Utilikilts!

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Aaron
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Aaron »

Wow. Just wow.

First of all, were all y'all really criticizing CC for his fashion sense? Far as I knew, men weren't supposed to have one of them thingies. Second, CC, did you really post a picture of yourself dressed up in an attempt to rebut said accusations?

Seriously?! :shock:

I think the appropriate reply would have been a doctored photo of some mullet toting goober with your face pasted in.
If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom,...Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you...; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

-Samuel Adams

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Netpackrat
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Netpackrat »

I haven't laughed that hard in a while, thanks guys. CC, for the record, your outfit probably cost more than my entire wardrobe, with the possible exception of my boots and cold weather gear, so you have to consider the source. Dressing up usually entails wearing my best pair of jeans.
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1911Man
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by 1911Man »

Back on topic,...

Fredonline there has pretty reasonable prices on his kilts. Assuming the Brit. pound is still somewhere around $2, his kilts are only about $72. That's cheap by kilt standards. His sporrans are nice too. I need to get a new sporran.

Thanks, Flintlock.

Yes, I have two kilts. One is a summer weight and the other is a winter weight. I wear a hand-made basket hilt with mine.
My ideas are mine. You go out and get your own!
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Aaron
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Aaron »

Just curious, do the winter weight kilts just have thicker, better insulating material, or are they more, uh, folded to take up the empty space underneath?

Heard something like that once.
If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom,...Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you...; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

-Samuel Adams

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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Combat Controller »

LOL, glad I could cheer you up! I am in Las Vegas at a trade show, so I just snapped a pic heading out the door.
Winner of the prestigious Автомат Калашникова образца 1947 года award for excellence in rural travel.
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Netpackrat
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Netpackrat »

CByrneIV wrote:You wouldn't think anything of a professional mechanic having $20,000 worth of personal hand tools and rollaways would you (never mind the big stuff, like lifts, analyzers etc...)? Well, it's the same thing in big business.
I'm assuming that as in maintenance with toolboxes, lots of the guys in expensive suits are just arrogant posers. Of course, I'm the guy with the more or less nondescript Craftsman rollaway filled with Proto, Stahlwille, Sioux, Starrett, and others, along with more than a few Craftsman tools. I guess the Snappy truck stops by our shop every week or so on my shift, but I've never seen it or met its operator. Fortunately, while I'm in the minority by eschewing Snappy, from what I can tell none of the guys I work with are toolbox posers.
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Aglifter
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Aglifter »

At one time, cheap tools were too out of spec to be trusted -- that may have changed. Now, at least around the South and Northeast, you still don't want to have any non-US made hand tools around. I've used some Snap-on stuff -- I liked it quite a bit, but I was happy w. craftsman professionals, but they've lowered their quality so much now, I'll probably switch to something else.

At one time, back in the long, long ago, the Wall St. uniform was a blue Brooks Bros. suit -- the execs had custom BB suits. Dad was considered quite "daring" and clearly independent because he would wear Gucci ties and Bally shoes on occasion... but, that was when Wall St. and bankers had something of a "banker" mentality, or at least tried to portray it as such.

At least for the professional culture (legal and oil around Houston) I'm familiar with, having your shirt and suit fit you properly is important - for MOST men, that means you should have it custom made. As long as it's a good fabric, which is always worth paying for, and the suit hangs properly, and has the proper "puckers" around the shoulder, to prove it was hand-sown, I'm not sure that it matters whether it was a designer, or a good tailor in Hong Kong, Seoul, etc.

However, if wearing a 5K Italian or English suit makes you feel like "superman", thn the confidence can be worth it.
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blackeagle603
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by blackeagle603 »

Absolutely. Gotta dress for the environment or not be heard/not have needed influence. I have to adjust my dress depending on the particular day's audience inside my company and the many days outside when I'm managing suppliers.

It varies a bit by company and localality but in many SoCal engineering environments the more casual the dress -- the more powerful and influential the engineer or eng mgr. It also varies with the economy. When it gets tight the dress code gets more conservative. If it's a group dominated by Asian immigrant engineers then it gets conservative (but very plain -- tending toward cheesy old school short sleeve button down pocket protector look).

One Eng VP I worked with it was almost 10 years before I saw him in long pants. Another, it was years before I saw him not in bike shorts of some sort and a jersey -- with muddy stripe up the back after lunch most days.
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Aaron
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Aaron »

All kidding aside, I know you guys are right.

I'm wearing jeans and t-shirt/polo shirt about 95% of the time, but the actual dollar value of my wardrobe is probably about 95% in formal attire. Not just because it's occasionally required to present a professional appearance, but I refuse to show up for military ceremonies, which I do roughly monthly, for friends who are retiring, getting awards, or promoted dressed like a smuck. Also funerals and wedding and so forth.
If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom,...Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you...; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

-Samuel Adams

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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Combat Controller »

The upside of having a Hong Kong tailor is that the price of the ticket and the hotel are still around what you would pay for ONE suit here, and then you can get four more for the price of that second. Plus you get to go to Hong Kong. I did have some Reed&Taylor suits made for me in India, they supply all the textiles to the Savile Row shop, and I paid $70 each for 2000 sterling pound plus suits. Not a bad deal, and made to my specs. I even designed three suits, to see how they would turn out. Pretty good actually.

I have no idea what I have spent on clothing (or guns), but it became a lot less once I learned about hand made out of the country and got a good name to call.

Looking good is important. As a CEO I have to dress to match my competitors and customers who are doing anywhere from 150 million a year to 9 billion. Those of you who have been guests in my house know I live simply, but that doesn't mean I don't spend money when I need to. It is a tool, just like a lever, you apply the pressure where you need to. It is both brute for and subtle. The subtle pressure works greater and longer though.

Next time you see some flashy guy bullying the restaurant staff remember what I said and look at brute force in action, ditto the scion of a wealthy family jerking around.
Winner of the prestigious Автомат Калашникова образца 1947 года award for excellence in rural travel.
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