Kilt Me!

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.

The Replays it is

I stopped by the shoe store on 23rd street yesterday (http://www.medicishoes.com/) and tried on the Replays I posted yesterday.  They were comfortable, fit great and look to be well made.  They offered me a bit of a discount, and I took them home.  My only concern is the zippers either breaking or not staying up.  I'll just have to wait and see.

So far I love them though.  Here's me today:

 

And here's a close up of the boots:

Kilts and x-mas sweater

Last night we had a small office x-mas party down at the Blind Tiger Ale house.  I received a lovely sweater, shirt, and tie which I wore into work today.  With a kilt, of course.  I'm wearing my old UK workman's which now only has four working snaps on it.  It's still one of my favorite kilts though, and when I dress it up with a tie I feel like I can get away with it.

Here's a shot from this morning:

Mailman in a Kilt

Personally I think this is a great idea.  I was watching our local UPS guy unload a truck yesterday and thought, "wow, he'd be much more comfortable in a brown UK workman."  When I arrived in the office this morning, I found this article in my inbox.  I think it would do wonders for the American Postal Service.

I know I'll get shit for this, but I think they'd look better with Sporrans.

Kilts
Originally uploaded by florent_leturmy

Steampunk Kilt

I've been rediscovering my love of steampunk, especially in the realm of fashion.  For those of you who know me, you may ask yourselves, "Since when has Ben had a love of steampunk?" or even "what the fuck is steampunk?"

I'll start with the second question first:  Steampunk magazine (which you can find at steampunkmagazine.com says,

First and foremost, steampunk is a non-luddite critique of technology. It rejects the ultra-hip dystopia of the cyberpunks with their black rain and nihilistic posturings; while simulatenaously forfeiting the conceit of the noble savage fantasy of the pre-technological era. It revels in the reality of technology, its very beingness as oppossed the over anlyitical abstractness of cybernetics. Steam technology is the difference between the nerd and the mad scientist. Steampunk machines are real, breathing, coughing, struggling and rumbling parts of the world. They are not the airy intellectual fairies of alogorythmic mathematics but the hulking manifestations of muscle and mind. The progedy of sweat, blood, tears and delusions. The technology of steampunk is natural, it moves, lives, ages and even dies.

Now that we have that out out of the way...

In some ways my newfound love has been more a process of pulling likes together from my past into an aesthetic that makes sense with where I am now.  In high school I wore bowlers and coat tails.  I loved Brazil and I collected antique lighters that were far too large to be useful.  I loved old bottles of liquor, anything made of brass, antique sewing machines, and anything with texture.

How does this all come together with my love of kilts?  That's a good question, and it's a question I intend to answer through the creative process.  My goal is to design a kilt that speaks to the steampunk aesthetic  and works specifically with my lifestyle,  meaning it works in ways that are useful to me. 

With the help of my good friend Joel, I've begun piecing together thoughts and images, fabrics and brass fittings, and a whole slew of day dreams.  I'll keep posting as the project moves along.

One of the first things I did was go to the fabric store and take pictures of anything that appealed to me.  Here's a small gallery of those shots.

If anyone has any thoughts, examples, or images they'd like to share I'd love to see them.  Leave a note in comments or send me an e-mail.

Down with Zippers! Up with Kilts!

A slogan we can all live by.  Or live with.  I made this shirt on Zazzle.com and promptly ordered one.  It just arrived the other day and I thought a rainy Friday was the perfect time to wear it.

If you'd like your own t-shirt just click on the image to the right or click here! The shirts are American Apparel, so they're high quality cotton tees that actually fit well compared to most online t-shirt printing places. 

'Men In Skirts' Victoria and Albert Museum

I've posted some pictures from this exhibit in the past, but there are many at this link that I haven't seen before.  It's a great exhibit and it includes some kilts I'd definitely wear out and about.  Like this one:

Also, another shot of the Vivienne Westwood kilt I posted about last week.

They have a "micro-site" through the museum that has many more photos if you're interested.  You can find it here.

It's a plaid kind of thing

Over at men.style.com they're catching on to the fact that plaid is in.  They've listed plaid as one of their top ten fall '08 style trends for the year. 

For the full slide show click on this link.

To read the article click here.

Kilt Shoes in the Summer?

I've been thinking about what to wear on my feet this summer when I go kilted, and I've been having  a tough time coming up with things that look good and are comfortable in the heat. 

On Saturday I was at a wedding where I met a young man who gave me some inspiration.  Here are two shots of him, including the all important "shoe shot".  I think this might work well with a kilt:

Frye Boots

Today is the first day that I did a search of my own blog.  I was trying to remember if I had posted about these boots before.  Since I didn't find anything, I'll post about them now! 

I've been thinking about footwear options and realizing that I mostly wear my black Frye boots.  This lead me to consider the possibility that I might like other boots by Frye.  The answer was a resounding yes.  These boots are high on my wish list of kilt accessories:

Nerdy Kilt Man!

I just found this guy on Flikr and I think he's awesome.  He totally makes this kilt his own.  The tie, the glasses, the shoes and the Utilikilt all just work well together to create something completely new. 

This is really one of the things I'm looking for.  If the kilt is no longer just a traditional Scottish thing, then how can we fit it into our lives?  It all comes back to what I've been saying all along.  Make the kilt work for you rather than the other way around. 

You can see the rest of his photos on Flikr.

Postmodern Soccer look

I found this photo on Flickr.  And I think I like it.  From the waist up it's great, no doubt about it.  But the shoes have something going for them as well.  He takes the Soccer hooligan kilted look and combines it with the traditional look by doing up the laces.  And it works.

You can see the photo on flickr by clicking here.

The Sartorialist on short jackets

The Sartorialist has a few great shots of some jackets that would work incredibly well with a kilt.  Both jackets are the perfect length to show off a kilt.  Ideally a jacket will either come to about four inches below the top of the kilt, or about half way down. This can make it difficult to wear a normal length sports coat, but does offer some great options for outerwear.

You can view his posts by visiting thesartorialist.com

New York City Tartan

People often ask what tartan they can wear if they're not Scottish or don't have a traditional clan association.  Personally I think you should wear whatever the hell you want.  If you like a certain tartan then go ahead and wear it.

On the other hand, there are a few tartans out there that can traditionally be worn by most anyone.  The blackwatch and brownwatch are two classic examples. 

Another option comes from some more recent creations.  In 2002 for example, New York City was presented with a tartan as a symbol of friendship from the people of Scotland.  If you want to learn more, then read about it here.

Here's what it looks like. 

Holiday Kilt Outfit

So, here's what I'm wearing today.  My red corduroy Utilikilt, black boots and socks, and a black and red sweater.  I'm feeling festive, and figured I may as well dress it.  This is definitely not the toughest kilt outfit I've ever worn, but I'm happy in it.

Joel in a Kilt

So, if you have a photo of you in a kilt, send it in and I'll post a picture.  And, of course, critique your outfit.

Here's Joel in a red velvet jacket and tie, dark sunglasses, old school sneakers and socks, and a Utilikilt workman model .  This outfit says, "you won't notice my kilt because you'll be so overwhelmed by how fucking awesome my jacket is."  And it works.  It's hipster in a kilt with some serious personality.  Notice the maroon gym socks match the jacket and shoes?  Insanity!

Pulling a Britney Spears

So, this guy is about to pull a Britney, but somehow I don't know that the world will care.  I've come close to doing this as well, but luckily for me I always manage to outrun the paparazzi before they can jump in for the money shot.

J. Crew goes Scottish

So, the new J. Crew catalog and website are full of gents in kilts.  Not that they're selling kilts as far as I can tell, but they're definitely falling onto the Tartan bandwagon.  There's some nice photography, some nice tartan accessories, but nothing really leaps out at me. 

Their tag line is "tis the season for Tartans".  I couldn't agree more, but it's too bad they didn't have the nerve to go ahead and throw some kilts into the line.  It would have at least been a good PR move for them, especially with all the recent celebrity kilt sightings.

Alas...

Visit jcrew.com to see more...