Here's something offbeat.
Last week I attended a Sewing Expo near Chicago IL, and signed up for a sewing class. While the instructor was a bit surprised to see a male person in their small class of eight, I was accepted immediately by everyone there, and I enjoyed the class. The bizarre (to me) thing was what I saw later in the vendor area.
I saw a short heavy set guy wearing a long sleeve pullover shirt, black shoes with white socks, and a black kilt with pockets all over it. He walked around the corner almost immediately but I later saw him again manning a booth. It's very unusual here in the US to see anyone in a kilt, even in Chicago, but when you do they're almost always wearing a coat and tie too, a dressy look. So to see someone dressed so casual was a bit of a shock to me. When I saw him later I realized his kilt was made of very heavy material, duck cloth or canvas. Several of the pockets fairly bulged. Then I noticed the label: Utilikilt
Today I remembered him, then found the following link: Utilikilt
Now if the guy wants to wear a kilt, I have no problem with it, but I have to wonder his judgment. Vendors rent booths at these events to sell their wares to the attendees, so they tend to dress and present as professional an image as possible. I didn't enter his booth so I have no idea what he was selling, but he would have looked (marginally) better wearing a pair of bib overalls and work boots. The attendees tend to be mostly older, female and conservative, so I have to wonder how successful he was?
I have no wish to offend anyone, but this was a very unusual sight for me. Until Friday it never occurred to me that kilts aren't always tartan.
Hugs to everyone,
Carla Ann
Comments
Judgmental
I think it was odd that you felt good that no one judged you adversely in the situation and then turned right around and made a judgement about someone else being outside what you consider norms.
Someone could have said the same sort of thing about you: "I've no problem with him wanting to learn to sew but to take a public course obviously designed for women...." If you want acceptance, you need to learn to give it.
-- Donna Lamb, ex-Flack
Some of my books and stories are sold through DopplerPress to help support BigCloset. -- Donna
Those kinds of kilts ..
... have been a popular fashion statement at many of the science fiction and anime conventions i've gone to with my children. No eyebrows are raised in environments where so many dress as aliens, mutants, starship captains, and other denizens of parallel universes. *grin*
As far as I know, this trend has been going on for at least five years, and probably longer. My son hasn't asked for a kilt of his own yet, but he'll have one if he wants it. He might want something a bit more distinctive than black. After all, both Connor and Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod wore the colors of their clans long before the time of the Quickening. *grin*
There can be only one!"
Randalynn
Actually,
the colours of the clans were a confection introduced after the introduction of the Hanoverians to the English throne. It was all done to bring the Scots on board and also because the Scottish lodges of freemasons were actually older than the English and had precedence over them. Sir Walter Scot was very involved with it all. Before this, Scottish tartans were rather drab being based upon Tweed dyed with natural ingredients.
As a MacLeod through my grandmother and a MacGregor on my Grandfather's side I can wear two tartans, though I must admit I like the dress MacLeod (the yellow)the most, my mother's sister had a carpet in it in her lounge - it was a bit overpowering.
Angharad
A half Scots Welshwoman.
Angharad
I'd not realized...
Somehow, I'd not realized we were "related"... I'm also a MacGregor (Through my father)...
That said, I'm not enamored with the "offical" plaid - I prefer a different shade of red. LOL (When I wear a kilt - to pipe - it's a variation on the MacGregor plaid for just that reason.)
I find it interesting that the Scots who wore kilts - back then were not the high and mighty - they were the commoners - and it was the "great kilt" - a large piece of fabric that they also used as a blanket. The muckety mucks wore "trews"... Though, I do understand they did wear them in plaid (once that became common).
The modern kilt - has 6-8 yards of wool! It's HEAVY. LOL
Annette MacGregor (about 1/3 Scot)
Never Call it a Skirt.
My two girls dance Scottish competition dancing and have been educated by many a Highland Man it is a KILT a proper attire for a man of action. Utilikilts are common in the Scottish weather here in the Seattle end of Puget Sound and raise hardly a snicker. There is a specific traditional dance my girls do where there are movements indicating the shaken off of the trousers after the hated English laws forbidding the wearing of kilts were overturned. I am only reporting the truth as The goddess is my witness.
It is easy to tell the difference from the Chicken legged newby and the more weathered legged seasoned attired construction worker. I am told that they are very comfortable to work in and allows freer movement than a standard trouser. I would hope that the wearer also uses the now standard black trunks used in modern times as it was customary not to where anything other than that which graced you upon the time of birth, this could be a problem on a construction site akin to giving a POV you would not want others to have.
NOTE Utilikilts are proudly made in Seattle, WA USA yes we are officially nuts in Seattle but a kinder gentler nuts. We do not suffer from it we enjoy it immensely. And Yes Fremont Wa is the center of the knowned universe.
Bailie's Misbehaving Angle
Michele
With those with open eyes the world reads like a book
Carla Ann, men from the U.K.
Carla Ann, men from the U.K. wear kilts. He may feel like honoring his ancestors, or might be T.G. Next time you see him, ask why he wore a kilt.
May Your Light Forever Shine
There is a fair
There is yearly fair in a place called Salado that Scottish clans attend. They dress in their garb to celebrate their heritage along with selling wares and telling each of their clans history.
Very entertaining and strange to see both women and men dressed up. Teens are also dressed accordingly.
Interesting exchange
I once had an interesting email exchange with one of Stateside kilt makers who, as most kilt wearers do, maintained that wearing a kilt has no analogy to wearing a skirt and that he was definitely not trans anything. However, he did admit that he had entertained a curiosity about high heels and wore them for the experience of walking in them from time to time.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Utilikilt Salesman?
Is it possible that the Utilikilt was the product he was selling?
I see from their website that they seem to be recruiting volunteers to work the booth at a convention. Since they seem to be selling a "working man's" kilt perhaps the dressed down look is intentional.
Michelle B