Greetings all; I come bearing a gift...

[Departed Member]

New to the board, been thinking of joining for a while, and finally got around to it. I've always wanted to wear skirts since I was a young boy, and finally took the plunge about 1.5-2 years ago, starting with kilts, then moving to what most would deem a proper "skirt." I couldn't tell you the last time I wore bifurcated bottoms (e.g. pants/trouser/short) for a long period of time. I usually wear a kilt or other type of skirt almost every single day, purely for comfort reasons, and especially since its very hot where I am current located. And work has been gracious enough to let me do so, despite the uber conservative nature of the society in which I work and currently live. Anyway, the gift I come bearing is a recent invention; I had the idea a couple of months ago. I've posted a pic in the attachment form, but for a description, here it goes:

The invention is a cargo pocket sporran. All it is is a simple cargo pocket cut out from an old pair of cargo shorts/pants/trousers, with some shoe string attached to act as the strap. It works great for those non-kilt skirts that lack pockets, especially for home-made informal lava lavas/dhotis, sarongs, etc. I started making my own lava lavas/sarongs out of cotton fabric (about 6' X4' of material) and have acquired other skirts sans pockets, and the cargo pocket is durable and stiff enough to hold everything and not fold into weird shapes. It's a very easy thing to make because it involves no sewing whatsoever. Plus, if wearing it with a Lavalava/Sarong, you can simply adjust the length of the lava lava depending on the weather. by rolling the fabrid up or down and just readjusting the cargo pocket sporran. It's a neat little combination of the Pacific island style with the Scottish style. In addition, it covers the man area where any bulge might happen in thinner material skirts. So if you have an old pair of cargo shorts/trousers and are wanting to switch to unbirfucated clothing/skirts/kilts, etc., they still have a use; just cut out the cargo pockets and save them for your unbifurcated garments/skirts that don't have pockets. I recommend using cargo pockets with snaps or velcro; buttons are two difficult to deal with, IMO.

Hope you guys find it as useful as I have!

[attachment=0]10450778_10154312664890117_8476235252409113964_n.jpg[/attachment]

[Kirbstone]

Welcome P.MacK. With that name perhaps you're Scottish and from your pic you don't appear to have a potbelly. Where do you hang out?

Tom

[skirtyscot]

Well, not over his waistband at any rate!

Welcome, Potbelly.

[Departed Member]

Thank you for the welcome. As for the potbelly, yes, sadly, I do have a potbelly, but it's still in its minor stages. If you saw a sideways profile of me, you would see it. I've been trying to work it off, but its always the last thing to go.

I am of Scottish descent, but MacKraken is not my real name. I'm a Californian currently living in Utah, but I'm moving to Scotland this fall for grad. school, Edinburgh area. So I'll be kilted and skirted in the motherland for a while. Now, as for Skirtyscot, I see you're from Ayershire. I've heard the same four adjectives used to describe Edinburgh: cold, windy, rainy, wet. Is this true? Is it as windy as people say it is? And cold? If so, what to do about kilts/skirts? Will it be always windy enough that kilts/skirts are out of the question?

Now, as for the cargo pocket sporran, I've been buying some skirts from the women's section at the local thrift stores, which was kind of a big step at first, although it was made easier by wearing headphones and listening to my iPhone, so as to tune out the rest of the world, and by wearing either a lavalava or kilt at the time, and these two things really did help bring down the nerves! The skirts I've bought have all been masculine looking enough, and when I wear the cargo pocket sporran with the skirts, it makes look even more masculine/male looking. It adds a masculine touch to the skirt, which I think helps bring down the "feminine" aspect of the the skirt in society's eyes. It might very well confuse them into thinking I'm wearing a kilt of some kind. Not sure about that, but it makes me feel me comfortable walking around skirted in public. So for those of you still building up courage to go skirted in public, try the cargo pocket sporran. It helps for me to build up my courage by making the skirt just a touch more masculine (in my mind at least).

[Sinned]

Whereas Scotland is rather cooler than the rest of the country we all suffer from the climate being cooler and wetter than you will have been used to. How we counteract this - we wear slips, two skirts possibly, skirts made from thicker materials such as denim or wool and definitely thick tights ( black mainly ) but as we have all found skirts are rather good at insulating the legs from the cold as they trap larger quantities of warm air in them. Again look through other threads and you will get the idea. Some live in climates a lot colder than Scotland!

I remember meeting and greeting at my local Toys R Us store and it was snowing outside and the wind was whistling through the front of store and a guy walked in six foot six with shoulders to match wearing a Hawaiian shirt and shorts. I asked him if he was cold and he said, "No, this is just like summer to me, I'm from Alaska." So you'll probably get used to it.

As for the cargo sporran - I have a bum bag that I normally wear with the main part round the front that performs the same function but thanks for the information on making a less formal one from materials normally found around the house.

[skirtingtoday]

I am of Scottish descent, but MacKraken is not my real name. I'm a Californian currently living in Utah, but I'm moving to Scotland this fall for grad. school, Edinburgh area. So I'll be kilted and skirted in the motherland for a while. Now, as for Skirtyscot, I see you're from Ayershire. I've heard the same four adjectives used to describe Edinburgh: cold, windy, rainy, wet. Is this true? Is it as windy as people say it is? And cold? If so, what to do about kilts/skirts? Will it be always windy enough that kilts/skirts are out of the question?

Whilst we do have our fair share of weather, if you do manage to travel along the west coast of Scotland, particularly further north than Glasgow/Edinburgh in the "central belt", you will find palm trees growing! Here is a quick Google search of the variety of plants and trees that grow outside and seem to thrive.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Inver ... 22&bih=391

The UK has the benefit of the Gulf Stream. A prevailing ocean current 9and associated winds) from the Gulf of Mexico that keeps the climate rather warmer than would normally be expected for the relatively north location of us. This does mean that the weather is more variable and in Edinburgh we get approx 1.5-2.5" of rain every month - with the higher values in summer.

As for wearing kilts in cold weather, I do that on occasions. A few years ago, when the temperatures dropped to -11 deg C, *that was in daytime), and even colder overnight, and I have worn my kilt at those temperatures and felt fine!

[Big and Bashful]

You will find that the West coast has a milder climate than the East coast, less fog as well. However the rainfall is also much higher, North of the Clyde where you get into the hills and mountains rainfall seems to vary between 1.5 to 2.5 metres of rain per year. (60 to 100 inches) with some spots even wetter. We rarely see snow and haven't had any severe frosts for a few years now. October through to January we often get severe storms, Force 10 and higher happen most years. This year we have had an exceptional Summer, with Sun and everything! This probably means the next ten Summers will be horrible, the joys of living on the Wet coast of Scotland!

[Jerevo]

Greetings all,

By way of introduction: I live in Manchester, work (currently) in Edinburgh, and I've wearing skirts for years. I've been lurking here for a fair while too, but never posted. What's lured me out of the woodwork is the number of Scottish residents - anybody fancy a pint in Edinburgh of a weekday evening?

Andrew

[Big and Bashful]

I could make a Saturday night sometime, but having just started a new job, weekdays are spoken for, for a while anyway.

[skirtyscot]

I'm on the wrong side of Glasgow for a weekday trip to Edinburgh. If my work ever takes me over to the East, I'll let you know.

[Departed Member]

Yeah, I'd be down with an Edinburgh meet up. We should let Skirtingtoday know as well if it proceeds, since he's here too. I'm usually free in the evenings after uni. Tho, as a Mormon, I don't drink alcohol, but I'm more than happy to chow down on pub food while everyone else drinks.

[skirtingtoday]

I would like an Edinburgh meet if one can be arranged.

I am still off work at the moment recovering from the bus accident but have been out a couple of times - once for curling on Monday this week and last Saturday, with some golf mates on a trip to see Newcastle beat Liverpool 1-0 at the weekend.

I do have further evenings taken up with curling including a spell of 4 matches in 6 days in the middle of this month.

Ross

[Jerevo]

Thursday 27th November? I'll put an entry in the suggested meets section.

Andrew