Getting into Kilts in Your 50s and nervous about reactions
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- What do you do if you…
live in Texas
are in your early 50’s
never see anyone wearing kilts in your hometown
Do you say, “damn the torpedoes” and just do what you want?
Do you test the waters?
Do you give up on the idea of wearing the kilt because you might stand out?
Rocky and Erik discuss whether or not wearing a kilt in public has become easier or harder in recent years.
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I'm 65 & got my first kilt 10 years ago. Now I have 8 of them and I'm a black guy !!! I don't give a chit !
At any age, do what you want, wear what you want !!!!!
I rarely hear of other black guys wearing kilts! Thanks for posting this comment, you made my day. I’m a black guy in my 40s and just started wearing kilts regularly and that was one for the things I was very nervous about.
"Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind" is now legitimately on the list of messages to impress upon my daughter (currently 9 months).
This is an old chestnut.
2 things, applies to men AND women.
1) Wear a kilt if you want. Simple. Forget convention, it's just an item of clothing offering a superior alternative to trousers/pants. You'll be admired and envied more than you could imagine, could even do this, 👩❤💋👨, but no promises!
2) Get the right advice on how to present yourself properly in a kilt, accompanying clothes, accessories, posture (avoid kilt fails) etc.
All you need.
The best reply to any negative comment is a simple one word "okay." It's totally neutral and feeds nothing back to the person.
I'm 52, and I wear a kilt to most of the social functions that I attend in Houston, TX. But I'm the only kilted guy that I see around. I've also worn a kilt while visiting San Antonio and Marfa.
I've generally been surprised by the *lack* of reaction that I get while wearing a kilt. And of the reactions, the vast majority are positive.
Of course, I stopped caring what other people thought back in my early 20s.
I say get a kilt. I live in a remote small town in Wyoming. I’m the only one that wears kilts. Yes, I’ve gotten “the look” from a few men, but mostly I’ve gotten positive comments and questions.
I started wearing a kilt on occasion when I was 65 years old. I am now 71 years old and I wear a kilt 7 days a week except for the coldest days of a New England weather (I live full time year round on Massachusetts' Cape Cod).
The only negative thing is that when I am in public with my wife, women who I have never met before walk up to me and flirt with me and treat my wife as if she were invisible.
I started wearing a kilt when I was 66, just over a year ago. Almost all the reactions I have gotten have been positive. My kilt outfits especially attract the attention of women from 30 to 85.
BTW, I'm also from Texas (central) and have never seen another man in public wearing a kilt.
The first time I wore a kilt in public was at the Iowa Irish Festival. By mid-afternoon, kilts far outnumbered pants. Two weeks ago, I had a total knee replacement and wore a kilt home from the hospital. The nurses loved it and said it made a lot of sense to just don a kilt instead of trying to force your swollen and bandaged leg into a pair of sweatpants.
I started wearing kilts in my 50's. Now I have 12. The questions can be fun.
At 76, I wear a kilt for many reasons. Every comment I hear or my wife hears is positive, that it looks classy and neat. I own several but tend to wear them in cooler weather.
Who cares Dude! Tis what Tis! You like it? Wear it!❤
Been a kilt wearer since I was 21, now 56 I still wear the kilt, or a Great Kilt, and ALWAYS hike in a kilt. people always stop and talk with you, but I wear it because it's what I feel more comfortable in. I much prefer the kilt to trousers. Never feel shy or uneasy in my Highland gear.
Bought my first kilt at 60. Own 8 and counting now. First couple of times I felt self conscious but now it is just another outfit. Usually have at least one compliment every time I kilt up. Occasionally I'll hear a snicker and had one woman stop and openly stare in the store once but mostly don't bother paying attention to people's reactions. Wish I had started years before.
Ninety five percent of the comments I've gotten are along the lines of "I wish I had the courage to do it too." So, I tell them where I got the kilt I'm wearing and what it cost. "I bet you'll look great in one too."
The grumps, I just laugh along like they're joking with me like my son in law does. "Nice skirt Pop."
If somebody tries to take it any further, I just tell them they're jealous that I have better looking legs.
I never got into the "Get off my lawn" phase, I'm a neighborhood grampa that doesn't mind if the kids chase their ball into my yard,
I'm 60, got my first kilt this summer, and just decided "damn the torpedoes" and wore my kit out to a concert (classical music).
I got nothing but compliments. And lord knows this isn't an area known for people walking around in kilts! (rural French-speaking Québec)
I've since worn it multiple times to semi-formal affairs and again received nothing but compliments.
So go ahead! Don't be afraid.
Amen on the "You do you".
Living in New Zealand, the only reaction I ever get is "Cool kilt".
Today’s schedule, lab appointment at a hospital and a fall local fair. Got several comments about playing the bag pipes. Got several comments about looking sharp and handsome. These were all from older gentlemen. Got one comment about looking nice from a woman and she added how much I look like Rowdy Piper which I get a lot anyway even without wearing a kilt. No derogatory comments even amongst the country music crowd... Trace Adkins playing tonight.
I'm 67 and just bought my fifth & sixth kilts! 2 friends and I go out every Christmastime as 'The Electric Kiltmen' - we attach battery-powered lights to the aprons and hems of our kilts, electrify our Santa hats, and wear lights under our Celtic shirts! We have a ball. Do we care what people think? NOT ON YOUR LIFE! I have bought 4 kilts and made two of my own.
I’m 58, or what Rocky would categorize as either ”ancient” or ”weathered”. 😂
I have worn the kilt since the early 90’s off and on ( even in Texas, though that was on private property).
If anything i sometimes feel like there can be a bit of a new threshold if there has been some times since i wore it, a bit like a language ”getting rusty ”.
It passes quick though.
After a while, if wearing it often, you just kinda become ”the guy in the kilt”.
I have worn it in Sweden,Scotland, Ireland, England and the US.
For every negative reaction there are a thousand positive ones and honestly, at least in Sweden ( where i live ) most people dont care.
Just wear it and own it. 👍
I think it’s more mental my personal opinion is if you want to honor this culture and you do it respectfully screw it other people thing if it’s not positive that kind of applies to other things in life as well and I will add you guys are awesome I’m getting married on the 16th and Lance went above and beyond to help me get another kilt because mine got lost in shipping
I'm 54. I've been wearing a kilt for about five years. I get the "looks," the "comments," etc... I don't care -- I love my kilts.
I too sir live in Texas I live in Central Texas and I work for an oil service company in West Texas. I am about to be 52 myself next month. You do have to have a certain kind of attitude when you go out and wear it. You have to own it figure out how to be confident with it and not care what other people are going to think as the old slogan says just do it. I am in an area where I have not seen other than a Celtic Festival that I went to last year I haven't seen anybody else wearing it. And I have just got into wearing Kilts the last 2 years I finally was able to acquire a couple. Just to reiterate what Rocky and Eric were saying a surprising as it may be overwhelmingly yes you are going to get compliments people asking you about it but you probably will get some strange looks at times as well. I remember one time I was at the store with my daughter I don't remember what we were getting I was looking for whatever we were getting I walked down the aisle and apparently there was some woman who was walking across the end of the aisles who stopped and looked at me and made a comment about oh my God or oh what's that or something I didn't hear it my daughter did. I just let it roll off when she told me. More than anything else you will likely have people looking at you and I have had compliments and I also have had discussions opened up about my Heritage because I was wearing it. Overall it has been a positive experience if even for no other reason to help me with my self-confidence and wearing it and being more mindful of what I'm wearing and how I'm wearing things. I hope that helps.
"A man in a kilt is a man and a half." Wear it with confidence, and most will accept and/or appreciate it.
It’s a mental thing you have to get over. To paraphrase what you said in the video, my brother says, “Mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter “.
I'm 52, with history in the Keith Clan. My family thinks I'm ridiculous for wanting to wear a kilt- with the exception of my youngest son, who wants one, too!!
I'm at the point where I don't care what anyone thinks, especially regarding what I wear. Thanks for the vids, guys!!
I started wearing kilts about 20 years ago, in my 30’s, with more regularity. Before that I had a kilt that I wore about 3 times in 15 years. In the last 7 years (I’m 59 now), I began walking my dogs and walking around the neighborhood and going over the bridge to an establishment called the Pub, an English bar and grill where the staff wears kilts and if you wear one there as a customer you usually get free beer! I’ve actually had people who work there ask me if what they’re wearing is right. I have had idiots yell crap (it’s south Florida) but I ignore them, it’s more ladies who honk and stop for selfies with me. My wife loves it, especially in cooler weather, when I get up and put on my kilts because she knows that I’m feeling good. She especially loves it during festival season. I also wear my Masonic kilt to the Lodge for degrees and on special Kilt nights or socials, as well as to Scottish Rite events. I married my second wife wearing a kilt and so was the wedding party, we had a piper who had been a Pipe Major in the Scottish Regiments and he wore his regimental kilt, several friends of ours did too and the 4 photographers as well. We had it at a golf course club house that looks like a renaissance castle and everyone wore renaissance garb or kilts, even my Dad and Brother and youngest son wore kilts, and we’re Puerto Rican! 😂 My wife at the time (she passed away in 2016, and I’ve remarried in 2020) was of Scot/Welsh descent, and my current wife is Irish/Scottish descent. My family has gotten used to my kilts and kept the ones I gifted them for the wedding and have worn them to festivals too, waiting for another wedding to wear them in the future I suppose. My neighbors are so used to seeing me walk out in my kilts that nobody bats an eye, unless they’re new to the neighborhood of course. Hopefully we’ll be moving to Kentucky when we retire and I’ll just hangout in kilts even more, and then I think I’ll be well past the point that I won’t give a toss about what anyone thinks about my kilt wearing habits! 😆
I am 58 and live in Central KY. It will be great to have another kilter! There are several here. Bagpipes, too! We have Renaissance weekends in Northern KY and Highland Games in Western KY. We have the mountains and the rolling hills. You will like it here!
I’m in my early 50s and as I learn more about my heritage/culture, my family is from Galicia, Spain/Northern Portugal, and as you probably already know that they too have a Celtic background…and I’m proud of this. I learned about the Galician kilts and ordered my first one…maybe because I am in my 50s, that I don’t really care what people think however, I did start telling family members and close friends to be prepared lol 😊
I’m 57 and I kilt in Frisco, TX, north of Dallas. Not a serial kilter, but I do kilt in the wild. Mostly casual kilts from USA Kilts.
I rarely get comments. Most comments are positive. I get questions about the tartan, usually followed by how they or their wife is a Campbell or a Stewart, or some such. Every once in a while I’ll get something about where my bagpipes are, but nothing truly negative. Get a kilt. Wear it.
I like the Henry Rollins answer. Once you hop over that mental curb, it's just a matter of finding your place in it.
I bought an affordable 5 yard PV kilt to practice dancing and moving around in a kilt with my wife before our wedding, while waiting for my custom 8 yard kilt. I made myself wear it out with her a few times in our small town (less than 70k), and I got nothing but positivity. Including a middle aged Scottish man lamenting that he misses wearing his from when he was a young boy and it was his Sunday best.
He was under the impression that it was a very hard to acquire garment costing many hundreds of dollars. He lit up when I told him I got mine for $150 at a local highland ware shop and it wasn't as unapproachable as he thought.
Much to the chagrin of my family I started by wearing mine around the house, and then I graduated to out and about. It's all about how you do you.
As Rocky says "You do you."👍🏻
Three Scottish bloodlines talking here... GO for it!! The Brotherhood will find you... and really, it doesn't matter whether you are Scot or not, we're just happy to have you!!.... as long as the pleats are in the back, that is....
If the kilt is not the "norm" people are inevitably going to notice, and some will pass a remark (very probably positive, because kilts are flattering, not least to older men). The art of carrying it off for the first time in public is, I suggest, to think of your kilt as everyday dress, not a special-event costume. If you feel and behave as if you belong in it, you'll look that way to others.
I have three kilts, one Leather and wear them regularly. I get compliments from people I meet. Go for it man. I am in Austin. You can contact me if you like.
I am about to turn 71 and started wearing kilts about a year and a half ago. I live in Southeastern South Dakota and have worn my kilts (I have 4 so far) during all times of the year. To church during special days, to the nearby Celtic Festivals in the late summer/early fall, to work on special Scottish Days, and even grocery shopping. I have received a majority of positive remarks, if anyone says anything. I really can't remember any negative comments. The most asked question I get is during the winter months, and if I get cold; no because I am pretty well covered except for a small area on my knees. Plus, I don't spend that much time outside in the winter, except when shoveling snow and i have my insulated coveralls for then. Even my wife and family are getting used to seeing me in one of my kilts. Just questioning my need for 4 of them. But I can see having a few more in time, but that's a whole different subject.
I’m 59 and found an excuse to finally get one when I married my wife 4 years ago. Then got a PV kilt to compete in Highland Games. Then a great kilt, because I needed one. 😁 I wear them around my home in KY. and to the annual Burn’s Night. They’re part of my life and I wish I started earlier when I was living on my sailboat in FL years earlier. Let out your inner Celt. 🥃 Slàinte Mhath!
I just left a comment about this on another one of your vid's. But I'm 58 and wore the kilt for the first time a few days ago for my wife's surprise birthday at a hotel. I was has nervous as f***. And that was just looking in the mirror in my hotel room, saying to myself should I do this or not?. Then after walking down `The Green Mile´ of my corridor to get the lift to go to the bar and waiting for the lift (that was a long wait in a kilt for the first time. I thought an hour had passed). The lift came and I could hear people talking and laughing inside. Then the doors opened....... The talking and laughing stoped! Just a polite" Hi there" Then walking the very long walk of about 10 meters to my wife (who has never seen me in a kilt before) was hard. Thinking that everyone in the hotel bar was looking at me in a kilt.... And they were!
But I felt ok going to the bar and ordering drinks knowing people were looking at me (by the way. I'm Irish but live here in Sweden). But thanks to one of your video's. I remembered how to sit down in the kilt. A very, first time, weird experience. Has I was wearing the kilt in the `traditional way` Your video's do help people like me grow a pair, so we can wear the kilt. I'm proud that I wore my Irish kilt. My daughter that was there also... No so much!
Happy to hear you jumped in with both feet and overcame your fear. The 10th time you wear it, you'll think to yourself, "why was I ever nervous about this?" :-)
I started wearing Kilts in my 60's, I have NEVER received a negative response and alot of attention and women always compliment me. Howeverm if you decide to wear a Kilt, you better be ready for people to notice
I started when I was 54!😃
I stopped giving a damn when I had to keep up with my boys when they were kids. At 50, I'm at a point where I do as I see fit and do it as I need to do it. Their father and I taught my sons to be their own men. So far, I can say they are doing exactly that.
“Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” - Bernard Baruch, FDR Presidental Advisor, about banquet seating arrangements. Often attributed to Dr Seuss, " Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." But Baruch said it first.
I think I was about in my mid 30's where I reached that IDGAF what others think of what I'm wearing. That's not to say I dress like a slob. Quite the contrary, when I decide to wear a suit, I do it for me and for my wife. I want to look good for her too. But when I was single, I'd still dress with a nice suit or go out in kilted up. THAT...BEING...SAID...I also will dress appropriately for what my plan of the day is. Due to the crime, more often than not now, I need to blend in more than stick out. I know that sounds contradictory, but again, I'm having to choose to err on the side of safety in many cases.
Don't wear one if you want to be left alone. EVERYBODY has to come up and tell you about their "Grandad who used to wear one". Or, how they are related to Clan this or that. I went to an event last fall and could not walk 20' without getting into a lengthy conversation. I got to meet a lot of very nice people, but my Wife was not amused and just wanted to get going. You DO end up being a "Kilt Ambassador, like it or not. Had one dude who clearly didn't like my attire. But hey, he was wearing "bedazzled butt mommy jeans". So, go figure.
I feel that I'm a kilted lone wolf but I wear one anyways. I mostly wear it to church. I have a couple of utility kilts so it's not a big thing to go to the store. I like having pockets to store stuff in without having a showy sporran, even a plain basic black one. I hope that makes since. Being a utility style and working and doing things, means i don't have to worry about a sporran hanging about catching on things.
I’m 60 and haven’t really cared what anyone thought (they’ll have their own thoughts anyway) since… forever. However, I didn’t start wearing a kilt until my late 50’s because I wasn’t aware of the resources. Then I found USAKilts. The neighbors stop by and I’m most always kilted. I tell them “Don’t knock it till you try it.” Highland Games in New Hampshire too. I’ve had nothing but positive comments or they don’t say anything.
I never wore a kilt before age 60. I now own four. Easier to wear a kilt now as I don't give a damn what others think of me.
I'll be 50 in December & everything "new" that I want to do or try gets labelled as a mid-life crisis. If someone won't let it go, I remind them that statistically a man's average "mid-life" is 37.5 years old in the US.
Anyone who says that, tell them this: "It's not a crisis, it's a celebration! A celebration of not giving a !@&% what other people think."
I'm here in the Houston area and also in my 50s. I love wearing my kilt out and about. You still get an odd look, but overall no one cares, and I really don't care what they think anyway. BTW, stay off my lawn.
If you are in Texas, you need to spread your wings to the North Texas Scottish Festival, to Houston to the Festival & piping contests, Salgado Texas has a contest every year, for bands.
I recently had a debate on line with a guy who insisted that a kilt was a skirt and he considered it gay and no amount of educating him would change his mind. I gave up trying.
William, I don't even waste my time with those types. Their loss.
I'm 54 and I just started wearing a kilt and I live in Colorado
In my 60’s now. First time kult buyer, but I did wear one in Brigadoon.
I'm 75 Guys, started wering a kilt about 6 years ago, and have never gotten anything except compliments.
I am 65 and just started wearing one, I do have some Scottish blood. I wore it to the grocery store and got nothing but positive reactions and I have never seen another person wearing one every day around here. My life, I a wearing it when I feel like it
I suppose I don't quite get the "wearing a kilt every day" thing... unless you own/work in a Kilt Store 😁. I am of German (Bavarian) Heritage, and I'm a member of several German-American societies, but I don't wear my Lederhosen every day. I don't begrudge anyone wearing a kilt, or Lederhosen, or Balken fustanella, or whatever on a daily basis - I agree 100% with the sentiment of "wear whatever you'd like" (I'm _not_ the fashion police!) - but I personally save my traditional clothing for special/specific occasions. BTW, I _do_ live in Texas, and I _am_ older than 50 😉.
Anyway, I have gotten into wearing a kilt at Celtic events (so far just utility kilts), and I have learned a _ton_ from this channel. I do need a real kilt... perhaps a nice *German Heritage* tartan made by USA Kilts?
I started wearing the kilt when I was 51. It was a breeze (no pun intended)!
Keep your head helded high, shoulders back. If you don't like my kilt DONT LOOK! Or just think of it as a KMA moment!
heres a story, every bit true. in 1996, i went to London with some friends on a tour package. i got my kilt at The Scotch House, Knightsbridge. its my family clan, its real heavy-weight wool. the next day i started wearing it out in town, in London. i did get a compliment, but mostly it was the local limeys chirping about "the missus". just ignore it and move on. i was 20 at the time.
I’m 58 and have completely run out of Fs to give.
I(mid-forties) went straight to skirts this summer. It was too damn hot and my daughter found some cute ones with functional pockets. There's power in being a beardyman shopping in Home Depot and just not giving a shit.
Hi
I am like I guess the guy in Texas that is in his 50 ‘s and wondered react if he went out in a kilt
a bit like here living in OZ butch males and even now I have not seen anyone n a kilt in my area
so I understand were he is coming from I bought a utility kilt when they fist came out or advertised here in 2000
as then I could not afford the real thing now after I stopped smoking the utility kilt no long fits as I put a bit of weight on
now I have two fair dinkum kilts one i wear most days at home the other when I go out
I have two mates and we all get together every 2-4 weeks meet up and go for a counter lunch at the pub
and I decided that this is it I am gong to wear my other kilt which is black Watch with the Hose, Sporran
and a green top plus a belt in summer just now it’s winter here so I put on a sweater and no belt
the first time I did it I will be honest I was very nervous of what sort of reaction I would receive
went into the pub sure people looked then carried on in other words no one gave a s***t
and the last time there was heaps of Tradies in guys that probably years ago would have given me heaps
but now nothing as there is all this about Trans stuff in the media when I saw them I though here we go
but they could see what it was I was wearing and the accessories to go with it
and now I don’t care call me what they want as long as it’s not late for a meal or more so a drink LOL
I am 39 now and I think my give a damn broke around 32 I sent it back to the manufacturer with a note saying not needed
Being of a similar age (54) and bald/grey beard myself (although I live in Yorkshire England). I've been a full-time kilt wearer now for about 18 months and I can safely say that in the north of England at least I haven't had any bad reactions (apart from the usual questions on going regimental or not). I'm my experience if you get a kilt and "own it", you won't have any major problems (although I don't know Texas) but be prepared for attention lots of attention
It is good to hear of a full time kilt wearer in Yorkshire. I am a Yorkshireman living in Scotland and I wear the kilt nearly full-time. I have worn it visiting relatives in Yorkshire. Next time it will be kilt only.
Were you aware the Mind... Matter quote is from Dr. Seuss, someone known for unusual dress.
I started wearing a utility kilt about 15 years ago. I live in the PNW, home of Utilikilt, so it was a bit eccentric but accepted. In the past five years, I’ve gone 100% kilted, 100% of the time, usually a traditional or semi-traditional wool tartan. This summer I flew home to Mississippi and wore my kilts. All I heard were complimentary comments about how good it looked. This was seeing a lot of people I had not seen in over 20 years in a very conservative community. Not one person said anything negative or even mocking to me at any point from the West Coast to Deep South. Just go out there, at whatever age, and wear the kilt. The biggest critic you’re likely to encounter is the one in your own head. Tell him to piss off.
72 and wear a kilt everyday and tam if its cold for the past 3yrs
I have worn my tam for the past 30yrs
I started to wear kilts soon after I got home from Scotland in 2014. I was 26 at the time and now 34. I started to not care what people think about it until about 7 years later that someone else wore a kilt and I was not there and the group I am involved with and mentioned me (I was at work) now we both catch up at least once or twice a month in the group with the kilts on. I still catch up with one other that I brought a kilt for on and off to get him comfortable in wearing a kilt.
I'm 58 and been kilting for 4 years. I've yet to get a negative comment. I live in the Deep South where I would expect it, but it hasn't happened. Go ahead and do it. You may be surprised like me.
I stopped caring 20 years ago and kilt up at least two days a week if not more
As Thomas Jefferson once said, "I am entitled to not give a f**king s**t about your opinion"
Oh Boy !!!!!
I just turned 66 & I don't give a flying fig what they think or what they say !!!
I’m 64 and I surely don’t give crap. If I hurt your feelings I don’t care
Only one time has anyone really made a negative comment about my kilts, I’m bald and bearded as well.
Life's too short to wear pants!
I’m 58 & look like an old don’t take no shit man ! So I tend not to get much hassle 🤨
The first time I saw someone else wearing a kilt in public was an older gentleman, this past spring while walking my dog in the park.
I'm in my thirties, but I was surprised how unremarked wearing a kilt has been. I notice getting some extra looks, particularly when running with my dog, but at the dog park (or doing everyday errands) no one really gives any extra attention to my kilt while having a quick chat. Only once have I had someone ask about my Scottish-ness, and once gotten a random "nice kilt!" from someone passing on the street downtown that *may* have been a bit sarcastic (I just treated it as a genuine compliment and went on my way). I expect that the common reaction will be community-dependent though, so my Pacific Northwest experience may not apply elsewhere.
In today’s world we’re being groomed to walk on eggshells about peoples views and feelings, the kilt. Can be a way of pushing back on it. Screw ‘‘em if they don’t like it.
Try being English and living in England and wearing a kilt.
Why not. I am English, wear the kilt and live in Scotland.
Will people think you're gay?