This is all new to me, but kilt wearing goes back decades.

One of these days I'll get around to filling in the gaps, but for now I'll start with berry picking season in the Blue Ridge.

Last fall my wife and I went up to the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple times a week to gather blackberries and blueberries. As usual, I always wore either a traditional kilt or a Utilikilt. Since there are plenty of berries right along the road (and it is legal to pick them) lots of people got a good look at my attire. On several occasions cars stopped and people would come up and ask what we were doing, but with one eye cocked at my kilt. I was always happy to explain the ins and outs of berry picking in the highlands and talked about the importance of not tearing the place up. I am still surprised at the number of people that took in the information, with their eyes on my kilt the whole time, yet did not comment on it. Naturally, it is my desire that the kilt be seen as commonplace so I never mentioned the focus of the stares.

One time a pair of bikers pulled up, asked the usual questions about what we were doing, thanked me, and headed back to their bikes. One of the men spun around and came back. He said, "Man, I just can't stand it. I know what a kilt is, but I have never seen one like that. What is it?" I told him about Utilikilts and handed him a card. He passes several comments on how he "just gotta get one". I hope he does.