Kilt for the Cold

Got up this morning with the outside temperature at -1 F.  It may have gotten up to +12F.  At least it was sunny and no wind.  For that temperature a high yardage heavy wool kilt is required. For me that would be the 8-1/2 yard kilt I made.  It is 13-oz wool rather than 16 but that will have to do.

I have found that as long as you keep your head covered and the upper body warm the rest will take care of itself.  Unless of course you plan on spending all day in very cold temperatures with the kilt. For most of us the extent of our actual time in the cold is going from the car parking lot into a building.  I am not out in the elements that long for my legs to feel more then just the presence of the cold air.  Now add some wind at 10F which tends to pump any heat under kilt out and you will want to get inside without much delay.  For the most part this works with the coldest temperatures we get in southwest Ohio. This is my January 2nd and 3rd kilt of the day.  Earl of St. Andrews tartan, 8-1/2 yards, 13-oz wool.   Lewis kilt hose which has some percentage of wool and that sweater.  We also have about 5" of snow on the ground so a I added the Totes boots. They are a little big above the ankle so you can kick snow inside of the top of the boot if not careful.  They are insulated and warm however.

I was out several times today.  I am surprised no one made any comment about a wearing a kilt when it was 10 degrees. Yesterday someone did say I need "knee muffs".  I got a kick out of that.  I had on a hat and gloves so just my knees were exposed.  With no wind today I was not cold.  Just the feeling of the presents of the cold around my knees.  I wondered how long I could stay out in this temperature with no wind before I would feel the effects of the cold around my legs.  In the upper body I was plenty warm with my heavy coat, that sweater, gloves, and hat.  

So this is my kilt of the day for Jan 2nd and 3rd, 2014.

The temperature is expected to be below zero (F) Sunday night and into the first part of next week.  So I guess this kilt will be in the "kilt of the day" for a while as it is the warmest I have.

First Kilt of 2014

This is the first kilt of the new year:

Stillwater heavyweight in dark green.

Last year I wanted to take a picture of each kilt I wore everyday. Since I wear a kilt almost everyday I thought that would be a good thing to do.  It was a good idea but a pain in the wazoo to actually do everyday.  It is now the new year so if I am going to do that for 2014 I need to start now.  Lets see how far I get this  year.  Don't hold your breath.

2013 was a good kilt year.  I wore a kilt almost everyday if not for the full day at least for part of it.  This works out to not wearing one to the office but after work, weekends, and those days I work from home or on vacation.  I did wear the kilt to the office several times but I tend to reserve that for special occasions. It does not take much for me to declare a specal occation.  Oh, they installed a new water cooler, must be a special occasion  ;)

I attended another kilt class this time on contemporary kilts.  In 2012 I took one on making traditional kilts.  This year I hope to make more kilts. I am starting with some tartan I have had for a while. Did not know what it was for the longest time.  Found out last year it is the "International Police Association" tartan.  I will post more as I get into making it.

I just finished a very little kilt.  It was made for a friends Ball Joint Doll.  I hope it fits as I have never actually seen the doll in person.  Went by measurements given.  Fortunately it did not take long to make this if I need to do it again. 

Steampunk Kilt Pin

Kilts and Steampunk just go together.  I attended a Steampunk convention a couple of months ago.  A number of guys were in kilts. Anything from traditional tartan to contemporary styles such as the Utilikilt.  I even found one of the vendors selling utility type kilts using material with a Steampunk theme.  The material was a little light for a kilt but looked good.

There is a lady that attends some of our kilt nights in Columbus, OH.  Turns out she makes jewelry.  She made a Steampunk kilt pin she calls a "key to time".  She has a copyright on this design.  Her company is ELM Jewelry Designs.  

Now I need another Steampunk convention to go to so I can wear it.  On second thought the next kilt night will do.

 So why is Tartan Day celebrated on the 6 April each year? Because the Declaration of Arbroath was signed on the 6 April 1320:

'As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours, that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.'

This is a translation of part of the Declaration of Arbroath, foremost among Scotland's state papers and perhaps the most famous historical record held by the National Records of Scotland (NRS). The Declaration is a letter from the barons and whole community of the kingdom of Scotland to the pope in 1320, asking him to recognize Scotland's independence and acknowledge Robert the Bruce as the country's lawful king.

The Declaration was in Latin and was sealed by eight earls and about forty barons. Over the centuries various copies and translations have been made, including a recent microscopic edition.

You can visit the National Records of Scotland website to view an image of the original declaration, use 'zoomify' to see the detail of the text and seals, and read a transcript or translation of the document.

More information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartan_day 

Kilt comment by author Lillian Stewart Carl

Ran across this blog entry written by author Lillian Stewart Carl.  I wanted to post it here otherwise I will forget where I found it.   Good for future reference.  I particularly liked the comment about modern kilts including utility type kilts. 

In addition to kilt quotes don't forget about this classic from the Honorable Stuart R. Erskine in his book The Kilt and How to Wear it, published in 1901:
 "The Highland dress is essentially a 'free' dress -- that is to say, a man's taste and circumstances must alone be permitted to decide when and where and how he should wear it... I presume to dictate to no man what he shall eat or drink or wherewithal he shall be clothed."

Other Kilt Blogs

As I run across other kilt blogs I like to post them on my blog.  Check out this one by Nicholas Breaux:

http://nomadicdrwarf.blogspot.com/

He has four posts in February that right on the mark.  Check out his blog.

Changing of the Temperature

Now that we are in March the average daily high temperature will increase by 12 degrees by the time we get to April 1st.  Then another 11 degrees in April.  As the temperatures go up my selection of kilts and how I wear them will change.  As someone who thinks a severe winter is when the temperature goes below 60F I wear kilts in a warmer configuration during the winter.   Now that I have a good heavy wool kilt (the one I made last summer, see earlier posts) I have been getting a lot of use out of it.  I also wear my Union Kilt leather during the winter and not so much in the summer.  In the winter I wear mostly Lewis kilt hose. 

The Lewis line of socks is nice and heavy with some wool in them if I recall.  Nice and warm in the winter.   In the summer I only wear those if I need to go someplace nice.  For the summer it is boot socks or regular knee socks pushed down.  Finding knee socks can be a problem.  Over the past couple of years I have experimented with various types of knee socks.  Most of mine now come from Sock Dreams.  They have a line I think they call “Crunch” socks.   The have recognized that guys like these for kilts so they have them identified as such.  Sock Dreams sells mostly to women  but they have found guys have a need for some of their longer socks.   A few years back I also found Gold Toe knee socks for guys in white and black.  I wear a lot of the black in the summer pushed down.   For the white it has enough cotton that it will take a dye very well.  I have dyed a few to get other colors like a tan and green.     I have trouble finding true boot socks.  Boot socks are a little longer than crew socks.  I tried Soccer socks but did not like the look.  Some of those have color stripes or sports wording on them.   I have kind of given up on socks in color in the summer.  Anymore I tend to just go with black and be done with it.  My shoes are black. 

For shoes the summer is kind of backwards.  With socks pushed down my favorite shoe is 10” boot.  There may be some pictures of that configuration in older posts.  I got those boots at Sears a few years back.  They carry a Harley Davison name plate.  Now in the summer one would think something lighter would work better and the boots would be for the winter.  Looking at pictures of causal kilts in the summer a lot of the guys are wearing boots.  Something like hiking boots from 8” to 10” tall.  In the winter apparently wearing kilt socks up to the knee with boots is some kind of kilt no-no.  I will do it if snow is on the ground but other than that a low dress shoe is the choice for most fair weather winter days. 

Some wear sandals (barefoot, no socks) with their casual kilt outfit.  I am just not an open toe shoe guy.  For some reason I don’t like to wear shoes like that.  I have worn cloth running type shoes but those just don’t look right with normal crew socks, or socks pushed down.  Almost better with no socks at all.  I think I should take the attitude of wearing shoes I wear with shorts and do the same with the kilt.  That would be the cloth shoes with crew socks.  This summer I will get another opportunity to revisit this topic again. 

I also tend to wear more utility type kilts in the summer rather than winter.  During the winter it was almost always tartan kilts.  I do have a heavy denim kilt (Union Kilts) that gets worn in the winter and not in the summer.  The thing has so much material in it that summer is rather warm for that one.  For summer tartan kilts you can’t beat the real PV kilts from USAKilts.  I have a couple of them and those will get a lot of use this summer. 

For shirts I wear long sleeve polo shirts in the winter.   Also long sleeve button down shirts if I want something a little nicer.  In the summer it will be short sleeve polo shirts, t-shirts (some with kilt related statements on them), and short sleeve button down shirts for nicer occasions.   A kilt jacket only for something very nice that more than likely involves wearing a tie. 

So bring on summer so I can swap out the wardrobe in the closet and ditch this heavy winter coat.

 

Winter Look with the 8.5 yard, 13oz wool, kilt I made 

Summer look with a causal PV kilt from USAKilts