Another Year in a Kilt Blog

LOOKS LIKE THE LINK IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

 

Came across another "wearing the kilt for a year" blog. He has a Facebook link as well as a web site. I have to disagree with his one statement on his Facebook wall post. He stated "‎7 days left of leg freedom before I make them wear a.kilt for 366. Eek." No, Darren, it is 7 days UNTIL you get leg freedom.

http://www.facebook.com/inhiskilt

http://inhiskilt.com/

Kilt On!
Mike

Tonight's Dinner Kilt

Went to dinner tonight at a local pub. I get the same young lady every time I go there. Today management put her on the other side so I was not at one of her tables. I got one of the other girls as my server. Much to my surprise Ashley came over to talk to me even thought I was not at her table. Power of the kilt dudes!

I did have on a Sporran when I went out. Took it off and forgot to put it back on for the picture! Nightstalker leather Sporran from Stillwater Kilts.

I wanted to wear red kilt socks but the shades of red I have won't work with the shade of red in this turtle neck shirt. One is too bright and the other is more of a maroon. That is one thing that bugs me. I have a hard time matching colors. You don't have many colors to choose from in kilt socks. I like the Lewis style kilt socks but they only have a few colors. I guess I should try to find another red turtle neck shirt that is closer to the shade of the red socks I have.

Prior to putting on this kilt (USAKIlt Semi-Traditional in American Heritage tartan) I had on the denim Union Kilt in the previous picture (December 16th post), dark blue shirt.

Kilt On!

Video On How To Sit In A Kilt

I ran across this video again on how to sit in a kilt. This video was done by a kilt rental company. I may have posted this before but I did not find the post so maybe not. One point not covered is standing up after sitting in a kilt. One would think that standing up would not be a problem but I see this problem over and over again. It comes from not sweeping the pleats correctly when sitting down. If you don't sweep the pleats under you, as shown in the video, the pleats will be bunched up under you. For those with short arms you may need to use both hands to sweep the pleats. Otherwise you will only sweep the the pleats on one side and the other side will be bunched up. You will still need to push that Sporran down in front so once you are all most down bring one hand forward to push down the Sporran. If the pleats are bunched up under you they will remain bunched up when you stand. From the back you will show more upper leg than you should. This looks bad. So, when standing take one hand and swipe across the pleats in the back to make sure they drop down. I see this problem on traditional tartan kilts as well as contemporary kilts like the Utilikilt.

The link above should take you to their video page. About half way down you will find the video "How To Sit In A Kilt".

Kilt On!

Female Version of "A Year In A Kilt"

My last post on November 26th presented a blog about a guy that will wear a kilt everyday for a year starting on his 50th birthday. I ran across a female version of this. Make sure you click on "Want More? See The Entire Wearathon" at the bottom to see the daily pictures. This lady got tired of wearing only jeans all the time. That appears to be the trend these days for men and women. So starting on Jan 1, 2011 she was not going to wear pants at all for a year. She has a photo of what she wore on every day of 2011. The year is almost over so I assume that will be the end of the daily posts. I hope the site remains up even if there are no daily posts.

What I find interesting is this lady appears not to have duplicated anything other than shoes/boots. I did not examine this in any detail but nothing stood out as a duplicate when I did a quick review of the pictures. She must have quite a collection of skirts/dresses or went into a mad shopping binge this year to accomplish this. That is the nice thing about a kilt. One kilt with different shirt and kilt hose and you have a different look any day.

I encourage the "Year in a Kilt" guy to post a daily picture of his kilt for the year. I may have to think about doing that. I wear a kilt about 50% of the time. Most days I have on pants for work then a kilt for the remainder of the day. So I am wearing one almost everyday even if only part of the day. I will think about it.

For today this is what I had on when I left the house. Later I will have to change this out to my old Utilikilt and a beat up shirt. I will be working on etching a printed circuit board and that can be messy.

Union Kilt



Kilt On!

Found another Kilt Blog

Came across "A Year In A Kilt" blog. Rick is going to wear a kilt everyday of his 50th birth year. His blog will detail his adventures of a year in a kilt. I wish him the best and hope he continues with the kilt once the year is up. Check this blog out and follow his adventure.

Comments from a regular kilt wearer in New Orleans

Ran across this video of a guy in New Orleans talking about wearing a kilt as regular attire. The video was made in 2008. I can relate to this video.

Changing subjects, tonight I attended the Dayton Philharmonic playing the music to the movie "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935). The movie was shown on the large screen over the orchestra. I wore my Pennsylvania tartan kilt and nice kilt jacket with vest. I wear yellow kilt hose with this combination. Got a few comments about the yellow socks. The yellow is bright and stands out. I have received a lot of comments about the yellow socks. They are the nicer Lewis kilt hose with the fancy top. These socks cost about $48 so they are not cheap but they look good and are warm.

Enjoy.

New T-shirt

I had a kilt t-shirt made to add to my "smart ass" t-shirt collection. On the back it reads "Kilts Rock Pants are Evil". On the front it just reads "Pants are Evil". Had it on today running some errands. First stop was lunch at a fast food place. Two older ladies sat down at the table next to me. One made whispering comment to her friend about the kilt. I don't think she noticed the t-shirt. Later their husbands joined them. As I left my back was towards them. They noticed the shirt. As I walked away I heard one of the ladies comment on the "Kilts Rock". Apparently she liked it. Next store the cashier was a young lady in her early 20's. She liked the shirt. She told me she was in a punk band when she was 16. Kilts were not uncommon. 

 

 

Dayton Celtic Fest 2011

The Dayton Celtic Fest is this weekend. This is a very nice event especially when you consider this is a FREE event. It is sponsored by the Dayton Metro Parks and paid all by donations. I don't know how many people attended but on Saturday night the place was packed. It runs for three days. I enjoy this event. Very good Celtic bands such as Gaelic Storm, Dulahan, Father, Sons, and Friends, The Elders, etc. Gaelic Storm is by far the most popular. This was the tenth year for the event and Gaelic Storm has performed for all then years. Many of the others have as well as Dulahan and Father, Sons, and Friends. Missing this year was The Rovers out of Maryland. I liked Jennifer Garman the fiddle player.

The weather was hot with a thunderstorm cutting the show short on Friday night. That caused at least two bands to cut short their Friday night performance. This event is all out doors. While the bands are in big tents they stop playing during a storm. The main tent is a permanent structure. The others are temporary. There are three stages setup with bands scheduled for the entire time the event is open.

This is one of the events in the area where guys bring the kilts out of hiding. I don't know where those kilts are the rest of the year. Hidden deep in the back of the closet I suspect. There was a Variety of kilts this year. Many are contemporary kilts with the Utilikilt being very popular. You also have tartan kilts. I saw one Great Kilt. One pet peeve of mine are the guys that wear the kilt over shorts where the shorts are as long or longer than the kilt. Ok guys, if you are that afraid of the "skirt" thing leave the kilt at home. I guess they think, well, if some pants are showing under the kilt than I am not wearing a skirt. One young man I saw I will give a pass to..... this time. He just got his first kilt at one of the vendor booths. He just put it on over his shorts. Ok, that works for this situation but the next time you wear it leave the shorts at home (or at least cut them off so they can not be seen).

I have a bunch of pictures to look over. I will post a few as time allows. I am going back again today.

At the Classic Car Cruise In

Comments and reactions of others is what makes kilts so much fun. Last night there was a classic car cruise in at a shopping center in town. I went down to looks at the cars. A guy I work with had his 66 T-bird in the show. I was in my kilt and the only one wearing one. Both of us were walking around looking at the other cars. My friend noticed that customers sitting along a window in a restaurant were all looking in the same direction. Some were pointing at something. My friend was looking around to see what got their attention. It was ME. I guess they were all surprised to see a kilt out there. My friend walked behind me to gage the reactions of others. Nothing negative was noted. More of a surprised look and comments about a guy in a kilt looking at classic cars. I got a couple of questions about the tartan (American Heritage). My "good girls don't ask...." t-shirt got a few laughs.

Good times.

Kilt Update for May

I have not written anything for a while. Thought I would throw out an update of latest kilted adventures. Last weekend was a big ham radio convention in Dayton. Last year was the first year I attended in a kilt. I guess now the kilt will be the traditional dress of the convention going forward. Last year I was the only one to attend in a kilt. This year a friend of mine from the northern Ohio came down. He had his Utilikilt so there were two of us with kilts. A couple of positive comments. One guy asked about the solid color kilt. I had on one of my contemporary kilts. He had never heard of them. Another commented on wearing a kilt once for a wedding. I am sure there are others that have kilts that attend this show. Just need to convince them to wear it for the weekend.

I have written before about the two ladies that work at one of the local restaurants I frequent. One departed before Easter and the other has now finished school and is moving out of the area. Thursday was her last day and I made sure I was there. She sat down at my table for a while and we talked about her plans going forward. She even invited me to an open house at her school the day before graduation exercises. Yep, power of the kilt. This would have never had happened if it had not been for the kilt. I am going to miss her. Now that both servers are gone that place won't be the same. The young guy that escorts customers to the table asked if I would be coming back now that those two are gone. Sure I told him. I will be back but this place won't be the same. This young guy has asked a lot of questions about the kilt but then says he could not give up his pants. Hey kid, try it for a week you won't go back to pants.

Today there was a festival at one of the parks. For some reason I have never heard of this festival. Apparently it has been going on for a number of years. Guess I just never paid any attention. I wore my American Heritage kilt. One lady asked what clan it was from. I think she was disappointed when I told her it was not affiliated with a clan. I overheard another lady tell her very young daughter that I was wearing a "Scottish skirt for a man called a kilt". I guess the little girl asked why there was a guy in a skirt. Ran across another lady that went on a tour of Scotland with one of the local Celtic bands I follow. Other than that no other comments that I was aware of. Another item to note, not kilt related, but I did not see anyone I knew. The paper indicated attendance was expected to be about 12,000. I am glad I had on the kilt. It was 90 degrees today. Those guys in long jeans had to be uncomfortable.

So for all of you with kilts in the closet put them on and go out and have some fun.

Warming Up in Ohio

Apparently we had record temperatures in southwest Ohio today. It got up to 83F this afternoon. Even now at 11:30pm the outside temperature is 74F. Of course I took advantage of this. Heck, just last week it was in the 30's so bring on the heat! So for my kilts what does this mean? I now switch from the more traditional kilt format with wool kilt hose worn at the normal height to pushed down boot socks and hiking boots. Shirts go from long sleeve solid color shirts to short sleeve more casual and even t-shirts. Long sleeve shirts could be casual but all my winter purchases of long sleeve shirts came from Kohl's and they are of a dress shirt appearance. While I have tended to wear the more traditional tartan kilts during the past year I may find myself wearing my contemporary Alphakilt and the one from Celtic Corners (Cincinnati) more often. Of course warmer weather means a return to Geocaching so that will bring out the Amerikilt and Utililkilt.

Pictures are from last summer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Happy kilting!

Home Made Electronic Related Kilt Pin

Having an interest in electronics I wanted a kilt pin that reflected that interest. Lacking finding anything I made one. Pulled a radio tube out of the junk box and attached a pin. The pin came from Jo Ann Fabric store. They come in a bag of ten. The pin is 1-1/4" long with a flat edge. Using JB Weld epoxy I glued the pin onto the glass tube. JB Weld should hold that as long as I don't scrap it up against a leg of a table. That would probably bust the glass. So now I have my electronic kilt pin. 

Kilt surveys

From time to time I run across a survey about men wearing kilts. Many are biased based on the site posting the survey and/or how the question was asked. Sometimes the survey shows up on a web forum where you would not expect to find a discussion about kilts. Someone on another forum ran across this one. The web site is not one where I would have expected any discussion about kilts. This site is predominantly for women and I would expect few of them have any kilted men folk in the house. I found some of the comments interesting. I did not post a response myself.

Kilted at Geocaching Event

I attended a Geocache event today. The theme was wear red for Valentine day and that way others in attendance would know whom was with the group. I normally attend in a kilt so today was no exception. Geocaching is an activity that is attracting other "kilties". I have run across others but I am the only regular participant that wears a kilt in this area. Today I ran into another local cacher that wears a kilt. He was not wearing one for today's event but I hope he attends future events in a kilt now that he knows there is someone else in the area. Some guys don't want to be the only one wearing a kilt. With this group kilted Geocachers is nothing new. There have been others in this area before me. I appear to be the only one still in the area that is actively caching in a kilt. Or at least attending the social events in a kilt. So guys dawn the kilt and get out in the world.

We held today's event at a local pizza establishment. The owner came around and took pictures. They are working on a Facebook page and have been taking photos of customers, especially groups, that frequent their business. The owner, a lady, took an interest in the kilt so my picture will end up on their Facebook page at some point. I was unable to find the page so I guess it is not online yet. All in good time.

Today was an excellent day for Geocaching as the weather was sunny and about 50 degrees. Heat wave from what we have experienced in the last month. I went to the Geocache event at the pizza place but did not go after any caches.

I think I met the "wear red" requirement:

You have guts to do that

I stopped at the grocery store this afternoon. As I was walking back to my car the young lady collecting carts said to me "you have guts to do that". "I like your kilt and glad to see your wearing it". I don't know if she has has been in the store other times I was shopping.

In the store a lady made a comment about it being a little cold but at the same time a young lady walked by in what I first thought was a mini Utilikilt but it was not. The skirt was mid thigh, no stocking or socks, wearing 6" high boots. Now I know she had to be cold but the lady dismissed that and addressed the "cold" comment to me. Go figure.

More Blogs

Found two more kilt related blogs. This one is from a kilt maker:
http://kiltmakernh.blogspot.com/

This is the second:
http://kiltinista.wordpress.com/

New Casual Kilts from Heritage Of Scotland

Added a couple of kilts to my collection so I can keep up with my "you can't have just one" philosophy. Based on a recommendation from a kilt blog I follow I thought I would try Heritage of Scotland for their casual PV kilt line. The intended purpose for these kilts are for more casual everyday wear so PV was desired. Placed the order and it was dispatched quickly arriving from across the pond via FedEx. The material is 85% Viscose Rayon and 35% Acetate Fiber. The kilt felt a little heavier than my other PV kilts but on the scale they both come in at 2 pounds for a 38" kilt. Out of curiosity I wanted to know how much material went into the kilt. So on a Sunday afternoon, with nothing else on my social calendar, I measured the material in each pleat and the entire kilt. Came up with a length of 6.5 yards.

The tartan on the first kilt they call "Freedom". I looked it up on the tartan registry and nothing listed with "Freedom" in the name that looked like this. I guess it is free of being registered so I assume it is just a fashion tartan. The second one I received is MacDonald.

This model only comes in a 24" length but it does have hem using a blind stitch. I normally try to get my kilts at 23" so it could be shortened but I probably won't.

I have been wearing the "Freedom" kilt all weekend. Received a few good comments. Both kilts will serve their intended purpose.

Heritage Of Scotland Freedom Casual Kilt




Holding the MacDonald


Inside of kilt


Hem from the inside which is done with a blind stitch.
Inside label:

Burns Night Dinner 2011

That time a year again to cellibrate the Scottish poet Robert Burns. I went back to Barley's Smokehouse in Columbus, Ohio. That is a fun group of about 60 in attendance. I wrote about last years Burns night which you will find in the 2010 posts. This is a more casual group than some Burns dinners. Some pictures from this year's dinner:

Taping the keg:


A few of the participants:






Yes we had an official kilt inspector:


Reading of Burns went on through the evening:


Piping the Haggis:


The Haggis (don't ask what is in it):


After the drinks started to take their effects: