Fear of Impending Doom, What Was he Most Difficult Place to Wear Your Kilt?

[gseven1]

My first time wearing was really nerve wracking. I ended up wearing to church, and since I play the organ, it wasn't like I could really hide it very much.

Since then however, I've been kilted everyday for almost 3 years now. But I typically wear UKs or something similar. I still get nervous however when I wear a traditional tartan because of the colors. The only exception to that is when I'm playing the pipes as that is an expectation, and one I'm happy to meet.

Overall I would have to say that in Utah, I will always get a lot of looks, regardless of modern or traditional, but most people will only say something when it is complimentary.

[ncof300d]

i've never had much concern about wearing tartan kilts, but when i first wore my utilikilt out and about, i was a bit anxious....

ditto, still am

[Retro Red]

I've never felt impending doom because of my Rhett Butler attitude to what people think concerning my appearance. However, over 5 years ago, less than 3 months after I'd gotten my first kilt (a tan Utilikilt Original), I went to see Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Arizona State Fair. Now, you have to understand that our state fair is quite popular with the local Latino community & all its associated machismo culture & it's also popular with the redneck Cowboy crowd. For the price of admission, you can see the concert for free. Well, a free Lynyrd Skynyd concert attracted the Redneck crowd like free moonshine on a hot summer night. Woo doggie! Did I ever get looks! But nobody hassled me; I carried myself like this was perfectly normal. After the concert, I took a stroll around the fairway & even made a pit stop in one of the restrooms. When I was at a sink washing my hands, it was amusing to see a Hispanic guy come in, look at me & then make a startled exit only to walk back in somewhat uncertainly after confirming this was the Men's room.

After that experience, I figured I had the confidence to wear a kilt anywhere.

.

[K. MacRuadh]

The only time I've been nervous in a kilt was the first time I went regimental. I was in a SWK standard and it turned out to be a bit more windy than I expected. Fortunately I was walking around Disney World with the fam, visiting a glass blower friend of ours and I was able to duck indoors when things got blustery. That incident kinda put me off the light weight kilts and nowdays I stick to woolies unless I'm just around the house.



Kev

[Smayniac]

I wore a kilt canoeing(yes, I said canoeing) on a moonlight paddle several summers ago. When we finished the paddle at 9:30 or 10 it was still 85 degrees out. I was very comfortable, but was a bit nervous about the situation(I was not regimental). The trip organizer, a county ranger, called my SportKilt "amazing." I was questioned by one paddler of Scottish extraction who seemed to question my qualification to wear "his peoples garb."

I have not really been concerned since.

Bob

[RockyR]

What was the most difficult place/situation to wear your kilt in when you first started wearing kilts. That place you thought ahead of time, "Oh no...I'm not sure this is going to work out well."

Funny Answer: Scuba Diving

Serious Answer: In Ireland. I didn't want to look like 'the tourist', but ended up wearing it b/c I really don't care what others think.

[Kiltedfirepiper]

rocky point mexico.......I didnt know how it would go over with the locals, but I ended up getting the best booth in a bar, and LOTS of atention from females....local and tourist alike :grin:

[vmac3205]

Last summer, when I had a full kit although only daywear, I went with my wife to a Wool and Fiber Gathering in a little...almost ghost...town in Central Oregon (Shaniko). Mostly sheep ranchers selling fleeces and a few "fiber artists."

This is ranch country out this way and even the sheepmen think they are cowboys. No nonsense types, in any case.

But I figured what the heck, my kilt is wool and the best quality wool at that.

Well, I got lots of looks...including one stare down from an old, prune-faced ranchers wife who clearly disapproved (she was wearing pants), whose husband stopped to ask me if I played the pipes and wasn't really sure if he liked the "look" or not, or if he was even allowed to like it.

Other than that, the rest of the day was kind of normal...not even one "question" for that matter.

Since that event, I have not really thought much about what kind of reception I (or the kilt) would receive...although, to tell the truth, I do not wear the kilt regularly. My work is dirty and damaging to any clothing I wear and my shop is at the back of my property. So I just wear it whenever I am going out to a restaurant or some other "event"--like a suit, sort of.

Oh man, was that a blast from the past. When I was a kid, (50 years ago) my family would stay all night a thte Shaniko Hotel - before it was refurbished - then go on over to Tygh valley to the All-Indian Rodeo. I had a friend from CFG camp who's dad owned a sheep ranch, and Shaniko was the closest town. Wow, haven't thought of that place in years.

[Bugbear]

Well... I live on the outer, trailer strewn edge of East Mesa. I do feel a little nervous stepping out into my own yard while wearing a kilt... or a suit for that matter. But that's just the neighborhood I live in.

[GDub]

I always feel a little trepidation when I go somewhere new in a kilt (I'm ALWAYS the only person in a kilt), but so far so good. I'm a big guy so I figure, whatever, bring it on...