Out and About -- In the World at Large

[BBB]

Usually I wear my kilt when walking only and on |dartmoor you can walk all day without seeing a soul. For a change yesterday went to a small shopping centre wearing my Gordon kilt. I was browsing and three female staff engaged me in conversation about the tartan, then kilts in general and were wholly positive,ironically 2 of the 3 were in trousers! It made my day.

Happy skirting

[Mipi]

...,ironically 2 of the 3 were in trousers! It made my day.

Happy skirting

So let them have trousers and leave skirts to us.

[Milfmog]

Carole and I took the dog for a walk yesterday afternoon and somehow found oursleves in the pub. I don't know quite how that happened, maybe Taz lead us in .

Anyway the point of this tale is that I was wearing a dark grey polo shirt, tan Utilikilt and lightweight grey walking trainers (no socks). About ten minutes after we sat down (I'm guessing the time since in a pub I usually measure everything in pints... I was about a third of the way down a Rebellion IPA - yum!) a lad of around 30 stopped to talk to Taz and offer him a dog chew, which was gratefully accepted. Just before he went back to his friends he commented "I love your utilikilt; really cool. I'm thinking about getting one myself and it is good to have seen one in the real world." That's only the second or third time that the UK has been recognized by name, they're pretty thin on the ground over here due to price and import costs.

Carole gave me a playful thump when I observed that that was the second time in a fortnight that I'd been approached and complimented about the UK while out with her. I've also been stopped and told how good looking my dog is, but no one has ever bothered to tell me my wife is beautiful... Before she could react I added "Are they all blind? Or just in awe?" Winding her up is fun, but I have to remember to keep my stock of brownie points topped up and next time I'll try to be a little further away (preferably out of reach) before commenting.

Have fun,


Ian.

[TomH]

Very good Ian. And you are a playful sort. Unfortunately, I got very little buzz when I wore my Black Watch to the "Rod Run to the End of the World" event on the Washington coast last Saturday. It's a great car show with a bunch of cars that have been cared for to the extreme and some in training, too. It ties up traffic on the local roads for almost two days.

Anyway, I only got two mentions that I noticed. As I walked by the food booths, I realized I'd heard some female voice say something about "under the kilt". I turned and looked and saw no one to attribute it to. Only people going on about the business of which long line to stand in to get fed.

After finding food and eating ourselves, I stopped at the last booth and asked for two sodas and the very young granddaughter of the people working there was going on loudly about "Why are you wearing a skirt?" I told her that it's normally called a Kilt and her grandpa agreed with me to her. She just shut down without any more comment. I thought a moment and then added, that yes, she was right though, that it is a skirt. Not much out of her even then, so I guess I disappointed her. Darn, TMI.

The only other note about the day, hay/straw bales are not nice to a kilt. After picking the pieces off, my wife put the coat she had been wearing down before I sat again.

Having fun, TomH

[Since1982]

TomH said: I stopped at the last booth and asked for two sodas and the very young granddaughter of the people working there was going on loudly about "Why are you wearing a skirt?"

Unfortunately she didn't think that up on her own, that mental set came from heavy indoctrination on who wears what in this world. Probably from her parents, because her Gramps was agreeing with you. That's a hill all skirted men are going to have to climb over and over again until even the youngest look at a man in a skirt as "just another man in just another clothing choice".. Happened in 40 some years for women and pants, it will happen for us too, might take longer, might not.

[crfriend]

In early springtime a local attraction in our little town had an indignity put upon it by a family of beavers. Our local "rail trail" (a conservation movement that seeks to turn abandoned railroad rights-of-way into walking and cycling trails) had a 75-foot section wash out when a local population of the rodents dammed up the entrance-point to a drainage culvert. It has since been repaired, and today was the celebration of the re-opening. The trail runs from the upper reaches of the Wachussett Reservoir (that supplies Metropolitan Boston with its water) and continues, broadly speaking, west along the old route of the now-defunct Central Massachusetts Railroad.

Why does this matter? My excuse is that I wore a skirt to the event, both Sapphire and I got a great walk out of it (old railroad routes are wonderful for hiking and cycling), I get quite a few very nice autumn photographs, and I also received some interesting and nice comments on my attire. My outfit was a very safe one, with white dress shirt, red waistcoat, black skirt, black opaque tights, black dress shoes (which are also awesome walking shoes), and a contemporary pocket-watch (which one cannot tell when it's in the waistcoat pocket).

Commentary heard:

1) "I like your outfit" -- this was from a musician at one of the attractions along the old rail-bed (a mill rendered defunct when Boston built the reservoir and drowned the heart of my new home-town in the late 1800s). I offered a gentle nod of the head and a polite, "Thank you."

2) "Are you one of the interpreters here?" -- this came from a fellow walker who had ventured up the steep hill to the adjacent mill village site (both sites had extensive information posted at points of interest, mainly to point up what the function of the original structures (which are now naught but ruins and foundations) were. I politely answered, "No, I'm just out for a walk." His response was quite interesting indeed: "You just like traditional clothes then?" For some reason I wasn't really in the mood for deep discussion (being out of breath might have been one reason), nodded and said "yes", and that was that. "Traditional clothing?" I'm not aware that skirts on guys have ever been "traditional" in New England. (This dovetails into my notion of working for a look that's "believable" -- the look worked well enough to throw somebody who likely knows full-well that men have never worn skirts like the one I was wearing today in anything remotely resembling recent memory.)

3) "Are you trying to replicate a period look?" -- This came from the same musician as made comment nr. 1 -- and was an honest and sincere question; it was followed up with, "or is that just the way you like to dress?" I answered in the affirmative to the second portion of her query -- that it's just a look I like and that I am comfortable with. And that, as they say, was that.

Sapphire (who had helped with some of the items used in the celebration) and I had a ball. 'Twas a good time all the way 'round save that she's going to have blisters and sore feet for a few days. I feel invigorated by the excursion and feel the need to dig out my old beast of a chemical-camera so I can properly shoot some of the stuff I did with Sapphire's old digi-cam today (it was so nice to feel my "eye" begin to "think that way" again. (Heck, maybe I'll procure an external light-meter and take my grand-dad's camera for a walk, too! And a tripod.) I also feel encouraged by the commentary; those who took the time to actually engage me were thoughtful and polite, and their tone positive. Yes there were a couple of double-takes, but I suspect every skirt-wearing bloke here knows and understands those just fine, and that sometimes the funniest commentary comes from confused children who positively know that men don't wear skirts.

To finish the day off, we're heading out for dinner. I'll get Sapphire to snap a shot of me in a bit.

[Uncle Al]

Today I wore my Postal Blue UK, yellow dress shirt and sandles.
Quite comfy today as the temps were in the low 80's F.

Uncle Al

[Milfmog]

I spent the last week holidaying in Egypt. Since this was primarily a diving trip most of my luggage allowance was taken up by scuba equipment and so clothes had to be kept to a minimum. My solution was therefore to take t shirts, one "good" shirt and a sarong that can be washed at bedtime and will be dry for the following morning. I also had my Utilikilt as the pockets are an effective way of stretching the amount of stuff I can carry onto the 'plane (for a five and a half hour flight I need a book, glasses (or the book becomes redundant) an MP3 player and my sound reducing headphones to keep engine noise down and save me from having to risk deafness to hear over the background noise) add a wallet, passport, tickets keys and you start to see why so many people try to carry huge bags onto the aircraft.

The sarong drew no comments at all from the locals even though its' bold geometric design was nothing like the garments they might have worn, if we'd actually seen any locals in robes*. On the boat and at the dive centre one person made a few comments about the skirt in an attempt to wind me up but since I did not react to what he had assumed would be an insult he gave up. (And, yes he was being deliberately nasty in an attempt to prove his superiority, as he was to several others during the week. He got his comeuppance though when he made a big push to tell everyone how good a technical diver he was only to discover that he was far less experienced than the majority on the boat and that after the check dives the instructor had him marked down as "intermediate water skills" while almost everyone else was noted as "experienced" He went quieter after that.)

The Utilikilt, however, was the cause of far more comment. I had two members of the aircrew ask about it, both female and both very complimentary, especially when one asked who pressed it and was told that it rarely requires pressing. Around Sharm however I was constantly bombarded with "Hey Scottish" by the street salesmen or the classically phrased "Are you from Scotch?" Being visible does tend to make you a bit more of a target for the guys trying to get you into their shops and I rapidly discovered that by sticking to the sarong I was able to make far quicker progress through town. I did have one over zealous local try to lift the front of kilt however he let go when I warned him he might frighten other people.

Next time I head over that way I shall take two sarongs and leave the kilt for the flights.

Have fun,


Ian.



* Last time I was in Sharm-el-Sheik there were lots of lower paid folks wearing tube type sarongs made from heavy woven cloth. Now it seems they've all earned enough to buy at least one pair of trousers to demonstrate their rising status. The only people we was in more traditional dress were staff in restaurants who were required to dress that way as part of their uniform.

[Since1982]

Milf said: the classically phrased "Are you from Scotch?"

I've heard that..and answered it with the completely sincere and truthful "no, I'm from my Mom"..or "Noooo, I'm into Bacardi Anejó 151 Rum man, hiccup! Urp, urp, belch!"

[BBB]

Today I went to buy something wearing a traditional kilt and later this evening I was kilted to post a letter. OK this evening was dark but well lit. No comments so as many before me have found; if we behave normally then the people we meet will too. If they engage in conversation then I am happy to chat. In my opinion you cannot beat the feeling of freedom a kilt gives you.

[ChrisM]

Hi. Yesterday I flew from New Orleans to Washington DC, while attired in a mid-calf black wool pleated skirt. Some might call it a kilt, as it is wrap style, but it is long and has a line of buttons down the right edge of the apron.

I was asked about it by a fella waiting for the flight. I told him something along the lines of "why not?" We then spent the next six hours waiting for our delayed flight, being befriended by the similarly delayed woman next to us, talking about this fellas work in heavy industry (building power plants in Iraq) and just generally being a group of bored delayed travellers.

Point being of course that once past the initial question of 'why are you wearing a skirt?' it was never mentioned again and made, as far as I could tell, no impact upon our social intercourse.

Chris

[Milfmog]

...once past the initial question of 'why are you wearing a skirt?' it was never mentioned again and made, as far as I could tell, no impact upon our social intercourse.

And that, in a nutshell, is the most common experience I have of skirting out and about. It sometimes opens a conversation but has not yet proved to be a barrier to one.

Have fun,


Ian.

[straightfairy]

Yep, Just got back from the pub (albeit a quiet out-of-the-way one) with a few friends while wearing my long green cotton one. The friends who hadn't seen me wear my denim one at a previous meet asked me why, and were ok when I said it was for comfort, and nothing more was said of it.

[crfriend]

As I commented a while ago, I've begun wearing skirts to work when I feel like it, and today was no exception save that as it's getting well into the "holiday season" I decided to pull out an extra stop to see what happened. For the most part, I've been wearing very plain skirts now that it's cold outside, but today I wore my calf-length blue velvet skirt, navy vest, white dress shirt, off-white cable-knit-pattern tights, and my (usual) black dress shoes (which need replacing again).

This rig caught Sapphire a bit off-guard as it's a bit flashy for work, but she said it looks OK, and I garnered a nice compliment from one of the project-managers at work. I'm going to call that a "win" and be done with.

I'm contemplating wearing my red velvet skirt next Thursday as it's the day before Christmas and it'll be a half-day (for most folks, but for me a 3/4 day) by employer policy.

[crfriend]

I know it's bad form to quote one's self, but...

I'm contemplating wearing my red velvet skirt next Thursday as it's the day before Christmas and it'll be a half-day (for most folks, but for me a 3/4 day) by employer policy.

For the record, I made good on that today. Top to bottom (minus the outdoor winter gear) it comprised a black dress shirt, my red waistcoat, red velvet skirt, cream-coloured cable-knit tights, and black dress shoes.

I got a very nice comment on the rig from a woman I work with and could almost hear the gears grinding in a male co-workers brain who commented, "velour?" and I answered, "Nope, velvet." Everybody now, however, is used to the fact that I wear skirts, and that's good. I merely mentioned to the latter lad that "It's Christmas Eve and I thought I'd kick it up a notch. Besides, velvet is nice and warm in weather like this." After a short pause for thought, the general theme went back to work matters (which really stank today as somebody decided to patch the backup system two days before the holiday and that patch "went poorly" and the rest of us had to mop up the mess).