Plaid skirts for men are often referred to as kilts, because oftentimes they are. What's the difference between a kilt and a mere skirt? Well, a kilt is a pleated skirt which is usually patterned with a clan tartan. Kilts close to the side at the front and are best worn with a large kilt pin which will keep them from flying open at inopportune moments and showing the world everything you have.

Kilts are associated with Scotland and Scottish clans, though men's skirts including the kilt were both often worn in Ireland and Scotland in the late 1400's.

If you want to read a really interesting, factually correct document on the history of the kilt, read this article. It is super. http://albanach.org/kilt.html

You might now be wondering, what is the difference between plaid and tartan? Well, not a lot. 'Plaid' is the Americanized version of the word tartan, because Americans like to rename things so that they can later measure the depth and breadth of their cultural imperialism by seeing how far the word's usage has spread. (I kid, of course, but can think of no other reason as to why words which are perfectly good for the rest of the English speaking world suddenly become transformed in the USA.)

Men who wear skirts therefore have quite a wide range of plaid and tartan skirts available to them. They can wear traditional kilts (which were part of my High School girl's winter uniform and which I always liked because they were thick and warm and actually pretty nice to wear,) or they can wear other plaid skirts which are made for women but will fit men just as well.

Utilikilts, which I have written on before are an interesting spin off of the traditional kilt. Utiliklts, Action Skirts For Action Men.

The plaid skirt can perhaps be regarded as a gateway skirt, the portal between menswear and womenswear, the missing link garment through which men can reclaim some of the unbifurcated garments which they used to wear quite commonly throughout most of our history.

Though plaid skirts have become increasingly associated with school girls, plaid is and always has bee a very masculine pattern, and it is one easily reclaimed by any man who decides to do so. To this day, it is not uncommon to see men of Scottish ancestry wearing kilts at formal occasions, and there is no reason why a kilt or other plaid skirt should not be considered attire formal enough to be worn at a corporate place of business, or anywhere else for that matter.

Kilts and plaid skirts are stylish, comfortable and entirely awesome pieces of clothing that every man (and woman) should try wearing at least once.