So often asked

[Highlander31]

The men usually ask me why I wear a kilt, or if it gets cold underneath. The women either ask the question or if my knees are cold. Several times women have come up and asked my wife what I wear under the kilt. Some of her answers have received some interesting reactions.

[Kilt TN]

yes, aren't we all naked under our clothes?

[HarborSpringsPiper]

What cracks me up after wearing a kilt off and on for >35 years is people following up that question with "has anyone ever asked you that before?"

I've never really figured out what anyone's reason for asking is. I guess it's just what one says to someone wearing the kilt when you don't know what else to say.

I vary from humor or saying nothing to annoyance. I'm at a phase where I just find it annoying but try to keep good humor about it.

[DireStraitsFan]

What cracks me up after wearing a kilt off and on for >35 years is people following up that question with "has anyone ever asked you that before?"

I've never really figured out what anyone's reason for asking is. I guess it's just what one says to someone wearing the kilt when you don't know what else to say.

I vary from humor or saying nothing to annoyance. I'm at a phase where I just find it annoying but try to keep good humor about it.

I think you're right about it being the only thing they can think of to ask other than the idiotic "Are you Irish?" that seems to be popular. I also find it annoying when people ask, but try to be good natured about it. Some instances are more difficult than others.

[HarborSpringsPiper]

Some instances are more difficult than others.

Amen brother, amen. I've actually had people trying to lift my kilt while I was piping. That's just over the top. Why anybody would think it was ok to put their hands on another without permission is beyond me.

[DireStraitsFan]

Amen brother, amen. I've actually had people trying to lift my kilt while I was piping. That's just over the top. Why anybody would think it was ok to put their hands on another without permission is beyond me.

This has happened to me a couple of times. If I wasn't a single man, it might be different. But I'm not. And it's not okay. Besides, it bothers me that there is a double standard here. Lifting a man's kilt is just as indecent as lifting a woman's skirt, and yet plenty of people think it's funny. There is a good natured side of me that wants to laugh along, but there is also a principled side of me that wants to have one of these idiots arrested just to prove a point.

But I don't. And I expect that I won't. I guess it all depends on how ornery I get as I get older.

[QMcK]

What is it with the kilt and no underwear? It's a military regulation, is it not? When I wear a kilt, am I wearing it as a military uniform? No I am not. I wouldn't wear a kilt without underwear. Partly because I'm too straight laced for that type of thing and partly because the kilt would need washing less frequently if one did wear underwear. And I'm thinking it would be a major hassle to wash and iron a kilt.

[CDNSushi]

Well, I need to work on my pithy replies. I've got them down pat in English, but the real challenge is knowing what to say in Japanese, as I rarely get asked: "What do you wear underneath your kilt?" (or variations of the question), but the much more to-the-point: "Do you wear underwear under your kilt?" The prior version lends itself to many clever replies like "lipstick" or "shoes and socks" etc... But asking directly is a bit different, I recon.

The locals do NOT share the same Judeo-Christian hangups about body parts and bodily functions as we have in the West. People don't think twice about stripping down naked in front of dozens of people at a public bath, nor do people flinch at the prospect of being literally surrounded by people at the doctor's office while the doctor is examining them. Privacy curtains are not required. lol.

[English Bloke]

...The locals do NOT share the same Judeo-Christian hangups about body parts ... People don't think twice about stripping down naked in front of dozens of people at a public bath...

Not intended as disrepectful, just curious. If this is the case why is it such a matter of interest to the Japanese?

[CDNSushi]

Not intended as disrepectful, just curious. If this is the case why is it such a matter of interest to the Japanese?

No disrespect taken. For the same reason it's such a matter of interest to anyone else. There's a certain mythology surrounding under-kilt attire (or lack thereof). No doubt, people have heard or read or seen on TV or in a movie SOMETHING about it, and they just want to confirm whether it's true or just urban legend.

Regardless of culture and nationality, (and Judeo-Christian ethics) I suspect that it's much more primal than that, and that it has something to do with naughtiness (not necessarily in the sexual sense). Many children often try to get away with not putting on any underwear, much to the chagrin of their parents... So once we all grow up, those kids who got in trouble with their mothers for running out of the house without putting any on, well they look at the kilted men and get transported back to when they were kids and think, "Gee whiz. Wish I had known about THAT when I was 8!" I suspect that many people envy us and still wish that they could get away with wearing nothing underneath (even though they've long since moved out of mom's house and technically speaking, nothing would prevent them from dressing as they please).

Then in another sense, through mass media we are taught that naughty girls don't wear any underwear... Everyone has flashbacks to Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. When people ask us what we are (or aren't) wearing, they are probably secretly hoping that we truly ARE going commando, and re-live that "Oh my! Sharon Stone is SO naughty" sort of feeling. And trust me, Basic Instinct made its way to Japan as well.