skirtcafe.org

Hi

I'm Scottish on my mother's side, born in New Zealand, and now living in the US.

I often go to Scotland and have finally decided to take the plunge and wear a kilt (not a skirt, a kilt!). Beset with questions and curiosities, looking forward to learning and in time to contributing to this useful online resource.

Best wishes to all and Sláinte Mhath

David.

Hello and welcome, D McD! We're a broad church, with plenty of room for kilties, though most guys here have skirts as well (or instead). You may find that advice given here doesn't quite adhere to the strict "rules" that some believe exist, but that's a good thing, isn't it?

Thanks for the kind welcome.

As for strict rules, that's always been a challenge of mine. But I promise to be on my best behavior here. Of course.

David.

Hi and welcome. My sister-in-law is an attorney in Seattle. I visited there last winter and loved it. I started with kilts and wear skirts as well. I am Scottish on my mother's side. She was a cousin to Queen Elizabeth.

Wow, if your mother was/is a cousin to the queen, that means you're related too.

Which means here I am, talking to a relative of the Queen. Next time you're visiting Buck House, can I come along too?

Seattle is a lovely area. I've been very happy here.

Welcome!

Welcome. There are a few of us in the Seattle area.

BTW, there are few if any rules in regards to utility kilts.

Welcome to the Skirt-Cafe David.

I see you have made yourself at home so that is one thing you do not have to worry about. We here are quite a nice bunch of skirt wearers and some of us actually wear dresses too on occasion.

Fred

Welcome aboard DMcD, this is a pretty relaxed forum, we're all different and at different stages in life.
I'm also born in NZ, although I live in Australia...

You could check out Utilikilts in Seattle, there's also other kilt/utility kilt makers in the US, such as UTKilts near Salt Lake City, Utah. Some others here can point you in the direction of kilt/utility kilt makers in the US.
There's no real rules with utility kilts, and there's a few of us here that wear them.

Whatever your styles, we're an accomodating bunch here.

Sorry to hear you've been exiled to Oz. Although, of course, the truth which neither of us dare utter in public is that Australia is actually a marvelous place to live and with a great standard of living and quality of life. Hope you're enjoying it there - my brother lives in Melbourne and thinks the move there was one of his best decisions.

I've seen people around Seattle wearing the Utilikilts for years. Well, not to overstate it, I've seen the same guy, variously around the place, for years. But I think I've only ever seen one!

I'm a traditionalist here, seeking tartan kilts rather than modern Utilikilts. But, who knows. I do love the concept of pockets.

Thanks for saying hello

David.

Greetings David, and welcome!

This is a rather remarkable community, and one that contains quite a large portion of "characters". Given the level of "tradition-bucking" we tend to do, it's about what one might expect, I suppose, but a good read through some of the history herein -- and there's quite a few years of it (decades) -- but persuing it will give a good feel for the place.

I just got your note about a problem with the search function not working (I literally just got back from a week of sailing) and let's see if it recurs in the next couple of days. If it does, I'll look into it once I recover from a world that continues to bob around like a cork and I lose some of the sun-poisoning I picked up from getting bleached (and burnt) in it for days.

Enjoy!

Thanks for adding your voice to the growing swell of a chorus of welcomes.

Yes, there's a huge amount of resource here. Am trying to digest it in bite sized portions!

As for the search function thingamabob, maybe it was to do with my new member status? Or perhaps some function call timed out due to processor workload? I hate those sorts of occasional glitch; fortunately it isn't too interfering.

I'll give it another try in the next day or two and see if I can recreate it. Meantime, as with much, "no news is good news".

And, seeing how it is getting closer to "that time of day", Sláinte Mhath to all

David.

ps : Love the picture of the tube/valve. Am a ham radio operator among my other perversions. NZ9G.

Hi,
If you are visiting Scotland and wearing a tartan kilt you WILL get some questions, mainly about what tartan you are wearing, sometimes about what else you are wearing (the usual question, my answer (shoes!)). It always surprises me that when I wear a kilt it starts conversations, when I put on an ankle length denim cargo skirt or a knee length version, it gets mostly ignored, if there is a comment at all it is normally very positive. At times I have been anxious, wandering down a road in Glasgow where there are groups of youths or schoolkids is a place where you would expect some abuse/catcalls, however my fears were completely unfounded.
I have worn skirts in Glasgow, Edinburgh and in Stirling, as well as on numerous train journeys and flights, never had a bad experience yet, although I tend to keep to less feminine skirts and no shorter than knee length, trying to keep my brain happy more than anything else!

David, welcome from a traditional Kilt wearer in S.W. Cornwall U.K....I live in an area of Radio Communication Systems.
In the early 1900's Marconi set up a radio station at Poldu Cove and sent his first trans Atlantic message to Canada.
The local ham radio enthusiasts run a museum on the old arial field.
Further north is the Sixties Goonhilly Earth Tracking Station.....The Naval Helicopters train on the local air station
which is the largest in Europe.. so there is plenty of activity in the area....Best of luck with your kilting activities
weeladdie18

Many thanks for the note, weeladdie18.

I know your part of Cornwall well, and was there almost exactly a year ago. I absolutely love it. Some of the most beautiful, albeit empty, scenery of anywhere outside of the Highlands.

All the best

David.