Kaleph Anthony 

AUGUSTA, GA -  OK, ladies: While you may scoff at Richard Simmons’ revealing booty shorts, you can’t deny that when the movie “300” came out, some of you were just a tad excited about the cinematography.

No, I’m not talking about those sepia-toned and blood-drenched landscapes; I’m talking about the panoramic views of golden, rippling abs and thighs. As for all you guys who weren’t provoked to question your orientation, surely some of you felt twinges of envy.

And while I wouldn’t advocate leather Speedos for any man, there is a far more wearable way to show off your ripped gams and still look more like a warrior than a fifth century B.C. Chippendale’s dancer: the kilt.

Kaleph Anthony, a freelance photographer from North Augusta, says he often wears his kilt out and about, though he didn’t always think so highly of the Highland garb.

“When I was younger, I always thought they were kind of, well, ‘feminine,’” he says, using finger quotes for emphasis. “Black folks just didn’t wear that type of stuff. It would mean a pretty swift ass kicking.”

However, as Anthony grew older and worldlier, his ideas about the kilt began to change.

“I think it was when I went to the Highland Games somewhere — some girlfriend had dragged me out — and I remembered thinking, ‘Hey, that looks kind of cool,’” he says.

“These were pretty tough-looking guys, and there was something kind of primitive and unique looking about it.”

Anthony bought his first kilt there on a whim and never turned back. Since getting into the alternative music scene, he says he’s found a lot of people who respond positively to his sense a style and he modestly admits he’s seen it spread to a friend or two once they were convinced it wasn’t a skirt.

However, my husband and ex-punk rocker, Sean Waters, was not one of those people who needed convincing.

“Anyone who thinks they’re skirts is misinformed. They were created as men’s wear,” he says. “What I like most about wearing them is the feeling of identification I have with a type of dress that’s outmoded in our modern society. I mean, it feels in a lot of ways countercultural to a lot of the ideas about what men are supposed to wear with the suit and tie.”

Aside from the cool looking, semi-rebel factor that most inspires Waters, Anthony’s love of the kilt boils down to a very simple fact: “Your junk can be free, and that feels a lot better than having everything crammed behind the zipper of your pants,” he says.

But even better than being “very comfortable,” in my husband’s more carefully chosen words, kilts are flattering because they display what is often the most muscular and chub-resistant part of the body. Also, they’re far more sophisticated than a pair of shorts could ever aspire to be, and are equally appropriate attire for everything from a drunken pub crawl to a black-tie wedding — or anywhere a stiff Scotch can be found.

Actually, let me elaborate on that as being appropriate anywhere a stiff can be found, too. At least in my husband’s case.

“I would be happy to wear a kilt until I die,” he says. “Hopefully, I’ll get buried in one, because I obviously wasn’t allowed to get married in one.”

Well, to this I’d say he should be careful what he wishes for. As for all you other guys out there, for all your pink polo shirts and toe-funk baring Birkenstocks, a little man skirt shouldn’t scare you. Besides, as Anthony mentioned, it’s a total chick magnet.

After all, what other garment provokes women to come up to you and ask, “So, is it true you’re not wearing anything under there?”

If you know someone who has a great sense of style, send us their picture. Submit your style photos to spirit@metrospirit.com.