By Mary Butler, Camera Staff Writer
July 2, 2004

Call it unbifurcated style. Or guys in skirts.

Whatever your perspective, the kilt as everyday menswear is catching on, thanks to a small Seattle company that has sold nearly 20,000 of its workingman-styled Utilikilts in four years.

Jack Grant, a Boulder musician and computer networking consultant, ordered his first Utilikilt after seeing another man striding through the Louisville Lowe's hardware store wearing one.

"When I got home, I Googled 'utility kilt' or 'workman's kilt' or something like that and the Web site for Utilikilts came up," Grant said.

Now he has two — a classic workman's kilt in chocolate and a mocker kilt in black.

"I've always loved kilts, and I never had one to kick around in before," Grant said. "I saw a Utilikilt and thought, 'Now we're talking.'"

On a recent afternoon, Grant looked casual wearing his workman's kilt cinched with a belt bearing a turquoise buckle, a long-sleeved cotton shirt, socks and brown leather clogs.

He doesn't wear a kilt every day, just when he feels like it, Grant said. Some occasions, like hiking or rock concerts, simply call for a kilt for comfort or standout style, he said.

These utility kilts could never be confused for the traditional plaid varieties of Scotland. Grant, who is of Scottish descent, has two of his clan's tartans, made of eight yards of richly spun green, red and blue wool.

Utilikilts' offerings range from its plainest 'original,' which sports little more than cargo pockets, to its workman's and painter kilts, which feature loops for tools such as a caulking gun, tool pockets built to fit flashlights (or even an entire six-pack of beer) and sewn-in rings for keys or tape rolls.

They are available in canvas, twill, denim, leather, light-weight cotton rip-stop and sheeting and fine wool for the satin-trimmed tux model.

For the those who dare to wear patterns, the kilts also come in camouflage, batik prints, tie-dye stripes and a Hawaiian shirt-inspired 'blue islander' style.

"This is an American kilt for sure," said Megan Haas, Utilikilts co-founder. "Mostly what we're selling is getting around the idea of pants and getting to the idea of freedom and getting comfortable."

That idea has translated into a $1.2 million in sales in 2003 and a projected $2 million in sales this year. Utilikilts has also gotten a taste of fame, as media outlets ranging from the New York Times to CNN Headline News have featured its breeze-through-the-knees products.

Part of the company's profits will be made in Colorado, where loyal customers buy the utility kilts online (www.utilikilts.com), through Utilikilts' catalog or at the Longs Peak Scottish/Irish Highland Festival held in September in Estes Park.

Haas' partner, Steven Villegas, made the Utilikilt's prototype eight years ago in response to a steamy day at work. He fashioned a manskirt out of an old pair of surplus Army pants. An engineer by trade, he put his know-how to work to create a sturdy, masculine kilt pattern that has since been patented.

Utility skirts range from $125 to $700 for the leather model. There is an added $25 charge for the "beer-gut cut."

The folks at Utilikilts provide catalog shoppers with a guide helping men (and women) of all sizes — separating out those with or without butts, guts and barrel bodies — to find the right fit.

For instance, "For fat bellied brothers with big butts," the guide tells potential buyers: "There is nothing more spooky to watch then a full grown 'big boy' flash his crack from the ground up as he unwittingly goes to pick something up off the ground."

Regardless of which kilt is worn, all hold the mystique that kilt enthusiasts embrace and Utilikilts flaunts in its motto, "We sell freedom."

"You never know if someone's going commando," Grant said with a laugh.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Mary Butler at (303) 473-1390 or butlerm@dailycamera.com.