Utility of Kiltz:

Let me tell you about the Utility of Kiltz.

If anyone asks me why I wear a kilt I tell them that kilts are extremely comfortable and utilitarian. I broke both of my legs 'falling off the roof of the barn' the summer that I was sixteen. That left me casted all the way up to my groin for a whole summer. That was ten long weeks wearing gigantic casts.

It was impossible to wear pants and too hot to wear a housecoat. So for the sake of decency I covered up by wearing my sister Kate's old school uniform kilt. Trying to wear jeans after that felt like being in casts again.

One thing about a kilt is that one size fits all, more or less. Being a wrap-around type of garment means that it could be fitted easily and pinned together or held in place with a belt.

The thing is, I couldn't walk around in the city wearing what was obviously recognizable as a girls' school uniform. Each school that has a uniform dress code has a recognizable colour or plaid that identifies which school they attend. 

It would be a drag for people to think that I was being hazed at the school my sister used to go to. The school I went to didn't even have a uniform requirement. 

Anyway, I discovered that there are modern utility kilts that are pretty badass and nicely tailored with cool buckles and cargo pockets. So that's what I wear most of the time.

For more formal occasions I wear a proper Scottish Kilt with sporran, dirk on my hip and a sgian-dubh tucked in my sock with a matching tartan flash.

The Kilt goes beyond good looks and comfort. There’s utility too. A full Belted Plaid has you covered twenty four hours a day all year round. Worn short in summer properly folded to provide pouch pockets and in winter, it can be worn long and wrapped around you to form a cloak. At night, you can unwrap a full belted plaid and use it as a bedroll blanket. Because of this versatility, I’ve worn them on camping trips, reducing the amount of kit I had to carry.