Kilt Blog

One of the few unfortunate things about kilts is the media’s reaction to petty criminals who wear them. Somehow, a storyhardly fit for the Police Blotter section of a small-town newspaper can receive nationwide circulation… simply because the criminal wore a kilt.

Such has been the case with Chandra Schaefer and Nathan Blair of Fargo, North Dakota (USA). Not only did Mr. Blair’s alleged flashing of cars and public fornication with Ms. Schaefer make national news a few weeks ago… now Chandra Schaefer’s sentence of unsupervised probation has made CBS’s website. Not because two unnewsworthy people did some nasty, but unnewsworthy acts- rather, only because one of them happened to be wearing a kilt.

Please, if you wear a kilt, don’t make an ass-hat of yourself in it.

Saturday was the Grand Opening of a retail kilt store in the seemingly unlikely location of Manassas, Virginia (USA). The new store, The Kilted Nation, stocks Amerikilts, Utilikilts, SportKilts, and accessories, as well as other M.U.G.S. The store also offers an online shop with an inventory of kilts ready to ship.

The proprietor, Brad Hutchins, age 36, said, “This is strictly a new and American trend we are trying to build here.” This perhaps explains TKN’s line of kilts which vary considerably in design from their Scottish fore-runners. Initial response has been positive, with Brad saying he has received emails from people as far away as North Carolina wanting to make the trek to his store to buy a kilt.

These signs offer a hilarious comment on the Trouser Tyrants status quo. From utilikilts.

To Olivia McNamara, perhaps it seemed like something from a romance novel when a kilt wearing hero saved her day then vanished into the streets.

While Ms. McNamara was on her lunch hour she was bumped by a woman in her 20’s who took her wallet and ran. “I was screaming and the next thing I knew, someone in a kilt had got my wallet back for me. Before I could thank him, he had gone,” said the 35 year-old secretary, “I wasn’t hurt, and I thank my lucky stars that I wasn’t - and that my hero wasn’t hurt either.”

This real-life kilted hero will no doubt quicken the hearts of thousands of women. Romance novels featuring kilts and the Highlands have recently become popular in the lucrative American fiction market.

I can only suppose that the guy who called it a skirt must have fled by car. Seriously, this is a cool photo.

About a month ago I ordered my first kilt, a tan “Original” from Utilikilts.com, in a size slightly larger than I would like to admit. The ordering process went well, aside from an email which never reached me telling me that my first choice, a black, was out of stock. I telephoned them and the salesman who I dealt with was friendly and sent me out a tan, which had been out of stock but I preferred.. My kilt arrived a few day later. I should point out, for those who do not know, that very few kilt-makers carry a stock of kilts, that a Utilikilt may often be ordered off-the-shelf is wonderfully convenient for those of us not used to waiting the weeks or months a custom tailored garment requires.

Never having owned any kilt before I was hesitant to shell out the $141 price tag. It is one of the more expensive garments I have owned, but was definitely worth the price. Each pleat is sewn down the length at both the front and back, which is nice since I don’t look forward to pressing clothing. The whole kilt is heavily built and I am sure it will last for years. It is also considerably cheaper than a traditional 8-yard tartan kilt.

Following Utilikilts’ measuring instructions I did get a kilt which fit properly. However, I wonder if I should have gotten the “beer-gut cut”. I had considered this, but as I am working off the beer-gut I decided against it. Still, it has been no problem wearing it properly when standing, walking about, etc. After hours hunched over a computer, however, the front tends to fold over at the top, and I must straighten it when I stand. If someone else is in a similar situation it could well be worth spending the few extra dollars and having one made with the beer-gut cut… a feature which does not seem available from most other utility-type kilt-makers. Utility kilts are normally worn with the same waistline as pants, whereas more traditional kilts are worn near the navel and would never need a “beer-gut cut”.

My Utilikilt has been amazing comfortable. Living in New Mexico, the days can be quite hot, and the kilt does offer, as the saying goes, “built in air-conditioning”. I am actually surprised at how cool it is to wear, because it is a rather heavy garment. The weight really helped yesterday, while running around preparing for a storm in 50 mph winds; my kilt flapped around fiercely, but I never felt in danger of it blowing up and exposing me.

Lastly, in my opinion one of the benefits of a utility style kilt is the pockets. The pockets are huge. I could easily fit a book or a couple bottles of beer in each of the two cargo pockets. I almost never use a back pocket in ~gasp~ pants, and have not in the Utilikilt either, but it seems similarly sized. The pockets use the same size large snaps which hold the kilt closed. It does take a little practice to quickly unsnap the pockets with one hand as the pockets hang loose from the lower edge of the fell.

I have been quite impressed with my Utilikilt and will almost certainly be purchasing another.

Overall: A-

Service: B- (due to net gremlins, actual humans rate a solid A)

Quality: A

Comfort: A-

Value: A-

I came across this picture while looking at kilt photos on flickr. I really, really like the plaid, its very subtle. But I couldn’t find which tartan it is in the Reverse Tartan Search at House of Tartan.

The “kilt” is a bit odd though, either there is no apron or else its on backwards. It has box style pleats, which are not currenty used on traditional kilts, although some of the first tailored kilts of the early 1800’s did use them. Some modern kilts use box pleats too, they generally take less fabric and are lighter in weight.

Over the weekend Dr. David McCracken, jokes not withstanding, was cited for mooning the audience at a Celtic Festival in Webster, Massachusetts. The 82-year old said “Everybody knows something about this legend of what does the Scotsman wear under his kilt.”, when interviewed on television. McCracken simply showed the audience of approximately 3,000 to great applause. While he admits his kilted mooning may have been in poor taste, it does seem a bit outrageous that he now has a court-date for lewd and lascivious conduct. Its rather difficult to imagine a lascivious 82-year-old, kilted or not.

About two weeks ago I first wore my Utilikilt out in public. It was a great experience and all the little fears I had were for nothing.

I googled a little and found some good kilt sites. But when I tried to find some kilt blogs, I mostly drew a blank. I even checked and kiltblog.com was availible. In this day and age finding a domain like that must surely be a sign. So here’s my Kilt Blog!