Out and About -- In the World at Large

General discussion of skirt and kilt-based fashion for men, and stuff that goes with skirts and kilts.
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Caultron
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Caultron »

Charlie wrote:I've had a similar conversation while wearing a kilt. For some people, kilt = Scottish and its a job to get through to them that you're not a Scot.
As for the "Why are you wearing a kilt then?" question, I've occasionally replied that (with apologies to the cafe in general, but these conversations are often transitory and a lot of information has to be put over quickly) I like wearing skirts but don't want to pass myself off as a woman, so a kilt is a good compromise. They're happy with that.
I'm thinking that utility kilts such as Utilikilts and Union Kilts are a new concept in men's clothing.
Charlie
I think people are trying to assimilate this guy in a kilt they're seeing with what they already know. It's like, if Scotchmen are the only ones who wear kilts, this must be a Scotsman.

This happens often enough that I have a list of canned responses. (Pardon, I know some of these are old.)

Are you Scottish?
  • No, just crazy.
    No, but I drank some once.
    No. (followed by friendly stare)
Then why are you wearing a kilt?
  • I've been wearing pants my whole life. I'm tired of it.
    Excellent freedom of movement, great ventilation, no chaffing...
    I don't want to get arrested.
    I was meditating one day and then realized no one in the Bible ever wore pants.
    One good thing about becoming an old man is that you get to be a crazy old man.
    I was always curious what it'd be like.
    It's comfortable.
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

caultron
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Kilted Musician »

Caultron wrote:I think people are trying to assimilate this guy in a kilt they're seeing with what they already know. It's like, if Scotchmen are the only ones who wear kilts, this must be a Scotsman.

This happens often enough that I have a list of canned responses. (Pardon, I know some of these are old.)

Are you Scottish?
  • No, just crazy.
    No, but I drank some once.
    No. (followed by friendly stare)
Then why are you wearing a kilt?
  • I've been wearing pants my whole life. I'm tired of it.
    Excellent freedom of movement, great ventilation, no chaffing...
    I don't want to get arrested.
    I was meditating one day and then realized no one in the Bible ever wore pants.
    One good thing about becoming an old man is that you get to be a crazy old man.
    I was always curious what it'd be like.
    It's comfortable.
Ha! I like these!

One thing I forgot to add to my post is that when I was on the wharf, 2 guys who were slightly intoxicated [happy drunks] saw me and one said, "Hey! Where's your bagpipes?" I smiled and said, "They're in the wash!" He just laughed and said, "Good one!"

--Rick
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Kirbstone
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Kirbstone »

Rick,

The Wash is the name of that rectangular shallow tidal North Sea inlet just above the 'bulge' of Norfolk in East England. It is where the locals encourage all Scots to dump their bagpipes.

The most polite Scotsman is he who CAN play the bagpipes, but when asked to do so.....declines! :wink:

Tom
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by dillon »

LMAO, Tom. I don't mind the pipes, in short measures. But I wouldn't want to hear them on a hangover...
As a matter of fact, the sun DOES shine out of my ...
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Kirbstone »

Way back in the immediate post pelazoic period when I lived in Hampshire in England I had a lovely Scots neighbour who I invited over on Jan.1st to hear a visiting colleague who then lived in the New Forest and who studied Piobracht (piping) seriously as a gifted amateur musician.
This guy climbed into his instrument and proceeded to march around my garden that cold January day making the most delicious piping sound one could wish to hear. My Scottish neighbour was impressed indeed. My colleague could produce the sort of sound that would grace Edinburgh Castle during the Tatoo!

....and on that morning after Hogmanay it was certainly on a hangover.

Tom
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by crfriend »

Kirbstone wrote:This guy climbed into his instrument and proceeded to march around my garden that cold January day making the most delicious piping sound one could wish to hear. My Scottish neighbour was impressed indeed. My colleague could produce the sort of sound that would grace Edinburgh Castle during the Tatoo!
Oh how I wish I had neighbours like that! I find that if I'm really badly hung over (yes, it happens from time to time when I don't keep the intake quite up to snuff) a darned good dose of bagpipe music helps to cheer me up and serve as a tonic for the nerves.

I can't say as I'll ever take the instrument up as I don't know if I'd have the stamina to actually play the thing (although I do have a very soft spot in my heart for the bellows-driven Irish pipes). Too, I'm sure I'd get summonsed almost immediately to court due to complaints from the yuppie to my immediate north, although the other nearby neighbours might be OK with the notion (at least if I got good, which means practicing in the wilderness for a while).
....and on that morning after Hogmanay it was certainly on a hangover.
I hope he's still a neighbour!
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Kirbstone
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Kirbstone »

alas, Carl, like most things Pelazoic or similar, they have died out. My esteemed musical colleague passed away due to Cancer in his 60s and my old Scots neighbour drank too much and didn't last very long, either.

I have had a go at the bagpipes. They only have nine notes, an octave plus one extra note. I found that my lips weren't strong enough to resist the pressure of escaping air from the bag when they were making a sound. I noted later that most marching pipers grip the mouthpiece at one corner of their mouths, thus reducing lip fatigue and extending the time they can actually play.

It pays to have a bit of ground around your house which keeps neighbours at a distance. Bagpipes sound best at a distance, anyway.

Tom.
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Kilted Musician »

Kirbstone wrote:Rick,

The Wash is the name of that rectangular shallow tidal North Sea inlet just above the 'bulge' of Norfolk in East England. It is where the locals encourage all Scots to dump their bagpipes.

The most polite Scotsman is he who CAN play the bagpipes, but when asked to do so.....declines! :wink:

Tom
Thanks for the info, Tom... I love it! :)

Do you know why bagpipers walk when they play? To get away from the sound!

--Rick
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Uncle Al »

I purchased a practice 'chanter' but I don't have the 'wind' to blow
the thing. :( Therefore, it sits on the shelf in my closet. I can
get a good bagpipe sound from my theatre organ :D

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2018-202 ? (and the beat goes on ;) )
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I respond-The why is F.T.H.O.I. (For The H--- Of It)
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Kirbstone
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Kirbstone »

Indeed, Uncle Al, and it's a blxxdy sight easier to play as well! Just two notes C & G down the bottom for the drones and only nine, from C to top D for the chanter and that's it!

Tom.
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Departed Member »

Caultron wrote:
Charlie wrote:I've had a similar conversation while wearing a kilt. For some people, kilt = Scottish and its a job to get through to them that you're not a Scot.
As for the "Why are you wearing a kilt then?" question, I've occasionally replied that (with apologies to the cafe in general, but these conversations are often transitory and a lot of information has to be put over quickly) I like wearing skirts but don't want to pass myself off as a woman, so a kilt is a good compromise. They're happy with that.
I'm thinking that utility kilts such as Utilikilts and Union Kilts are a new concept in men's clothing.
Charlie
I think people are trying to assimilate this guy in a kilt they're seeing with what they already know. It's like, if Scotchmen are the only ones who wear kilts, this must be a Scotsman.

This happens often enough that I have a list of canned responses. (Pardon, I know some of these are old.)

Are you Scottish?
  • No, just crazy.
    No, but I drank some once.
    No. (followed by friendly stare)
Then why are you wearing a kilt?
  • I've been wearing pants my whole life. I'm tired of it.
    Excellent freedom of movement, great ventilation, no chaffing...
    I don't want to get arrested.
    I was meditating one day and then realized no one in the Bible ever wore pants.
    One good thing about becoming an old man is that you get to be a crazy old man.
    I was always curious what it'd be like.
    It's comfortable.
Kind of a funny, similar story. I was at the Scottish Parliament this last Thursday to see the spectacle of a possible Independence Day for Scotland and I was wearing a grey and olive green striped maxi skirt and homemade cargo pocket sporran (I really should have just worn my kilt after all that, but oh well, didn't really think of it till I got there) and a group of guys from Corsica who were sporting their Corsican pride and supporting their independence too started talking to me and asking me if I was wearing a kilt. I replied no, it's just a skirt. They discovered I was American and asked if it was an "American kilt." I probably should have responded yes in hindsight, but I said no, just a skirt but got a chuckle outta it.

The only problem I'd have with using some of your ready to use responses Caultron (which are all great btw!), like "no, just crazy" is that I wouldn't want to further secure in their mind the notion that a man wearing a kilt/skirt is a crazy idea because its not, or at least it shouldn't be seen that way. We all want it to be seen as normal someday.

Sinned, it's entirely possible my acquaintance and your "MOH" are related. They do sound quite similar. I wouldn't be surprised if they share an illogical relative somewhere in their lines.

And SkirtyScot, thanks for the welcome! Aside from the stares I get when skirted, I've been enjoying my time here in Scotland thus far, skirted or no. Been loving all the plethora of Indian takeaways/restaurants here and the Piemaker shop; love those haggis pies with tates on top! As to the skirts I've been wearing, they've just been knee length or longer A-lines that I've been wearing my homemade cargo pocket sporran with if the skirt has no pockets. I have been wearing one of these box pleated skirts too with my homemade sporran.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Box-Pleat ... 3f267c05ab

To anyone not familiar with a kilt they might very well seem like one, and most from my uni cohort are from China, so its understandable that they wouldn't be familiar with a kilt.
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Caultron
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Caultron »

Potbelly MacKraken wrote:...The only problem I'd have with using some of your ready to use responses Caultron (which are all great btw!), like "no, just crazy" is that I wouldn't want to further secure in their mind the notion that a man wearing a kilt/skirt is a crazy idea because its not, or at least it shouldn't be seen that way. We all want it to be seen as normal someday...
By, "crazy," I mean eccentric, just doing things my way, and not mentally ill, and I think most people take it that way. It helps to be smiling and friendly.

But you're absolutely right, it'd be great for male skirt/kilt wearing to be normal someday.

Another canned response of mine is, "Oh, they're great, you should try one," which always gets them off balance. Sometimes they do ask where they'd buy one, though, and I have a couple of Web sites I direct them to. Probably not many converts there but at least it gets them thinking.
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

caultron
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Milfmog »

Caultron wrote:Another canned response of mine is, "Oh, they're great, you should try one," which always gets them off balance. Sometimes they do ask where they'd buy one, though, and I have a couple of Web sites I direct them to. Probably not many converts there but at least it gets them thinking.
I have used this a few times and usually have a couple of Utilikilts "brag tags" with me. I have now made up some of my own (having run out of the ones supplied with the Utilikilt) which list a couple of other suppliers too, including Union Kilts in the UK as well as having a link to this site.

I don't know if anyone ever actually looks at any of the websites, but like to think that having a bit of information in their pockets may help to harness their interest.

Have fun,


Ian.
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by pelmut »

I have just spent a weekend working on a canal restoration project with a group of volunteer 'navvies'. At the end of the day we retired, muddy and exhausted, to a local village hall for a clean-up and a meal; I put on sandals, a clean T-shirt and a denim just-below-the-knee skirt. There were no stares and no comments, it was just accepted. (It did, however, lead to an interesting conversation with one of the girls on how she used to make her own clothes.)

Most of the women in the group were certificated to drive dumper trucks and some were also fully-qualified excavator drivers; the men took their turn as cooks - a really good example of a group which has no use for gender stereotyping.
There is no such thing as a normal person, only someone you don't know very well yet.
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Re: Out and About -- In the World at Large

Post by Kilted Musician »

Kirbstone wrote:Rick,

The Wash is the name of that rectangular shallow tidal North Sea inlet just above the 'bulge' of Norfolk in East England. It is where the locals encourage all Scots to dump their bagpipes.

The most polite Scotsman is he who CAN play the bagpipes, but when asked to do so.....declines! :wink:

Tom
So I guess I was correct when I said "They're in the wash!" :) Thanks for the info!

--Rick
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