Kilt Pants – I don’t think so

This goes in the “kilt don’t” column. See this article from the "thestar online". Someone suggested guys should layer the bottom half of their wardrobe by wearing a kilt over pants. This is just the ticket for guys that want to wear a kilt but don’t have the balls to actually do so. I am not sure if this design results from the fear some guys with have with wearing anything that looks like a skirt. Maybe they think the pants cancel out the skirt so it is ok. Or maybe this is from the latest sin that a guy can not show any leg and heaven forbid if they wear anything tight above the knee.

If you want variety in what you wear then get a real kilt and wear it with pride. If you are a wimp then stick with just pants. This kilt-pants thing should only be worn by guys that have a sign on their forehead that confirms they are a wimp.

If you disagree feel free to post a comment. Comments are moderated but I do approve opposing opinions.

Kilt on!

Christmas Dinner Kilt

This year I had a couple of Christmas dinners to attend. Now that I have the dark green Stillwater heavyweight kilt I thought I would put together a Christmas look and that would be what I would wear to the dinners. It has worked out well. Of course I would be the only one in a kilt. I had a red shirt and a Christmas tie. For one dinner I wore red kilt socks and dark green for the other. I added some red tree ornaments that say "Ho Ho Ho" to the front of the sporran. They kind of drove me nuts as they make noise when you walk but for a couple of dinners I can put up with them. One lady, that I know, said she could see my balls and I had three of them. At first I was a little concerned but then realized she was speaking of the decorations.


At the first dinner of about 200 in attendance I was in the door about 30 seconds when an older lady asked what was under the kilt. Ok, now that we have that question out of they way the evening can proceed. One of the club officials said he liked the kilt but would not have had the guts to wear it himself. One of the members wanted to make sure I stopped by his table. I had never met his wife so he wanted to make sure she saw the kilt before I left. The kilt added some fun to the event.

The second dinner was much smaller with 25 in attendance. The club president wanted to make sure he got a picture. One of the wives asked if there was an event going on where I had to wearing a kilt. Well maybe the club Christmas dinner?? Did not know I needed a special event to be in town before I could wear a kilt. Overall a great dinner and we had a good time. Will do it again next year.

Father Sons and Friends Fan Appreciation Concert

I finally got around to downloading this picture from the camera.  I attended the Father Sons and Friends fan appreciation concert the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The show was in Tipp City, Ohio. This was their eight appreciation concert and unfortunately the last one. They may do another in a few years but for now this is it. I guess the only way to see them now is at Celtic fests and such. They put on a good show and it is a lot of fun.

This year I wore my dark green Stillwater Heavyweight kilt. At least it was warmer than last year. I don't think they heat that building. Last year I wore a light weight PV kilt and man was it cold. I think it was in the 20's (F) that night. There were a few others in kilts that night.

Growing Popularity of Kilts

I found this link about the growing popularity of kilts. While this article is from the UK it also follows on this side of the pond. I have noticed an increase in kilts in the US. Maybe not so much everyday but they have grown at Celtic fests, renaissance fairs and such. There is also a growing membership on kilt related web discussion sites. The kilts are out there and we just need to get men to realize they can wear them anywhere and not just at the Celtic fests.


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/54b54ab2-e515-11de-9a25-00144feab49a.html

State Tartans

I was snooping around the Scottish Tartan Authority web site last night. There are a growing number of USA state tartans. I am not sure how easy it is to get them but they are registered. Here is the current list:


Arizona, Arkansas, States of Carolina, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaiian, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa (has two), Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota (has two), Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont (has two), Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

So you guys living or from those states get your kilts and get out in the world.

Making a Kilt Hanger

There are a number of ways to hang a kilt. I first tried to use the same hangers I use to hang p@nt$. Did not work too well as the grips did not have enough surface area or strength to hold a heavy kilt. I tried double hangers which worked but a little awkward. I had wooden hangers with a wide grip that could hold but it felt I was forcing the clamp on the thickness of the kilt. I liked the 4 grip hangers that were like my 2-grip hangers. Rather than buy them that way I found I could make them. I will now show you the process.


Go to Walmart and get their two pack suit hangers. They sell two types. One is the wide hanger (top to bottom) as shown in Figure 1. They also have a narrow hanger but I found it harder to work with and broke a few of them. Follow the steps below to complete the 4-grip kilt hanger.



Figure 1 – Walmart 2-pack Suit Hanger



Figure 2. Grasp the hanger and pull the rod out of the slot. Be careful not to bend and break the plastic or bend the rod too much. You will have to bend it a little. One side may be easier than the other. Once you get one end free don’t pull the rod out of the other side for the first hanger. Now do the same with the second hanger.



Figure 3. Pull both clamps off of the rod of the second hanger. These are spring loaded and when you pull them off they can come apart. Try to keep both sides of the clamp aligned to make it easier to put on the other rod. Thread the clamp on the rod of the first hanger but first look at Figure 4.



Figure 4. I apparently did not set the focus correctly as these macro shots are out of focus but you can see what is going on. When you thread the clamp back on make sure the rod goes through the clamp spring as shown.



Figure 5. With the four clamps in position carefully put the free end of the rod back into the plastic hanger. Be careful not to bend the rod too much or break the plastic. The second hanger is now surplus but don’t toss it out. Put the rod back into the slot and save it. I broke one of mine. The plastic is not that strong. The failure on mine was where the hook connects to the plastic. My hook pulled out. I have about ten of these now and one failure is not too bad.

Kilt Night

A small group of us get together in Columbus, OH every month or two for what we call kilt night. We meet somewhere for dinner then hang out for a few hours. There is an earlier post from a kilt night at The Pub Polaris. We tend to stay with the Irish or British establishments. Last night we started at an Irish pub for dinner then ended up at a non-Celtic bar as we wanted some live music. Well as you can imagine walking into a non-Celtic pub in kilts caught some attention. On the way in one of our members passed two young ladies maybe 25 years old. One of them made some wise crack about the "hot" kilt. It was obviously not a compliment. He ignored the comment and joined me at the front door.


We go inside and see the party had been going on for some time. The Ohio State - Michigan game was that day and some patrons had been there all afternoon. One rather intoxicated lady saw the kilts. She became quite curious about them. One member of our group answered her question with "Good girls don't ask, bad girls find out for themselves". Well that was an invitation if there was one so she proceeded to kilt check the four of us. Now she did ask permission first but normally when I have gotten kilt checked they are done from the side or back. Nope, not this time; up the front. She was not disappointed with what she found. She bought us all a beer.

So this was the ice breaker for some of the other ladies sitting to the left and right of us. One lady was surprised she did this. She had never heard of a kilt check and she was not aware of what is traditionally worn under the kilt. She asked why we would wear the kilt in the first place. She liked my answer: "If we were in jeans this conversation would not be occurring so kilts are a great conversation starter". She then compared us to some of the ladies that come into a bar in provocative dress and discover the attention they get is from men that are undesirable to them. She noted this was an interesting reversal implying that we were "provocatively dressed" in this case. She noted that while we were getting attention it was not from women that would have been our first choice. Interesting observation.

I would have like to have stayed longer that night but it is a 90 minute drive home for me when I go to Columbus. I pulled out around 11:30pm to head for home. Another very successful kilt night in Columbus.

I would like to find a core group in Dayton for kilt nights but have not been able to find the interest or ideal location.

Kilt on!