Is it possible to wear a kilt and not look like you're from Scotland?

[Alan H]

It seems to me that a lot of the heat that gets generated on the forum is from the fundamental assumption that goes...."If you're wearing a kilt, then you're either Scottish or trying to look like you're Scottish". ... "trying to look like" at least to some of us implies a deception, as in someone is trying to look like something that they are not...

It seems to me that there are a number of reasons, and combinations of reasons to wear a pleated, unbifurcated garment.

1. You want to look like you're actually someone who lives in Scotland. --- in which case, judging from my 2014 visit to Scotland, we all should be wearing trousers, wellies and a warm shirt, except for Jock Scot..

2. You want to look like what you THINK people in Scotland actually look like.

3. You want to look like what your grandfather might have looked like, on a dressed-up-day if he'd lived in the Highlands 70 years ago.

3. You want to look like the other guys at the Highland Games or Burns Night.

4. You have some ancestral connection to Scotland and want to express an appreciation for that.

5. You tried one on and thought it was comfortable.

6. You wore one, got lots of compliments and attention and enjoyed it.

7. You tried one on, looked in the mirror and thought you looked great.

8. You wear one as part of a uniform for an activity you like to do...piping, or playing a part in the Ren Faire group "Highlander Warriors" or something.

IMHO, all of these are perfectly valid reasons for wearing a kilt. Some of us probably wear a kilt for a combination of those reasons. For me, for example, I happen to like the positive female attention I get from wearing a kilt. I admit it.

I suspect that some of the heat on the forum comes from many of us assuming that since we wear a kilt for our own reasons, that everybody else wears a kilt for the same reasons. THIS IS A MISTAKE.

For example... people often get rather hot with Jock Scot when he points out certain things about how a kilt is worn by people in the north of Scotland these days or in the past 20-30-40 years.. In answer to this, I have to ask..."Well, are you wearing a kilt because you want to look like an older gentleman who is living in the Highlands of Scotland?". For me, the answer to that question is NO...and so I never get mad at Jock for telling us about his experiences or viewpoints.

When I rant on and on about ... "wear what you like"... it would make sense to be annoyed with me if I was at the same time clear that I wanted to comply with "blue group reasons 1, 2 and 3" above. If I'm clear that I'm more interested in "brown group reasons" - well, then, that makes more sense.

I think if we all eased up and let folks wear what they want to wear, for the reasons that they have and didn't assume that we all had the same reasons, we might have more light and less heat here on XMTS.

cheers...

[Alan H]

BTW, i want you all to know that I wear a kilt for the following reason.

I'm blisteringly handsome in one.

Also, the Heavy Athletics rules require it on Game Day.

...and I'm trying to keep up with Panache on Burns Night, and miserably failing.

Besides, chicks dig 'em.

And lastly, I'm a quirky SOB and enjoy doing something different from the norm.

Also there's that faint, faint genetic connection from the 1700's going back to Lochs Awe and Fyne, as well as ancestors in the Borders who perfected the arts of pillage, rape, blackmail and extortion. Oh, and a few probably became Augustinians, as well. Actually if they became Augustinians, they're probably...but by no means certainly.... not my actual ancestors. But honestly, this is just an excuse as the connection is incredibly tenuous.

[Taskr]

BTW, i want you all to know that I wear a kilt for the following reason.

I'm blisteringly handsome in one.

Well, aren't we all?

[Alan H]

Well, aren't we all?

But, of COURSE!

[cessna152towser]

A traditional tartan kilt screams Scottish.
In my opinion as a Scot, Utilikilt suggests west coast North America, all the way down from Canada to San Diego, a fashion craze which spread outwards from its source in Seattle. Most of the Utilikilt wearers I have seen have been during holidays (vacations) in Vancouver, Vancouver Island and California. I do occasionally wear a Utilikilt here in Scotland but it gets a few odd looks which a tartan kilt would not.

[Jock Scot]

In my humble opinion, anyone dressed in a Clan/Scottish District/Scottish military surplus tartan is trying to dress as a Scot. Which has more than one problem attached to that train of thought and many of those outwith Scotland will certainly have difficulty with that idea.

Whilst there are are many tartans that have no connection to Scotland---the Maple leaf for example and could, in a Utopian world, solve many problems particularly with the direct Scottish connection, but we don't live in Utopia. That does make things difficult for the non tartan expert----most of us----- and does make things very difficult as mistakes are bound to be made so clear identification is required. That perhaps is possible on a website such as this, but in the wild that will be at the very least, difficult for the "man in the street" the world over, who will think "tartan kilt= Scotland".

For the "utility style kilt" things are easier as they have no Scots connection and their owners on the whole do not attempt to add a Scottish connection to them and frankly the Scots know little about them anyway.

[NPG]

I'm hesitant to comment here. I feel like this can of worms has been opened and closed and opened and closed again.

For what it is worth here is my take. Wearing the traditional tartan kilt is always going to make a Scottish related statement intentionally or not. It is a part of Scottish culture and heritage a part that was carried over and embraced by those who left Scotland and settled elsewhere, even if wearing the kilt was uncommon among those settlers and their descendants until more recently. Wearing of the traditional tartan kilt will always invoke thoughts of Scotland, that may not be what you are trying to do, but the fact is seeing the tartan and the kilt makes most people think of Scotland (sometimes Ireland but that's a different can of worms).

I think even with the Utility styled kilts some my still think of Scotland, at least here in Texas I can tell you many people still think of Scotland. But I like others have said do view it as something different.

[ctbuchanan]

I think the key factor here is wearing the kilt with all the other accoutrements of traditional Scottish wear.

I don't normally wear the kilt that way. I wear it like an American of Scottish descent. No one in Scotland, I trust, would look at me in a kilt with tshirt and ball cap and say I was trying to look Scottish. And I'm not. I wear my Clan tartan kilt as a symbol of my family and clan and I am definitely NOT trying to look Scottish (no offense intended). Oh, and I wear it because all of my Scottish Mother's sons do.

I did put on a Balmoral in this photo as I was serving in my capacity as Clan Marshall at the New Hampshire Highland Games.

[Lake Mist]

I wear my Clan Leatherneck kilt because it's comfortable. I wear it with pride.

[Tarheel]

I wear my Clan Leatherneck kilt because it's comfortable. I wear it with pride.

Did anyone doubt this?