtic Music...an afternoon concert by a chamber group or string quartet...like I say, low key. If anyone compliments you on the kilt (and they will) be brief and humble in your responses...demonstrate to the wife that you're not going to make a big deal out of it and she might get the message that this is not as much of a distraction as she thinks it is. This opens the door to your being able to wear it whenever you jolly well please.

Best

AA