Coral WilsonIt is not necessarily how a...

Coral Wilson

It is not necessarily how a man looks that makes him sexy, it is how

he wears his kilt.

Nine and a half hours before St. Patrick’s Day, men in skirts will

battle it out to determine the winner of the Sexiest Kilt Competition

at Muldoon’s Dublin Pub in Newport Beach on Sunday.

“I think it is going to be a mix of nice legs, charisma, sense of

humor and a little bit of swagger,” Irish expatriate and panelist

Olivia Tracey said. “Let’s see how they wear that kilt.”

A former Miss Ireland, Tracey just finished filming the Irish

movie “Red Roses and Petrol.”

“For a man to come out wearing a kilt in Newport Beach is already,

in my books, a manly man,” Irish panelist Aileen McKeagney said.

“I’ll be looking at how he wears his kilt and how he carries his

kilt.”

McKeagney and her husband, Nicholas Jordan, were honored Friday by

the Los Angeles City Council for their involvement in the

Irish-American community.

Jordan will be arriving at Muldoon’s in a kilt, but a vote from

his wife won’t come easily.

“He, of course, asked for my vote, and I told him, absolutely

not!” McKeagney said emphatically with a heavy accent. “I’m a

liberated woman -- I’ll be picking who I think should be winning.”

The competition will kick off the first of what will become an

annual event. All future trophies will be named after this year’s

sexiest man in a kilt.

“How often do you get a chance to have a trophy named after you?”

asked Richard Kaplan, event coordinator.

Chris Pierce, drummer for the Celtic rock band the Fenians, will

be wearing his kilt and hosting the event with Kaplan. They are not

setting any boundaries.

“Let’s just see what these contestants come up with,” Kaplan said.

“Maybe we’ll be attracted and repelled at the same time.”

Participants are encouraged to be creative and have fun, and

Kaplan hopes this might start some new trends.

“Who is going to create a trend with this apparel look? I think it

is antiquated when we think of plaid,” Kaplan said. “Or maybe it is

the plaid that these judges will find sexy.”

The original kilt was nothing more than six and a half yards of

heavy wool, said Guy Snyder, manager at the Scottish Heritage Center.

Scottish and Irish men used to use kilts as blankets or tents.

When they woke up in the morning, they would spread it out, fold some

pleats, belt it up and they were dressed, Snyder said. During an

intense battle, they would shed their kilts, tie their shirt tails

between their legs and go.

“I think the kilt is the greatest garment in the world,” Snyder

said. “Because it is so utilitarian.”

The wool skirt provides protection from the rain and extremely

cold Highland weather. It breathes well in warmer weather and can be

easily hiked up when crossing Scotland’s many streams with few

bridges.

The plaid color combinations, called tartans, are used to identify

family clans in Scotland. In Ireland, kilts come in solid colors and

tartans are used to represent regions and counties, Snyder said.

Both descendants of the Celtic race, the Irish and Scots disagree

over who wore the kilt first. It was about the same time, Snyder

said. And the bagpipe actually came from ancient Egypt, he added.

Today, the kilt is primarily used for formal ceremonies or special

events, not for everyday use.

“If you wear a kilt in Scotland, you might as well hang a sign

around your neck that reads, ‘tourist,’” Snyder said.

Of course, the thought that will cross everyone’s mind at some

point on Sunday is the age-old question: “What do men wear, or not

wear, under their kilts?”

To allow for free movement in a battle, strict military dress code

dictates that a man not wear anything under his kilt. But nowadays,

that is really up to personal preference, Snyder answered.

What contestants choose in that matter won’t necessarily sway

McKeagney’s decision.

Either way, she said, “I wouldn’t be wanting the evidence.”