Sightings "in the wild"

[STEVIE]

Wish me luck guys,
My office Christmas bash is on Friday and a kilt of sorts teamed with tights is the chosen outfit.
It's a total mix, old, new and drawn from whichever aisle I fancied. The "kilt" bit is an experiment.
Steve.

[couyalair]

... a kilt of sorts

What? !!!

teamed with tights...

in Scotland? !!!

The "kilt" bit is an experiment.

Was that tongue-in-cheek?

Martin

[GerdG]

I agree with Martin on this. If you should rather like to wear a skirt, do wear it, and with tights and whatever, but with a kilt like thing in Scotland, no way.
That said, I do myself wear tights and leggings with kilts, but only at very low temperatures, and last not least, I'm living far away from the homeland of the kilt.

[couyalair]

Since the kilt has unfortunately become a formal fancy dress in Scotland and is no longer considered an everyday working garment to keep you warm, you have to go along with the rules of tradition and do what is expected there. The north Americans seem to have gone the same path, but anywhere else, of course, combine things as you wish.
Martin

[Milfmog]

Since the kilt has unfortunately become a formal fancy dress in Scotland and is no longer considered an everyday working garment to keep you warm, you have to go along with the rules of tradition and do what is expected there.

Go along with the rules? Better buy some trousers then...

Surely the whole point of this forum is to support people who want to break clothing "rules"? Just as there is no law to keep guys in trousers, there is nothing except fear to prevent wearing a kilt outside the formal dress standards.

Wear what you choose; so long as you are comfortable, decent and not falling foul of any written dress code nobody has the authority to tell you you are wrong.

Have fun,


Ian.

[Charlie]

I'm sure I've seen a guy in a kilt wearing tights or leggings (er - sorry, meggings ) on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Either that or he had very, very dirty knees

Charlie (who like to wear coloured tights with his denim or black corduroy kilts)

[couyalair]

Go along with the rules? Better buy some trousers then...

Quite right, Ian -- unfortunately!

I was just so surprised that anyone here would think it an enterprising experiment to wear a kilt to a party in Scotland.
And that, feeling that way, he would then add (unusual) tights to this (daring) kilt.

Anywhere else, you can wear what you like and take a chance about being accepted, but in Scotland you'd halve your chances of being accepted if your kilt is not worn in the traditional way.

No, I don't think we can hope for the Scots in Scotland to popularize casual unbifurcated menswear any time soon -- Skirtyscot and one or two others exccepted, of course.

Martin

[skirtyscot]

Still doing my bit on that score, Martin. Choir practice, bar and the train home last night, in a black skirt and orange tights. Rather bright but I'm with Charlie on this, I like coloured tights. I'm not sure my fellow passengers agreed! I could wear a brightly coloured sweater and nobody would mind; why should I not have coloured legwear?

Stevie, you have got us all wondering. 18" kilt from the women's department? Plain kilt and tartan tights? You must post a photo after the event!

[Kirbstone]

We've just delivered the first of two Christmas concerts. For this one we traveled to Dublin, combining with another choir there to produce a seriously fine sound in one of their larger churches. The place was packed and we gave them their money's worth, for sure. No deviations from prescribed dress code, though.

T.

[STEVIE]

A bit of clarification is called for methinks.
The short kilted skirt was in a black/white tartan and I teamed it with black tights and boots. That was the outfit that got me such unusual service in the bank. That was St. Andrew's day and also a dress down day at work. Coincidentally, I wore the same rig in the office yesterday and one of the girl's said I looked "cute", a first of epic proportions.
The "kilt" I wore with tights for the festive evening is now on pics and looks. That's a completely bespoke and actually unique to me at the moment. Calling it a "kilt" is arguable but it's worth noting that the modern Scottish Kilt does not have a particularly long pedigree.
As a Scot, I excercise my own choice to wear what I want teamed with what I deem best for the occasion. For example I wouldn't wear tights with a formal Kilt outfit no more than I would wear sport shoes with a formal dinner suit.
Steve.

[Vince5680]

I was at a hospital appointment in Chelmsford, Essex, England about eighteen months ago. There was a man waiting in the waiting area were I was. He was sat down reading his book. He had glasses on and a beard. I thought he was wearing shorts at first, then he and I got our number called at the same time. It was only when I was walking behind him down the corridor, I noticed he was wearing a blue denim mini skirt.

[STEVIE]

Hi Vince,
And thank you for taking us back to what "sightings in the wild" is actually meant to be about.
There's a pity that you didn't get the chance to talk to him.
Steve.
For the rest, it's only by taking a "chance" that we can hope to change anything, even in Scotland.

[Vince5680]

Hi Vince,
And thank you for taking us back to what "sightings in the wild" is actually meant to be about.
There's a pity that you didn't get the chance to talk to him.
Steve.
For the rest, it's only by taking a "chance" that we can hope to change anything, even in Scotland.

Thanks Stevie, I wish I had spoken to him. I did not want to make a thing of it. I was all smiles inside and thinking why was I not wearing a skirt too.
After following him we ended up at a sub wait area were we had to give our name to the receptionist. He was first then he sat down as the receptionist took my details. The place was busy, I was watching the reactions of the public and reading faces. The girls & ladies look intrigued & the men looking kind of miffed. If you know what I mean.
As it was so busy the only two seats available were not together so I did not get a chance to shake his hand and say "well done"

I have since been to a hospital appointment myself in a skirt with tights. I got a few looks for one or two people.
But the staff are not phased at all by it. When I had my ECG heart check the girl said take you top off and lay on the bed. So I did, she then said oh sorry I need you to take off your tights as well. I did enjoy that little outing.

[the_scott_meister]

In the last couple of years I've seen several guys in skirts/kilts, so I'll recount them one-by-one here:

1 - The first I saw were a couple of young men (with accompaning ladies) at a Taco Bell, both of them were in plain canvas style kilts. Probably Utilikilts. This was at least 10 years ago at. I knew nothing about the skirting community at the time so it struck me as interestingly odd, but not entirely out of place.

2 - Next I remember I saw a guy in a Utilikilt at Home Depot. I know it was because I got close enough in the checkout line to see the label. I'd never heard of such a thing so I checked it out on the web when I got home. I thought that all kilts were Scottish tartans or something, which I'd seen at some Scottish Highland games, but those sightings don't count because they're expected.

3 - I saw a guy in a denim pleated skirt at a Best Buy, with the same type of pleats as with a cheerleaders' skirt, but not as short. I don't remember seeing any front apron but I didn't get that good of a look at the front. It might have been a Utilikilt-type thing, but I couldn't tell. I was a bit surprised because it was just before Christmas and pretty cold out (cold for Phoenix, those of you in more Northern Climbs would swear it was summer time). Being Christmas time it was quite crowded in the store and nobody seemed to care that he was skirted, although they had to have noticed. But he was a rather large guy (not fat), kind of biker-ish looking, so I doubt that anybody would have messed with him even if he were in a pink tutu.

4 - More recently I saw another young man in what looked like a Utilikilt at an In-N-Out on a busy Friday night. He was with several other guys who weren't in skirts of any kind, but he seemed to be the leader of the 'gang'.

5 - And even more recently I saw an older guy in a brown kilt at a Joann's store. He was probably shopping with his wife because most guys who go in there are with their wives, just waiting to finish so that they can go Best Buy or somthing.

Interestingly, now that I read though my post, all of the guys were in kilts, either traditional style or Utilikilts. None of them were in a regular skirt. Personally, I prefer a skirt over a kilt as there's infinite variety and I can get them cheap, and they're much more comfortable. But if I did go out in a skirt I might opt to choose a kilt so that I had a legitimate claim to it being a men's garment, and that I'm not really a prevert, if you know what I mean. But maybe that's what all of the guys I saw were doing too.

[Sinned]

But if I did go out in a skirt I might opt to choose a kilt so that I had a legitimate claim to it being a men's garment, and that I'm not really a prevert, if you know what I mean. But maybe that's what all of the guys I saw were doing too.

{Tongue in cheek} Are you implying that those of us that go out in skirts are perverts? Umph! {takes the hump} LOL