Just plain kilts

[SilkyJ]

I wear mostly solid color utility kilt because of the pockets and they are a bit more practical. For me as a beginner tartans are a bit overwhelming because if I was going to wear a tartan pattern I would like to know the history of that tartan to inform the masses when they ask. I will probably get to wearing tartan I love the history involved with them, but for me I wore black, tan, brown, etc pants so I got solid color kilts not because I thought tartan pattern were “sissy”

[Crazy Dave]

My 3 kilts are all tartan. I thew on the Stewart Tartan kilt yesterday and took the dog for a walk, and was amazed how vibrant the colors were in the sun. A bicyclist stopped to take my picture. Another fellow came out is house to tell me how it made his day seeing me in a kilt. We had a very pleasant conversation. I wore my Irish National kilt to an Irish pub, near Saint Patrick's Day and did get some good natured kidding about it being a skirt from a patron, but nothing offensive. I may get a solid black wool kilt eventually, but not because I think they are more manly, but because I think when done right, they can be quite elegant.

[MichiganKyle]

I wear mostly solid color utility kilt because of the pockets and they are a bit more practical. For me as a beginner tartans are a bit overwhelming because if I was going to wear a tartan pattern I would like to know the history of that tartan to inform the masses when they ask. I will probably get to wearing tartan I love the history involved with them, but for me I wore black, tan, brown, etc pants so I got solid color kilts not because I thought tartan pattern were “sissy”

So how about starting out with a real easy step of a colorless meaningless universal fashion tartan? Something like:

https://www.usakilts.com/kis-st-casual-kilt.html

Or a casual kilt in another meaningless universal fashion tartan:

https://www.usakilts.com/gallery/12-...universal/view

Or how about Isle of Skye, which seems to be generally considered to be a universal fashion tartan as well:

https://www.usakilts.com/gallery/12-...universal/view

...as discussed here:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...iversal-96246/

If you need pockets, how about a Sport Kilt in a universal meaningless fashion tartan (I actually love the colors of this one):

https://sportkilt.com/product/loch-n...al-sport-kilt/

Or get more comfortable with the idea by wearing this meaningless universal tartan around St. Patrick's day (although I wear mine other times as well because I like the colors, and as an American mutt of mixed ancestry, I love that if you look into it a bit, the exact origin's a little unclear but it seems to be an American-designed tartan for Scottish pipe bands to celebrate an Irish holiday):

https://sportkilt.com/product/st-pat...al-sport-kilt/

There are a lot of options like that where you can wear them without the "legendary lore" or "what if I wear this and I'm not supposed to" status that tartan sometimes carries. It may be a little scary at first, but on the whole, other peoples' reactions are overwhelmingly on the positive side. For confirmation, just read through the Kilted Fridays Adventures thread:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...entures-72206/

[McMurdo]

Looking at solid kilts in throughout history I have thought about getting a tweed kilt just to add to my collection, of course I would still need to find a tweed that has some meaning to me. Of course this all comes from years of regular kilt wear for me tartan was always the way a kilt should be. Having said that solid kilts have been around for a long time, here is John Brown in a solid kilt and jacket from The Highlanders of Scotland.




Here is our own Hamish in a 21st Century kilt suit.



Hamish and Howie Nicholsby at Howie's wedding



Compare those with my own Scottish wildcat tartan kilt suit



So which is more traditional? I'm not sure, what I do know is that for me anyway, the tartan seems more traditional as I grew up with tartan kilts.

Utilikilts were never from the same tradition as the kilt, here is a snippet from wiki on the history of the Utilikilt:

The Utilikilts Company is an American kilt company that was founded by Steven Villegas and Megan Haas in April 2000. Villegas created his first kilt in the late '90s as a comfortable alternative to pants meant to offer the most freedom of movement while working on his motorcycle. Created from an old pair of military pants, Villegas was so fond of his creation he wore it quite often around town. He was approached by his first customer, "a bouncer that you wouldn't want to mess with", at a local bar.

[OC Richard]

Yes tweed kilt suits appeared to have been quite common in Victorian times, and it's nice to see that fashion mounting a comeback.

Here are some Victorian tweed kilt suits.

Look at that selvedge!







Here with a stripe near the selvedge



The issue has come up whether this is a "tweed outfit" or a "tartan outfit" but either way it's elegant



Here are non-matching tweed kilts

[SilkyJ]

So how about starting out with a real easy step of a colorless meaningless universal fashion tartan? Something like:

https://www.usakilts.com/kis-st-casual-kilt.html

Or a casual kilt in another meaningless universal fashion tartan:

https://www.usakilts.com/gallery/12-...universal/view

Or how about Isle of Skye, which seems to be generally considered to be a universal fashion tartan as well:

https://www.usakilts.com/gallery/12-...universal/view

...as discussed here:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...iversal-96246/

If you need pockets, how about a Sport Kilt in a universal meaningless fashion tartan (I actually love the colors of this one):

https://sportkilt.com/product/loch-n...al-sport-kilt/

Or get more comfortable with the idea by wearing this meaningless universal tartan around St. Patrick's day (although I wear mine other times as well because I like the colors, and as an American mutt of mixed ancestry, I love that if you look into it a bit, the exact origin's a little unclear but it seems to be an American-designed tartan for Scottish pipe bands to celebrate an Irish holiday):

https://sportkilt.com/product/st-pat...al-sport-kilt/

There are a lot of options like that where you can wear them without the "legendary lore" or "what if I wear this and I'm not supposed to" status that tartan sometimes carries. It may be a little scary at first, but on the whole, other peoples' reactions are overwhelmingly on the positive side. For confirmation, just read through the Kilted Fridays Adventures thread:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...entures-72206/

Thank you for the new kilt ideas. I would like to get a sport kilt but I am pretty sure they are acrylic and I don’t really want acrylic. My ideal kilt would be a PV kilt with slash pockets not cargo pockets. I will keep looking and thanks for the recommendation of tartan patterns

[MichiganKyle]

Thank you for the new kilt ideas. I would like to get a sport kilt but I am pretty sure they are acrylic and I don’t really want acrylic. My ideal kilt would be a PV kilt with slash pockets not cargo pockets. I will keep looking and thanks for the recommendation of tartan patterns

I assume they're acrylic, but don't really know. They're definitely a very different material than the P/V from USA Kilts. To my knowledge, the only one who makes P/V kilts with pockets is Steve at Freedom Kilts:

http://www.freedomkilts.com/

I don't have one of his yet, but would love to someday.

On the other hand, though, since getting my Isle of Skye casual kilt from USA Kilts, I've found that I've adapted to using only a sporran quite a bit better than I ever expected. Now, even though my Sport Kilts have pockets, I don't use them and instead just use the sporran. I totally didn't expect I'd adapt as well as I have - at one point a few years ago I weighed my jeans with all the tools I carried in the pockets and on my belt, and altogether everything came to about 8lbs. I like having tools on me, and need to for what I do. And yet, you can fit enough stuff in a sporran that it works better than you'd think. Granted, the back strap on the sporran strains under the weight of all the stuff I carry, but it still fits. I usually carry at least my wallet, couple of RFID access cards for different places, big ol' keyboard phone, keys, a Leatherman multitool, some first aid supplies, allergy medication (food allergies), hand sanitizer, and sometimes other stuff as well. All of that fits comfortably in a sporran. It might be worth a try for you to get an inexpensive P/V casual kilt and just try it. It'll probably work better than you think.

[SilkyJ]

I assume they're acrylic, but don't really know. They're definitely a very different material than the P/V from USA Kilts. To my knowledge, the only one who makes P/V kilts with pockets is Steve at Freedom Kilts:

http://www.freedomkilts.com/

I don't have one of his yet, but would love to someday.

On the other hand, though, since getting my Isle of Skye casual kilt from USA Kilts, I've found that I've adapted to using only a sporran quite a bit better than I ever expected. Now, even though my Sport Kilts have pockets, I don't use them and instead just use the sporran. I totally didn't expect I'd adapt as well as I have - at one point a few years ago I weighed my jeans with all the tools I carried in the pockets and on my belt, and altogether everything came to about 8lbs. I like having tools on me, and need to for what I do. And yet, you can fit enough stuff in a sporran that it works better than you'd think. Granted, the back strap on the sporran strains under the weight of all the stuff I carry, but it still fits. I usually carry at least my wallet, couple of RFID access cards for different places, big ol' keyboard phone, keys, a Leatherman multitool, some first aid supplies, allergy medication (food allergies), hand sanitizer, and sometimes other stuff as well. All of that fits comfortably in a sporran. It might be worth a try for you to get an inexpensive P/V casual kilt and just try it. It'll probably work better than you think.

Oh man freedom kilts is a idea I will have to check on. I have always just thought about utility kilt because that cargo pocket allows me to carry my “protection” in its own pocket so I can get to it if I would ever need it. That being said a sporran is a good idea. Do you have an recommendations? Thanks again man for all your help

[ThistleDown]

Oh man freedom kilts is a idea I will have to check on. I have always just thought about utility kilt because that cargo pocket allows me to carry my “protection” in its own pocket so I can get to it if I would ever need it. That being said a sporran is a good idea. Do you have an recommendations? Thanks again man for all your help

I think I'll leave the 'carry my own "protection"' part of this alone, Silky (you may want to re-read our rules for international conduct), but I'll inject two pics here of The Mackintosh in 1921 hosting the Prime Minister, Lloyd George, and King George at Old Moy Hall. The Mackintosh almost daily worked with tenants in those years, wearing a 'plain' kilt which, we assume today, was not of an identifiable tartan. He may, of course, have been seeking a mid-road between cultures -- he didn't record his thoughts.

[FossilHunter]

True. But, its just another trade label amongst many that we------ certainly me---- just ignore. It just has no significance.

I only chose it because I felt it might indicate a view of the kilt as a masculine garment. Usually when I see kilts in advertising used in the UK the wearers are often from manly occupations like soldiers or ghillies. This was just to counter the perception of tartan kilts as “sissy” as mentioned in the OP.

Or putting it another way, the kilt is so decidedly masculine in the perception of the UK, that even portrayed on something as irrelevant as a bottle of drink mix, it is portrayed as the uniform of a soldier.

Maybe I’m off base but that was all I was thinking. Not that camp coffee represents true highland culture or anything.