LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — When Lexington’s newest window-washing company shows up in a neighborhood, people can’t help but notice. You see right away that the employees aren’t wearing pants.
“It’s definitely a different type of uniform, but it’s comfortable,” said Mustapha Muhammad, a technician for the company.
“Men in Kilts” is a nationwide franchise, with 14 locations. But there’s only one in Kentucky, a three-man team that hopes its dress code gives them a leg up on the competition.
“It definitely not only sets us apart and helps make us, you know, more visual,” said owner Dan Noel, “hopefully, it gives us a chance to have fun out there, too”
Noel said there are plenty of people willing to work for a company that ditches britches.
“I’ve been open a little over a year now and it’s going really well.” He adds that anyone applicant who shows hesitation about wearing a kilt is disqualified immediately.
Muhammad was not hesitant.
“I think it intrigued me a little bit more because it was just so different,” he said.
Lucas Manning, the third member of the team, agrees.
“I was excited,” he said. “I wanted a change of pace, and there’s not more of a change of pace than not wearing pants every day.”
Noel said he felt a little strange about wearing a kilt at first, but quickly got used to it. Now, he doesn’t think twice about popping into a grocery store or attending soccer games while still in uniform.
“You know, once I started wearing it, I never looked back. I got rid of a lot of my dress pants.”
Even though they’re cool with the concept, things can sometimes get hairy.
“Especially when you’re on a ladder on a windy day,” Noel said. “It can get a little bit tricky at times.”
Passersby have a common question:
“Hey, ‘what’s under the kilt?’ Yeah, I get that quite a bit,” Noel said.
That’s why the company catchphrase is “no peeking.”
The Kentucky guys said people often expect them to be experts on Scottish culture, but they try to skirt those conversations.
Muhammad just laughs when people ask him if he’s Scottish. Noel said people sometimes ask him if he knows a certain Gaelic song or what clan he belongs to.
The company’s founder, who lives in Canada, does have Scottish heritage, and the local employees said learning more about the culture is on their bucket list. They understand that when they show up in a tartan-covered truck, people might assume their ancestors are from Edinburgh or Glasgow.
The Men in Kilts do many types of work, from window cleaning to gutter cleanout and power washing. Their uniform may be a gimmick, but at the end of the day, they hope to prove they’re really good at what they do, trying to be heads and shoulders … and knees above the rest.
