What brought you to wearing a kilt?

[Niblox]

My reasons for getting a kilt are as follows: I first lived in Scotland in the mid-80's and, as it happens, one gets invited to various formal events, balls, dinners etc, and I noticed that at least half of the men there were kilted. I enquired into the cost of hiring an outfit (around £40-50 a time) and I reckoned that if you paid out around £500 for a reasonably good outfit, it would pay for itself in 10 wearings!

So have had an outfit ever since....

[Rogerson785]

I started wearing a kilt last year about the same time as this thread was started. I always knew that I had some sort of European ancestry etc..; however I thought it was more Nordic, Scandinavian, and not Scottish. I did some research and low and behold there are quite a few Rogerson’s in the Dumfries area.

My first two kilts were from Stillwater, one from Sports Kilt, and then a USA from Rocky for the 2008 US Army Signal Ball.

[BroosterB1]

Believe it or not, a wedding. I had always thought kilts were cool, just never had the opportunity to ask, think, or wear one. Then about 8 months ago, I was asked to do a wedding, to fill in for a minister who had stuff come up and couldn't do it. In the course of planning out the wedding it became apparent that the couple wanted a Scottish Wedding. I did some research and came up with a nice ceremony that had many Scottish customs Incorporated into it.

The couple was delighted, but kept not speaking about something, till the bride spit it out. This was their dream to be in a Scottish wedding they had seen a lot of pictures, and would it be possible for me to wear a Kilt? They would gladly pay for the rental. I said of course I would.

I did some further research (this was before I found X-marks) and found a gentleman out of Pakistan where I could buy a clerical kilt for about the same as the rental (I found out later I could have bought the thing from FC for 2/3rds what I paid to the Pakistani supplier). Since then the bug has bit, hard.

I now own 6 kilts with one on the way (I prefer to think of that one as in gestation, no use jonesing over it). My last kilt convinced me of the merits of wool, my next on will probably convince me of the merit of a hand sewn, and so it goes. I still wear my first kilt.

My wife thinks I'm crazy, almost hit the switch yesterday when I was doing yard work in my Buzz Kidder. I've gone from having never worn one to wearing one when ever I can. This Sunday the church is having a Celtic Celebration, and of course I will be kilted.ith:

[TheKiltedCoder]

For me, I'm into martial arts (was planning on testing for my black belt in hapkido this spring before (to paraphrase Lili Von Stupp) "everything below the vaist vent kaput!"

From the time I'd started studying, I was absolutely amazed at how freeflowing the judo uniforms are that we wear while in class. I'd been kind of quietly looking for something that would replicate that feeling of free-flowing easyness, but had failed.

Then, a friend of mine (who is a piper and wears kilts on an ongoing basis as well), introduced me to the kilt. I immediately loved the feeling of freedom that came with it, but I'll admit I was concerned as to whether or not I'd be up to wearing it out and about. The first time I ever put one on, we went to (and spent the afternoon at) the Milwaukee Museum of Natural History. I figured that, if I could spend an afternoon with that many people around without feeling too self-conscious, I was golden.

After we left to go home, taking the kilt off was one of the harder things I'd ever had to do (and yes, I broke a bunch of fashion rules that I didn't even know about, but I proved my nerve).

I went out the next day and got a couple of Amerikilts, and there's been no looking back.

And my wife loves the look. ;)

[Ancienne Alliance]

I was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer 3 years ago. It's a nasty one with only 5 year survival rate of 30%. I went through chemo and am now in remission.

Not knowing how much time I had left, I started thinking about things that I wanted to do before heading to that great kilted party in the sky.

One thing I did was buy a 1969 Plymouth GTX like the one I had back in the day. The wife and I dated when I had that car and we are now having tons of fun with it.

My maternal grandmother was born in Scotland of the clan MacKay. That started the ball rolling. It was something I wanted to do and if you wait too long, sometimes you never get the chance.

Kilted and loving it!!

Great story. I hope you are well and happy.


Best,

Robert

[O'Callaghan]

I started wearing sarongs at new age events that my wife likes to go to, at her suggestion, but I have this problem with wearing anything that long. I tend to step on the hem!

Some of the guys at these events wore kilts, which seemed more practical, but my problem with that was that I'm not remotely Scottish. Eventually I came across the notion of Irish kilts, and I certainly do have Irish blood, and I also discovered cheap kilts made in Pakistan. So, the first kilt I bought was in Irish Natonal tartan.

I have acquired a couple more kilts since then, in County Cork tartan and in solid black. However, I also became aware that the heyday of Irish kilts was the 19th century and the early 20th, and that they wore either plain green or plain saffron kilts, whereas Irish tartans are mainly a postwar phenomenom and mostly worn by Irish Americans, whilst designed by the same or by English and Scottish woolen mills. Whilst I now live in the USA, I am one of your London Irish, so not actually an Irish American.

So, I have ordered a solid green kilt, and we know that something like that would have been worn by some of the men involved in the Easter Rising, when not actually fighting the Brits (I get a bit schizophrenic on that subject, as a Brit of Irish extraction). It will be more authentically Irish, although to some extent perhaps less like what people expect a kilt to look like.

[###KILTEDKIWI###]

Pride in heritage and ancestory, a chance for individuality.

Also a strong dislike for having to tick the generic:

"New Zealand European / Pakeha" box on anything. (because, apparently all "Europeans" come from the same place).

[wyldathart]

I've all ways been attracted to and interested in Scottish history and listening to bagpipes. I finally broke down and did some research about my family and the rest as they say is history. I just ordered my first 8 yard traditional kilt. I plan to wear it as often as I can.