“photo of a grass skirt with a sporan” - Ok, but wouldn’t the sporran strap tear up a grass skirt?

“please find a sentences for kilt” - I wasn’t aware anyone had been sentenced for wearing the kilt since proscription ended.

“under the kilt pics” - Up-Kilts, the newest internet porn craze.

“bathroom business while wearing a scottish kilt” - Some people lift the rear pleats and fold them against their backs, holding them in place with the back of the forearm. I prefer to take mine off, or just to lift my kilt if I am urinating.

“wearing kilts on a windy day” - see the next item down…

“public up kilt photos” - enough with the up kilt photos already, ok?

“kilt length for 6 foot one person” - same as for any other person, middle of the knee cap to just above the top of the knee cap when standing

“kilt store texas” - you might need to mail order for that…

“best price for ladies tartan kilt towel” - and here I thought those kilt towels were unisex

“leather utility kilt seattle” - give Utilikilts a call, they do have a few in their store

“boyfriend wears kilt” -good for him

“pants under kilts” - sort of misses the point, doesn’t it…

“milan punks” -suddenly I feel so fashionable

My better half and I recently spent a few days in Santa Fe on a working vacation. We lived in Santa Fe for 6 weeks a few years ago while she studied hypnotherapy, and we know the town. But, often when you live someplace, you do not play tourist. It was really nice to go to O’keefe Museum and bum around downtown.

Everyone who commented loved the kilt. I wore a UK Workmans and my black Denim as well. In Whole Foods (for whom I have no love as a company) I was astounded at the response. In 10 minutes I had no less than 7 people comment on it, one person shook my hand. I missed it, but my wife overheard a man tell his young son, “Yes, he’s wearing a kilt. Just like yours and just like mine back at home.”

Wonderful, though I suppose I would get tired of the attention everyday. In Taos its more laid back, but I did have a nice cute lass shake my hand at the local bar on St. Paddy’s Day.

Santa Fe is so beautiful, I just love this picture.

While surfing for kilt news I saw a typical newspaper article about a kilt night. “Thats nice,” I thought, but then paused as I noticed some of the towns names and they really stood out. OMFG, a kilt wearer in my wife’s home town!?!?! She’s from a small Indiana farm town, the sort of place where “da boys” wear overalls to the feed store. She was startled too, and said she never saw a man in the kilt growing up. They had 17 men in attendance, which is nice, and the newspaper did a decent job with the story too. Times have changed, and for the better in this case.

Much belated due to my lovely wife’s lack of note-taking skills, “Oh, I’ll take notes dear!”, turned out to be a sum total of 12 words… Sigh, 100 years ago I could have given her “the rod” for that. Well, at least I should get past the writers block and share the kilt pictures.

While in Seattle we met fellow blogger Kilted Eric, who also has a quasi-faded podcast about the kilt. Eric is the Production Coordinator for Utilikilts and took us on a wonderful tour of their warehouse, located only a couple hundred yards from their store on Pioneer Square main store.

Pioneer square is part of the old downtown of Seattle, the part with the underground where the original settlement burnt down and was rebuilt. When the town was being rebuilt, due to the sloping ground of the mudflats it was built upon, it was decided to build it a story above the current ground level. But many merchants were not content to wait while the area was filled in, and rebuilt immediately upon the current level. After the fill was added in, there were eventually two sets of sidewalks, one at the old ground level, and one at the new. After a while seedier elements moved into the underground level, then due to an epidemic of rats, the underground was closed (though the seedy elements remained). This is relevant because the utilikilts warehouse is partly in the Seattle underground, which I found incredibly cool.

While on the tour, we saw patterns, a room with giant snap setting and riveting machines, and a room with over a dozen industrial sewing machines. We got to see a custom order kilt being sewn, and most amazingly got to see the over 3,000 Utilikilts stocked in the warehouse. We did observe one shame-filled male employee in trousers , but have kindly left that photo off of the blog since he did at least show us his kilt sitting nearby.

The abruptness of the Seattle trip was insane. One minute we were heading there, then we were there, then we were leaving. I think we spent as much time packing and getting to and from the airport, which is hours from home and meant staying at hotels, as we did in Seattle.

Upon getting back home I did find my Blaklader work “kilt” at the post office. I’ll review it soon, including how much VAT (I thought mail order sales from the UK to the USA are not normally charged VAT?) and extra shipping I paid on it. I have not worn it yet, only tried it on. So far I can say that the pleats are very shallow, its more of a work skirt… but there are lots of pockets which I am sure will be nice when working on the cabin.

I also got a new computer, and have spent the past couple of days setting it up. I will use that as my excuse for not having blogged enough recently

I also learned of another kilt blog from Eric, who mentioned that kiltme.com had a Blaklader review. Not only is it great to see another kilt blog out there, but its especially interesting since I have a Blaklader inbound myself.

Seattle has been odd almost to the point of being surreal. Today I also happened to meet a model from one of the Utilikilt videos, she was the barkeep where I went to kill time while my wife did her biz. Those were two very strong soda and scotches she made, btw. And a moment ago, in the hotel lobby, I met a neighbor of utilikilt’s founder. Its a big city, and yet the unbifurcated world seems so small.

Except at Utilikilts itself I haven’t seen any other kilted blokes. Surprisingly though, I have gotten a number of rude comments on the street. A young Asian woman said “Oh, what a darling skirt”, but while I am not certain that one was intended to be rude, it sure was awkward. The rest were yelled from out car windows, or across the street, with the trouser wearing sissies unwilling to even look me in the eye afterwards. This is not something I see often in New Mexico. I suppose here they must be upset knowing that kilted men get flirted with so much more often than they do.

I know that many readers will shudder at the outfit, but for the world of “high fashion” I like this rendition of Highland Dress. Not only the kilt, but the hose, jacket, cap and shoes. The t-shirt and necklace I just don’t get. I’m not saying it is practical, but it is interesting and I hope will help unstick the kilt from the relative rut of special occasion.
This outfit was shown on stage in Milan, as part of “Queen of Punk” Vivienne Westwood’s Autumn/Winter 2008/09 collection.

YES! A Swedish kilt! I love it!

As strange as it may seem, a workman’s kilt by the Swedish company Blaklader Workwear, has become a huge hit in Sweden and Europe selling over 5,000 kilts. It was even named product of the year by the Swedish Textile and Clothing Association. The kilt has been such a hit that the company is now introducing it in the UK. It is availible from online retailer Active Workwear , who appear to deliver worldwide, contact them via email to order outside of the UK mainland.

According to The Sunday Mail, the kilt was designed by Gothenburg university student Marcus Jahnke. It features two nail pockets, a hammer loop, and various utility pockets. It is made from 100% cotton and retails for £44.75, about $87.00 US, which is less than half the price of the Utilikilts Workman Kilt.

It looks a little odd, with pockets at the top of the apron, but I simply must get one. Just “to review it” for my blog, of course

I was standing in the health-food aisle and a young woman exclaims loudly, “Oh my god! Is that a Utilikilt?!?”. “Yes it is,” I answered, and added that it was very comfortable and I really like them. “That’s great, I am so glad you are wearing it,” she said. So far, a little more animated than most, but nothing too loud, not yet making a scene. Then she says, very loudly so that people can hear aisles away, “There is nothing sexier than a man in a skirt!”

I thanked her, and I think perhaps even blushed a little bit. I didn’t berate her for calling it a skirt.  I was quite flattered, really. I am not usually someone unknown young women call sexy in front of dozens of strangers.

Unlike that chain, however, this sporran is well made, works well, and is a good value. I paid $55, which is fair enough for a quality leather day sporran. It is ample in size, and closes with a strong magnetic clasp. I can easily fit more in this sporran than in a pair of trouser pockets, it will hold my phone, wallet, keys and even a few additional essentials that I occasionally need to carry.

The leather is heavy enough that it should last a lifetime, however it was a little stiff when new. The pewter celtic knot adds a stylish touch. The sporran hangs well, and is comfortable to wear. One minor disappointment, however, is that I must use two hands to close it, one to lift the front edge of the sporran and the other to move the flap down in to place. The magnet holds closed with a small post that actually carries a significant amount of the weight, this I presume, is the reason I need to lift and align the sporran part of the closure.

Overall: A-

Quality: A

Comfort: A-

Value:A-

Include Chain: Avoid using it

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I grant the Utilikilts Company LLC full rights to use the entire contents of this email for any purpose whatsoever, until the end of the universe. I understand that the Utilikilts Company LLC might use the text and images enclosed in this email on their web site, in printed or online marketing materials, or as a target on the dartboard in the executive bathroom, and I am fine with that.

Boing Boing is an extremely popular blog, and has twice won the Bloggies as ‘Weblog of the Year’. The author of the post, science fiction author Cory Doctorow, also revealed that he owns and sometimes wears a Utilikilt.

Why, a flaming hot wicker basket of course!

This 156 foot tall inflatable Scotsman balloon has a kilted volume of 120,000 cubic feet. With Mont Blanc in the background it flew over an estimated 20,000 Swiss gathered at the International Balloon Festival in the Swiss village of Chateau d’Oex.

The giant kilted balloon was the brain child of Muir Moffat, 69, who has been ballooning for 21 years. “And being 110 per cent Scottish, I thought it would be fun to have a balloon like this. It’s meant to look like me. What do you think?”, he said.

A while back I blogged a photo of a kilted motorcycle rider. I was a little surprised because most motorcyclists I know are really really anal about “all the gear all the time”, and indeed I have read a dozen newstories about motorcycle accident because a lot of bikers come to New Mexico in the summer. Still I was far more surprised when I was surfing kilt photos on flickr and found a slew of riders wearing the kilt.

• Parade-69 Kilted Biker (pictured)
• Kilted Biker with saltire flag cape
• Kilted Biker on Yellow BMW
• Kilted Biker in the Rain
• Kilted Rider on a Trike
• Kilted Bikers at a Euro Rally
• Kilted Rider on the Grass
• Kilted Motorcycle Ride
• Kilted Ride Rider
• Bodhi Kilted on BWM
• Kilted Riders in Glasgow

I found this funny poster the other day on X Marks The Scot.

I was browsing through kilt photos on flickr and ran across this excellent photo from Kilted Eric of the Podcast - This Kilted Life.

I have received several requests, including one from the bride, to include another picture from the wedding I recently officiated. This is me posing with the groom. Here, we can easily see the inherent superiority of celtic dress, compared to saxon attire

I will say, however, that the saxon clothes are certainly more stylish than a groom’s typical wedding outfit.

Also, I have been asked to perform another wedding in late Spring! It now sounds like I have an excuse to buy a nice wool clergy tartan 8-yard kilt. That’s what I’ve told my wife at least.

On Winter Solstice I officiated my Neo-Pagan Church’s first wedding. I know the bride and groom quite well, and they asked me to wear a kilt. I had planned to get a cheap acrylic Clergy tartan, but they didn’t want me to buy anything just for the ceremony, so I instead wore a Stillwater Kilts Heavyweight Wool in Blackwatch. This was an excellent choice, it has been a cold and heavy winter in Northern New Mexico, and the ceremony was down several miles of unplowed, snow covered roads where I got briefly stuck in a Land Rover. Still the wedding was great fun, and all the more so for being kilted.

The kilt was advertised was having been worn for a week-long festival, and was obviously used but in good condition. It saved me enough money to make it worth buying used, though the used utilikilt market on eBay offers surprisingly strong resale prices.

The first thing I noticed when putting it on was that it curls the pleats, just as my UK Demin does. The second was that the fit, for the same size, was exactly the same. The third, was that the pockets were somehow smaller. I love my other UK’s huge pockets, which are squared off at the bottom, but here they were cut diagonally, which pushes all my pocket stuff together, but gives a more pleasing aesthetic. Living well outside of normal police patrols, I often carry a S&W J-frame in my UK’s pockets. It fits comfortably in the UK Workman’s pockets, so I suppose I am happy enough.

I was surprised by the construction of the hammer loop. It is a strip of leather which attaches with snaps, for adjustment, to the inside of the inner apron. I wonder about the practicality of that, basically one must reach up under his kilt to adjust it… at least I live out in the boonies where this wouldn’t offend anyone who might one day be close enough to see.

Of course, the outside of the pockets have handy miniature pockets, as with many toolbelts. These snap down for flexibility and are nicely sized for the various screwdrivers, etc, which I might need to carry while working in my kilt. It also features “modesty snaps” for the shy to bifurcate on ladders and roofs. I suppose, if one must, they could be useful, however they do make the kilt look and feel like a bizarre pleated diaper (pictures intentionally not included).

Overall I like this kilt better than my UK Denim or Original, but I do start to wonder about the value. The retail price of the UK workman is current $225, making it seem an expensive garment to wear doing construction. The savings from buying on it eBay make that a bit easier, and oddly so does the fact that its already used. The material is the same as is used in carharts, and should wear well, even with heavy use. I’m not sure that I could work sans tool-belt all of the time in this kilt, but surely I could most of the time. Its also certainly more fashionable that the Denim or Original, and for some that I a primary concern.

Overall: B+

Service: N/A

Quality: A-

Comfort: A-

Value:B+, would be lower if I’d paid full price

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A middle-aged woman swoops out of the vitamin aisle, and quite loudly says, “Oh I love your Man Skirt! I think they are so hot…”. Clearly she meant it as a compliment, so I just said thanks.

Popular author, JK Rowling, is always big news. Her appearances are attended by thousands. So, when JK Rowling talks about kilts, that makes for Kilts in the News.

At the recent Pride of Britain Awards, the best selling author and Edinburgh resident saw the heroes from the Glasgow ‘bombing attack’ donning the kilt, and reportedly said “When I saw them standing there on stage I thought, ‘God I love a man in a kilt.’ I married one after all,”

In a recent interview, Rowling stated that her husband has a couple of kilts, and even answered a press question about what he wore under them!

Despite the wide variety of dress encountered in her books, only one of her characters appeared kilted. According to wikipedia, “Basil – Ministry official at the Quidditch World Cup, wears a kilt and poncho in an attempt to replicate Muggle clothing”

Not quite kilts, but closely kilt related, I recently happened across Sporran-Nation’s “contemporary unisex sporrans and bags” at a store my wife shops online. Handcrafted in Inverness, I dare not question that these are indeed sporrans, though they are certainly non-traditional. With designs including communist stars, skulls, and bombs, perhaps they could appeal to a punk-crowd which has found the kilt?

I also have a new sporran strap from R-kilts. It is fairly nice, but with the current exchange rate I feel it was not a good value.  Still, I can once again wear my sporran after the horrible kilt-ruining accident.

The exciting thing, though, is that I have a kilt on the way. I wanted an inexpensive wool kilt. I also did not want to wait for delivery until next year. I had considered a Stillwater Heavyweight, but had never found a BlackWatch in my waist size. I have heard these are a 16oz tartan instead 13oz ‘Shadow Tartan’. Obviously the heavier the better, the winter here can be quite bitter.

I found what I was looking for, used, on eBay. A used SWK is in the post. The price was a bit less than new, but the great thing is that I found what I was looking for after looking for far too long on Stillwater’s website.

The first and only time I wore my Stillwater Economy into town was a disaster. My lovely wife has repaired the poor kilt, and it is wearable again.

On the same day my puppy was vomiting to and from the vet, it happened. Everything seemed fine, but when I stopped at the pet-store for more kibble…

I looked down to put my wallet back into my sporran, a Buzz Kidder Country Sporran which I purchased from USA Kilts when I bought my Casual Kilt from them. I was wearing it with the chain that was included, having disliked the sporran hangers I ordered at the same time. My kilt’s outer apron was half balled up with threads sticking everywhere!

I did not have a camera at the time, nor would I have stopped to take a picture of the horror I saw inflicted upon the poor kilt. I thought it was already far too late. The apron balled up because over a dozen threads of tartan had been snagged and pulled by a little jump ring on the sporran chain. This ring connected the chain to a clip. I have heard of sporran chains slowly wearing a kilt before, but this was quite different.

I opened the jump ring and after ten minutes I had the kilt back to looking like a kilt. Still, three threads could not be massaged back into the weave, they broke somewhere inside the fabric. My wife, crafty as she is, managed to pull the loose strings to the inside of the apron, then tie and cut them off. Now it looks OK from the outside.

That little jump ring…. I still can not believe that anyone would have thought this was a good idea, and a kiltmaker should have known better. Placing a ring with a sharp tooth designed to snag things next to a piece of twill tartan, with some weight pressing it down as it moves back and forth?! At least this didn’t ruin an expensive kilt or an heirloom, though I suppose for someone else it easily could have.

I will order a sporran strap soon. Unfortunately I can’t wear my sporran (with that damned chain) at the moment, which means I can only wear my utilikilts into town until a strap arrives.