Help a California Jr. High student get started?

[Iolaus]

I wonder if it's contagious...

My wife is a teacher at one of the local middle-schools around here, and I have visited, kilted, often enough to be recognized by most of the students as "Mrs. *****'s husband."

Got this message from her today:

I have a student who is very interested in getting information about
wearing kilts, where to buy them, online kilted community and bagpipe
lessons.

help me get it together for Monday?

xoxoxoxxoxo

Here's my answer:

The first thing you do, if you can find him today, is direct him to www.xmarksthescot.com for the kilt info; we consider ourselves a "family-friendly" forum site and anything untoward gets moderated pretty quickly, so it shouldn't be a problem with the parents. We can look up the rest this weekend - at least maybe find some leads for him.

I figure just being here and asking questions of the community will give him everything he needs to know about kilts, but I don't know if there are local makers (for a custom, if that's what he wants) or anything about the local bagpipe community; any leads out there?

Keep in mind, he, or his parents, will probably be reading this thread eventually.

[Kilted Taper]

As far as pipe lessons go, are there local police/fire drum and pipe bands in the area? If so, check with them. You can also check the Western United States Pipe Band Association or www.bobdunsire.com. They have a band directory and helpful forum.

[macwilkin]

Show the young lad Matt Newsome's web site:

www.albanach.org

and recomend he purchase:

http://www.albanach.org/advicebook.htm

Cheers,

Todd

[Kilted KT]

Send him this way with any questions he may have! I am sure we will all be on our best behavior for to-be-kilted youngster!

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

Whew! Iolaus I knew you were in school, but when I saw this, I was momentarily concerned for your academic level! Seriously, have the young gent check in. We don't bite (well Glassman had that one incident, but he was acquitted), and would love to lend a hand with information. We might even be able to help with some donated goods. What do you think guys, we all must have kilts or accessories that we never use, what better use than donating them to a new kilt wearer.

[Southern Breeze]

We've got the worlds kilt experts here, answers are no problem. The rest is coverd by the Fifth Amendment.

[sorcererdale]

Josh is here too, from CA and is in school. So the student would even have someone around his age to talk to also.

DALE.

[Jewddha]

If the lad has any school-related questions, feel free to point him my way, too!

[Iolaus]

I asked my wife to get his email address, and forward this letter to him; I apologize if I left any companies out, But this is all I had bookmarked.

When I asked about the bagpipe thing Cathy hedged and said she wasn't sure about that part, so I'm waiting to find out about that before bothering to research the local pipe-band scene

I tried to remain encouraging, while warning him about possible social resistance, and for the traditionalist among us, I tried to stay neutral on the traditional/contemporary issue, but he's seen me around, so he'll know which side of the issue I'm on anyway.

I hope I did ok.

I think it's wonderful that you want to get in touch with your heritage; everyone needs to have a sense of who they are, and where they came from. Wearing a kilt, casually, in public, is a great way to jump into the "heritage" thing feet first, It'll be scary at first, kilts are not exactly what you'd call "mainstream" and there will be people that will give you grief, calling it a skirt and questioning your sexuality, but if you carry yourself with a sense of self-confidence, look people in the eye and smile, you'll find many others that a) admire you for having the guts to wear it, and b) think it's cool, and c) will walk up and start talking to you about Scotland and heritage, and how they have one for the games, and "Oh, what tartan is that", and..., and..., - It's a great conversation starter.

If you're interested in wearing the kilt, the first thing I would recommend that you do is go to www.xmarksthescot.com and get involved with the forums. It's a site devoted specifically to kilt wearing, and it's free to register and participate. The people there will be very helpful with any questions you might have.

As you accumulate info, you'll find that there are two schools of thought about kilt wearing - traditional style and contemporary style. It's an argument that reoccurs on a regular basis, and for the most part, we just agree to respect each other's opinions on the matter and let it drop. You'll have to decide for yourself what style you're comfortable with.

Keep in mind, also, that there is a small segment of the "alternative lifestyle" community called "Freestylers" that considers kilts to be another skirt in their closet, so as you do your own research and start coming across some of their sites, remember to stay focused on why you are interested in the kilt.

Some kilt sites that might help.
www.xmarksthescot.com
www.albanach.org
http://www.kiltmen.com/


Here are some sites where you can get kilts, but do your research before buying anything. They all make a different product; some are traditional styles, some are slightly different from "traditional" styles - some radically different - some are better than others, and some are more expensive than others.

Oh, and some of them are in Canada and the United Kingdom

These first 5 companies have their own forums on XMarksTheScot.com
http://www.usakilts.com/
http://www.freedomkilts.com/
http://www.unionkilts.com/
http://www.kilts-n-stuff.com/
http://kiltstore.net/ (substantial discount if you link to them from www.xmarksthescot.com)

http://www.neokilt.com/home.asp
http://www.utilikilts.com/ (these guys have a sub-cult of their own)
http://www.amerikilt.com/
http://www.kinlochanderson.com/ (highly thought of, not cheap)
http://www.21stcenturykilts.co.uk
and his father's traditional business - http://www.geoffreykilts.co.uk/ (both companies also highly thought of, and not cheap)
http://www.sportkilt.com/
http://www.rkilts.com/
http://www.stillwaterkilts.com/ (their midrange kilts are good "starter" kilts)

[Kilted KT]

Need to take Iolaus's last message and put that up somewhere sticky. Too much great info all in one spot to let the newcommer have to flouder about the forum digging for it.

Very well done, Iolaus!