Reporter Tries a Kilt-Again

The latest in the long-running series of reporters trying the kilt for a story appeared towards the end of last month in the News Tribune. Other than the normal thing with the reporter's self-consciousness, there was this little tidbit about Utilikilts stores:

Utilikilts has no dressing rooms, he warned, so you have to be prepared to “drop trou” out in the open.

The dressing room thing is definitely disheartening. Kind of raises the question of, "Why bother with a shop?" You can "drop trou" in the middle of a ren faire when they come to your area.

He settled on a Tripp Kilt from Hot Topic for $50. (He must have Scottish ancestry with that cheapness.) The Tripp Kilt requires something to wear it.

Its got a lot of metal on it and a lot of punk stuff. The reporter had to cover up some skull buttons.

The big thing is that the kilt has a standard length of 25". That's a little long, not on me, but on anyone under 6 foot something it is. He wore it a little bit high in the pictures so that it looked right. I guess that instinct is almost automatic.

Hutchens writes of this experience at work:

I was, however, queried about my underwear 419 times before lunch. Co-workers, sheesh. If you walk into an office wearing a kilt, you’d better be prepared for catcalls and cell-phone cameras.

This is what I absolutely hate about these stories. You take 1 male Reporter who thinks wearing a kilt is going to make a great story, throw in a good healthy dose of nervousness and send him out to the world for a day and write about it. It makes for some interesting copy. But Joe Schmo reading it at home goes, "Oh my gosh, I'm not going to wear a kilt, because I'm going to be a spectacle forever."

Might I suggest that if Mr. Hutchens wore a kilt for a month, he'd go to a reaction at work of zero. I know that the first 2 days I wore a kilt to work, I got some reaction. By the end of the week, it was old hat and has been for 2 1/2 years. Most will tell you the same. Its novelty that makes the kilt interesting. If its worn everyday, its just what the person does and who they are.

Kilt