I believe that the British, by nature, are far less able to accommodate anything other than what is tediously commonplace, than the Americans, who I see as being far more openminded and accepting.
Yesterday afternoon I donned my Scottish National kilt and visited a tourist attraction about half an hour's drive away - a preserved steam railway, as I have always been fascinated by live steam stuff.
Usually on these kilted expeditions, as soon as I leave my car and folk can see I'm not in trousers like the rest of them (including the womenfolk), I feel all eyes have honed in on me. That's perfectly understandable as a guy in a kilt in these parts stands out like a guy with two heads.
But it wasn't long before a lady apprehended me and asked if I was from Scotland. I politely replied 'No', and she then immediately recognised my accent, saying 'Your a Cockney'.
I said 'No, South London' (there is a difference). She then asked if the person with me was related. (My 92 year old mother had come along for the ride). I said she was my mother.
'Is your mother from Scotland then?' she asked. I said 'No, we live in Devon'.
'So do I' the lady said. She then called to her middle-aged son who was a few yards away, 'These people are from Scotland.'
I repeated that we weren't and, jokingly, that my kilt was just to confuse her...a big mistake.
She said 'This man is confusing his mother'...and, turning back to me, added 'So, what are we talking about?'
I said 'I don't know'...and she walked away.
Strange. But it does rather illustrate how kilt wearing in Britain will probably never be accepted easily in any other terms than your being of Scottish nationality, however you try to convince them that you're not. It makes little sense to them, and they go away disappointed.
Though not having been to the US, I would imagine that this is not the case at all, and anyone in a kilt would probably not suffer from the same interrogation as to why they are wearing a kilt.
And it's all down to the tartan. Had it been a plain solid colour material, there would have been no conversation and, going back to my original starting line, as the general British public cannot get their heads around new ideas they would have probably given me, instead, a very wide berth.
As a nation, we have a heck of a way to go before anything other than bifurcated wear for men, whatever part of the country you're from, isn't questioned or demanding of explanation.