Kilt Me!

Kilts: high rise or low?

I've been thinking a lot recently about what I like and don't like about most of the kilts I own. The one thing that keeps coming up is where they sit on my waist.  I like my traditional kilt and how it straps tightly around my mid section, but I generally wear it with very specific sweaters or a traditional Argyl jacket. 

For the last eight years or so, almost every pair of pants I've bought has been low-rise.  From my jeans to my slacks, they all sit on my hips and that's just how it is.  I've gotten used to it.  What I think less about is what that means for everything else I own. Most of my jackets, sweaters, and shirts have picked out to go with low-rise pants.  They fall in the right places, are just long enough to tuck in or not, and hopefully show off my torso in a slightly flattering way.

So, why do all my kilts fit around my waist?  At the end of the day, it just makes them even harder to fit with everything else in my wardrobe.  Even my Utilikilts ride high, and if I wear them lower they're so long they start to look silly.  

So what do I want?  I want a kilt that sits low on my hips like every pair of pants I own.  I want it to be the right length so it hits just in the center (or slightly below) my knee, and I want it to be comfortable. What do you think?

Alt Kilts and Doctors Without Borders

Our friend Jeanie at Alt Kilt is auctioning off a kilt as a benefit for Doctors Without Borders to support the relief effort in Haiti.  She makes some awesome kilts that have great weight, details, and trimmings.  Here's a shot of one of my favorites designs, but click through to the e-bay site to see more.  It's an easy and fun way to donate!

Visit the e-bay shop here and start the bidding!

Not a Kilt, but it Should Be

After looking at the skirts from H&M and the kilt/pants from Pringle I got to thinking about what type of details I would want to see in a kilt.  I took a walk during my lunch break to the Diesel and G-Star stores on Union  Square.

G-Star has a pair of jeans that I liked quite a bit.  The reinforced parts give them a bit of weight and the details are great.  I like the contrasting stitching and I like the angles as well as the pockets.  Most importantly I think they offer some inspiration what a great kilt could look like.  Heavy denim, well washed, strong lines and tacks that give it a rugged look without being completely over the top. They also appear to take into account the actual shape of the human body which I think is always a good place to start.

(I should note that I couldn't find these on their site otherwise I'd link to them.  The site was a bit irritating to navigate.)

Pringle of Scotland or "What's with kilts and pants?"

I've started to see more and more photos of men with kilts and pants on.  I found it a bit odd ten years ago when girls started wearing jeans under their skirts, but it grew on me.  This look isn't especially growing on me as much as it's making me wonder if male models just have terrible legs. 

Here's a shot from the Pringle of Scotland Fall2010 collection for men. And there it is.  The kilt and the pants.  I'm not exactly sure what it is that bothers me, but it's doesn't sit right.  It may be that there's no contrast in color between the two garments and so they blend together.  One of the things I like about kilts is that the bottom edge of the kilt offers great contrast that is striking and unique.  This looses that completely. 

At the end of the day it makes what might be a lovely kilt, look like a slightly frumpy apron.

(Click the photo to see more on AmmoMag.com)

H&M Selling Skirts for Men--Epic Fail

Happy New Years and warm wishes to you all.  I've been a little out of the kilt world for the last few months, but I'm back in the saddle and looking forward to what the year has to offer. 

A few people sent me articles about H&M's decision to sell skirts for men.  I was a little excited, but had fairly low expectation which, for better or worse, I think were well met.  There just doesn't seem to be anything especially masculine about this, and I think that's a major fail on their part.  It also doesn't look like anything most of us could (or let's face it, want to) fit into our current wardrobes. It's soft, bland, and uninspiring.  It has no texture, no great fittings, and just looks flat.  I don't expect they'll be flying off the shelf.

All of these attempts may force me to just start designing my own kilts based on what I've liked and not liked about what's currently out there.  H&M's effort gives man-skirts a bad name, and it really didn't need any more help with negative PR.

On 5th Ave.

Denim peacoat by Mister Freedom

I'm not positive this would work with a kilt, and for $590 I'm not sure I'll find out.  I do know that I like it though.  I may have to stop by a J. Crew and try it on.  Just for fun.

I'm not sure it's quite like Alice on Veritas says:

"A jacket like this will blast you into the style stratosphere and set you far apart from all the other blokes hittin' the streets with their alright, but ho-hum gear. Anyone who beholds you in this wondrous jacket will have a hard time hiding their admiration, and women especially will be drawn to its magical powers, allowing you to personally benefit from its charms. This is a kind of jacket you wish you never have to take off, so try hanging out in places where there's a constant chill (except, perhaps, a meat locker) so you have every excuse not to take it off."

But it's certainly a nice jacket.

Marc Jacobs in a Kilt Again at the ACE Awards

I have to say I think Marc has looked better in a kilt than he does in this shot.  Maybe it's the angle, the way he's standing, or the wind, but the kilt looks like a mess.  It mostly looks like it doesn't fit correctly.

One of the signs of a good fit is that the bottom left corner should lie flat and not stick up like it does here.  Like I said, it could be for a number of reasons, but it's also a common mistake on kilts that aren't made by hand by little Scottish ladies in the Highlands.

Also, would it kill him to wear a belt?

Sporrans on Etsy

If you've never checked out Etsy.com it's well worth the look.  There are some fine looking kilts on there, but this afternoon I thought I'd check out the sporrans.  While nothing jumps out at me as something I need right away, there is some nice work on display.  This sporran for example is quite lovely.

Happy Halloween!

Men's Jackets to go with Kilts

Jackets are often a little bit difficult for me when it comes to wearing kilts.  Often the length is too long or too short, the weight isn't right, or the cut just seems out of place.  Most of the time it's the length though.  I find that jackets work best when they're either waist length or come about half way down the thigh. Most sports coats are exactly the wrong length for a kilt, which is often very frustrating.  I have  had a few of them cut so they fit like a traditional Argyle jacket, but I have bunch more that just don't work.

One of the things I like about this jacket is the hardware.  Because kilts have a bit of weight to them I think some heavy hardware often fits well.  The closures on this jacket are a good example of how strong metal fixtures can work well. The jacket is from Ralph Lauren's Rugby collection. Click either photo for details.

 

Here's a close-up of the fixtures:

Sweaters and Kilts

I was talking with a friend over the weekend and about baggy sweaters versus form fitting.  It seems this fall that I'm seeing a lot of extremes in both directions: either very loose and baggy, or perfectly tight.  I've been wearing tighter sweaters this fall in general and I think it's a good look.  Here's a sweater by Zara that I think could look great with a kilt.  It works especially well with the tie and shirt as shown.

Black Leather Jacket and a Kilt

I've been wanting a vintage black leather jacket this fall to wear with my kilts.  I've been seeing them everywhere this fall, from men to women, and I think they look great.  Most of the jackets in stores are a bit too finished for what I want.  I'll have to check out the thrift shops and vintage stores to see if I can find something a bit more distressed. 

This is the type of think that would look great with a kilt though, especially if it was worn in well. Click on the image for details (and yes I know it's brown).

Update: Now this is what I'm talking about! You can see lots of great vintage leather on The Art of Vintage Leather Jackets

Decom and a kilt

A bunch of my friends went to the Decom party over the weekend in Brooklyn.  Here's a shot of Henry looking like the king of the carnival.

Halloween, Kilts, and Costumes

If you're looking for some kilt related Halloween costumes here are some to chose from.  Halloween is a good day to talk guys into wearing kilts who might not otherwise have the nerve.  It's a perfect recruiting time, although I'm not sure any of these will help. Click the images for the source site:

Personally, I think you'd be better of getting something like this and wearing it with a kilt.  Much more fun really:

Office Party with my Wallace Kilt

We had an office party two weeks ago here to celebrate my colleague Diane Meier's upcoming novel The Season of Second Chances. I dressed up a bit for the party, but during set-up I just wore my classic kilt t-shirt. 

The party was lovely, the company was great, and I think at least two or three of the guys in attendance said they'd put a kilt on. Here's me getting ready for the party:

Howie's 21st Century Kilts

It looks like Howie got himself a new website for 21st Century Kilts.  You would think he would have improved on the old one rather than the other way around, but hey, that's just me. 

Aside from the site design, his new photos look great.  They do a good job of really capturing the product and offer some decent suggestions on how to wear kilts.  As always, he continues to offer lovely kilts in new and inventive styles.

Here's a shot I especially like:

Shopping in a Kilt

I often wear a kilt when I'm looking to buy things to wear with it.  Last night I was looking for a good black sweater so I wore my solid black kilt out to a couple of stores.  I started at Zara's where I actually found a great wool jacket.  I pulled it on over my sweater and walked to the mirror.  It was cut short and had a great collar that stood up. 

One of the sales reps comes over and says, "hey are you Scottish?" I tell him no, but I'm looking for something to go with the kilt.  I then ask him what he thinks of the jacket.  This is the equivalent of saying "Sell me this!" loudly and often as far as I'm concerned.  But no.  The guy says something about how it's cool to dress differently and walks away.  I hung the jacket back on the hanger and walked out.

Are sales people really just that bad or did I somehow throw him off with the kilt? It would have taken him five minutes to sell me that jacket, but he just didn't bother.  I've had that happen any number of times in the last year or so.  They say, "can I help you" and I say I'm looking for something to go with the kilt.  Not once has someone then offered any suggestions.  It's really a bit pathetic.

So, I walked down to Banana Republic and found a black sweater that I liked instead and I bought it.  It looks mostly like thi:

On a side note, I tried to find a picture of the jacket on the Zara website, but no luck.  I googled it and found nothing as well.  So, not only do they have a terrible sales staff, but they also have a shitty website.  You have to love retailers these days.

Sustainable Couture Kilt (SCK)

I'm not sure what I think of this actually.  I like the outfit, but it's more in theory than in reality.  What I mean is that I like it, but I would never wear it.  They have some more views on the Thistle & Broom site, including some close ups of the fabric, so you can make up your own mind. 

Scott's Porage Oats

My friend Joel posted a link to this in the comments, but I thought it was worth sharing here as well.  I have a feeling this sort of jokes goes back a few hundred years.