Non-tartan kilts

[Blackrose87]

I was hoping to get some input from some Scottish members ( or anyone from elsewhere in Britain or Ireland).

Looking through this forum it seems a lot of members wear non-tartan utility type kilts. Or 'tactical' kits as I saw in one thread.
Does anyone wear them here at all? Or are they a distinctly North American thing?

I can't say I've ever seen them in Scotland or Ireland. I did once see a plain black wool kilt, but this seemed more traditional styled.

Now, I'm not looking for this to fall into the territory of what is and what isn't considered a kilt. I'm just wondering if these are more common here than I am aware of.

[John_Carrick]

Never seen one in Northern Ireland but you do see a few in London and I saw one in Brighton last year.
The proprietor of Ferintosh in Dumfries cuts a considerable dash in his, when he is breakfast chef.

John

[English Bloke]

I've got one in black cotton... have to admit I don't wear it much. After purchase I realised it's not really my style, not that I have issues with anyone else sporting one, I think they look great on other folk. I also have a PV in plain black. Dreadful kilt it is. Don't wear that one much either, if at all. I quite fancy a black shadow tartan in 16oz wool but can't justify the expense at the mo.

[Jock Scot]

I cannot recall ever seeing one----------not even one worn by a visitor.

[Mither Tap]

Im afraid not. I must admit of never having heard of a non-tartan kilt till I came to this site.

Chris S

[Chas]

In the last three years I've seen about half a dozen. One on a busker in London and the rest in Edinburgh and the Borders.

Regards

Chas

[MacSpadger]

I'd not seen any growing up in Scotland at all, at any point, ever.

I saw my first solid colour kilt when I moved to London in 1980. I no longer live in London and fleech' up and doon the M6, M8, A90.
I have seen a couple of fashion kilts in the town centre of Edinburgh, solid black and solid grey. They looked odd at first, but there again so did the kilts of the London Scottish when I first saw them. North of the central belt it's pretty much as it was, they just are not seen.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Just a quick point, and that is that there is a major difference between a "non-tartan kilt" and the modern day utility style kilts, cargo kilts, et al.

There is a long tradition of wearing kilts made from solid fabric and other non-tartan material. In fact, one of the oldest depictions of a kilt, a feilidh-mor worn by Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochow (c. 1635), is solid red. R. R. MacIan depicted in MacIntosh figure in a solid blue kilt in the 1840s. Queen Victoria's ghillies at Balmoral are photographed in tweed kilts. John Brown famously wore an all black kilt suit. The London Scottish Regiment wear the solid "hodden grey" kilts, and Irish pipers have long worn solid saffron or emerald green kilts.

See more history here:
http://www.albanach.org/solid_kilt.html

Suffice it to say that solid colored kilts have never been as popular or as common as tartan kilts, of course, and no doubt many Scots lived long, healthy lives without ever seeing one! But nonetheless there is a history and a tradition there.

Now, if you are talking about canvas kilts with snaps and buttons all over them, cargo pockets, and all the other elements that make up a modern untily-style or urban kilt, that's a different critter altogether! These originated in the 1990s in the Seattle area of the northwestern US and would be a more recent import into Scotland if seen there.

[Blackrose87]

Sorry M. A. C. Newsome, of course you're right! I guess I worded my post wrong, as I am aware of the different traditional non-tartan kilts. Although, I think I've only ever seen photos of them.

I was meaning more modern 'kilts' that I've seen here with pockets, worn at waist level and which tend to be non-tartan.

[Jock Scot]

I was meaning more modern 'kilts' that I've seen here with pockets, worn at waist level and which tend to be non-tartan.

I thought that is what you meant and no, I still have never seen a "live" one!