Does your demeanor change when kilted?

[kilty]

At first I thought it was imagination playing tricks on me. It begin to feel it when I start puting my kilt accessories on like hose, flashes, sigian duhb, etc. Then when I buckle on my kilt, my sense of pride grows 10 fold. I am actually 1 foot taller in my kilt when I look at myself in the mirror. The same giant of a man as I walked in the highlands os Scotland in the early 1700s.

I Do feel 10 feet tall. I DO feel special. I DO walk more confidently. I do feel extremely proud to be honoured to be able to wear my maternal grandmother's clan tartan in the name of MaCkay.

Before supper, my wife and I discussed my kilt wearing. I donned it early this morning and we went to Timmy's for breakfast. Then we went to the mall for some window shopping spending most of the afgternoon there. A lot of smiles from the ladies (of all ages) and thums up from the guys.

While sipping our wine (on the first glass ) she casually mentioned that my demeanor changes when I wear my kilt. I asked her to explain. She said that my gate when walking is such that it makes the pleats "swoosh" when I walk. She also remarked that I stand taller and more erect as opposed to slouching.

It surprised me that what I had been feeling were actually visible to other people and not only "dillusions" from a proud wearer of the Highland Kilt in the ancient MacKaY tartan.

I just wonder if anyone else dons a sens of clan/family history when they don their kilt. Tell us about it.

[Larry124]

Not the same.
I have a substantial hyphenated Celtic heritage, but that is not what I identify with.
I mostly feel and act the extrovert in a kilt because of its eccentricity (in the USA).
When it is my duty, or when I’m being compensated, then I'll be a leader.
Otherwise I’m a relatively private personality.
But I will grant that it is near impossible to be unassuming in a kilt.

[Mipi]

My first feeling, after I put kilt on, is relaxation. Then while walking, I feel pleats are hitting my knees. Only then I start to feel a bit taller and prouder.

[Geoff Withnell]

Particularly when I am out in public, I tend to be a bit more forceful in my gait and posture. My wife calls it my "kilted swagger". I think it comes from two sources. One, here in the USA, a man in a kilt draws more attention. Knowing this, I don't feel I can slouch along. Two, (and I believe this because my wife has told me), I look d@mn fine in a kilt! If one is going to stand out from the crowd, one should stand tall!

Geoff Withnell

[Niblox]

I do feel about 10 feet tall when I put on my kilt, but I go back to my normal height after about 20 minutes! The feeling is still good however, and I do notice that I tend to walk differently, and more upright than when I am wearing trousers.

[McClef]

I always feel better wearing a kilt but whether or not it affects my demeanour is something better answered by those who know me.

[Rex_Tremende]

I don't gain a sense of history riding on my shoulders when I wear the kilt, but I have certainly observed that it requires self assurance. It's a bonus that I've been able to use that same feeling in situations when I'm not kilted.

Regards,
Rex.

[ForresterModern]

I have discovered (been told by others I trust) that I have two walking speeds and styles---one is my working pace and has a bit of a swagger, the other is my casual pace and could best be described as a saunter (Thoreau's words). My wife likes both as she says my **** is more attracctive when moving than standing still. She also says that both appear to her to be even more evident, if not exaggerated, in a kilt.

I do feel different in a kilt, no doubt, still partly becasue it is not as routine an event for me as for many others here on xmts so I am more conscious aboutit, but also becasue others are obviously more conscious about it as well and we reflect the reactions of others in our own actions (Newtons action-reaction theory). But even beyond that, I do carry myself a bit better in a kilt, probably becasue I am feeling the pride of my ancestors and ancestry and ancestral homeland. When hatted in particular I have that bit of rogue in my attitude as well. The more into the kit I am dressed the more the rogue tends to come out of me---I guess that is my Reiver heritage, as virtually all my Scottish ancestry lines are from from the lowlands and borderlands.

[McMathTX]

Yes, I too walk straighter, taller when I wear my kilt. I'm normally a very shy person, but when I'm wearing a kilt, that is not an option. I've made a choice to stand out from the crowd, so I must act like it. After a while, I'm no longer as conscious that I'm wearing a kilt, but I don't believe my straighter posture or new-found swagger go away. I like what a kilt does for me.

Is it a genetic memory hearkening back to ante-Culloden? I don't know. But remembering my Scottish ancestors definitely plays a role in how I feel about the kilt. I just wish that wearing the kilt had become a sign of independence from England during the Revolution, so that my father to my 5-times great-grandfather could have known the freedom and comfort a kilt brings.

Dean

[ChattanCat]

I stand out in any crowd because I am tall. I guess that standing out is part of my persona and the kilt just makes me stand out more. The kilt is an eye catcher and I like how it brings out the extraverts in others. I like meeting people and getting complements, makes me feel good like a king or maybe a Rooster!