No Kilts seen in Scotland!

[northernsky]

Just home from my honeymoon. We went to Shetland, Orkney, along the north coast to Ullapool, then onto Lewis & Harris, N/S Uist, Eriskay, Barra and then onto Skye. The only kilts we saw being worn were tour guides on Skye. I did get a lovely tie in the Eriskay tartan though.

[Hauge]

Yeah. It is mostly worn at weddings and similar formal events.
Or at sports events, highland games ect. as well.

Casual wear is very seldom seen. And if, mostly by tourists...

[Tobus]

Hence the saying, "The kilt is a garment usually worn by Scots in America, and by Americans in Scotland", or something like that.

[OC Richard]

I too have seen almost no kilts while in Scotland except at the Highland Games I attended.

As people have said, men's Highland Dress has become very popular for weddings, and Kilt Hire Shops the equivalent of our American Tux Shops.

My takeaway from my first visit to Scotland (1986) was that almost nobody owned Highland Dress, but almost everybody got married in it. I saw wedding photos on the walls of several homes and the men were kilted.

Outside of Highland Games I think the only kilted men I saw were bagpipe buskers and the employees of a couple Highland Outfitters.

Kilted tour guides? Personally sitting all day on a bus the last thing I'd want to do in a kilt.

BTW the rise of Kilt Hire as a National Dress is more recent that I had imagined.

Somebody actually did a study- perhaps university thesis- and they chose Hawick for the reason that it's far from the Highlands and not a major population centre like Glasgow and Edinburgh.

You can see that the percentage of kilted gents rose from less than 5% in 1970 to 70% in 1995.

Interestingly Kilt Hire has risen similarly to white wedding dresses and "location" weddings.

[Nemuragh]

I too have seen almost no kilts while in Scotland except at the Highland Games I attended.

Apart from such special occasions, almost nobody wears a kilt where I live (‘Auld Ayr wham ne’er a town surpasses’). When I was a kid, my cousins (with whom I lived for a while) went to church wearing their kilts each Sunday. At a recent funeral, I felt, as I usually do when kilted, as somewhat eccentric.

John

[Jock Scot]

Generally speaking, the areas you mentioned and visited have never ever been locations of strength for the civilian kilt.

For the rest of Scotland most would perhaps, normally regard the civilian kilt as a garment to be worn on special occasions. Everyday kilt wearing is only carried out by, at best, a minority.

[FossilHunter]

Generally speaking, the areas you mentioned and visited have never ever been locations of strength for the civilian kilt.

For the rest of Scotland most would perhaps, normally regard the civilian kilt as a garment to be worn on special occasions. Everyday kilt wearing is only carried out by, at best, a minority.

What regions specifically would you consider to be traditional strongholds of kilt wearing? Even if historically?

[kilted2000]

I was in Scotland for three weeks this time last year. I visited Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fort William, Inverness, Lewis, Orkney, and Stirling. Besides kilted tour guides or busking pipers, I saw one utility kilt in London, one kilted man walking down the Royal Mile, one walking down the High St in Fort William, and one kilted man at Culloden battlefield. I don't know the nationality of any of these kilted men. I also saw what I think was a product of 21st Century Kilted being worn quite well by a man walking his dog on the Royal Mile as well. I also didn't expect to see many kilts while in Scotland so it was just as I expected.

I did bring a kilt to wear myself, but I never had the nerve, too worried about being judged as a 'stupid American.' I am stupid and an American but not because I wear kilts

[Jock Scot]

What regions specifically would you consider to be traditional strongholds of kilt wearing? Even if historically?

Blimey! That’s a tricky question! There are two, I think, aspects to consider. One, is not altogether a savoury subject but is relevant and that is, the question of wealth. The other as a broad generalisation of area and perhaps it’s best to narrow it down to County level. Make no mistake there will many many exceptions to the Counties that I suggest but at a guess I would suggest in no particular order, Aberdeenshire, Inverness-shire, Perthshire, Angus and Moray and the city of Edinburgh. There is a tenuous correlation here, to reason one, As well.

[Steve Ashton]

As a kilt maker I of course had to visit Scotland to visit with my suppliers.
During one trip I was up at Edinburgh Castle. My wife had gone to get an ice cream cone so I told her we would meet at the drawbridge. By the time she got there I was surrounded by tourists begging for a photo of a guy in a kilt. Myself, one other kilt maker, other X Marks members, and a couple of soldiers were the only kilts to be seen in the entire city.
If I had put my hat on the ground I could have paid for the trip.

Not even clerks in the kilt stores wore kilts. I sad loss of an advertising opportunity if you ask me. Show your wares.


I attended two Highland Games and saw a few kilts, but even the Pipe Bands carried their kilts in garment bags, changed before performing, and then changed back into trousers before going home.
I was even laughed at by some young locals at the train station and walking around towns as I was, as always, in my kilt. And I was dressed nicely in kilt, hose, tweed jacket, and waistcoat with a tie.

This is me and Howie Nicklesby. I had taken my jacket off as we were on the patio of a pub and it was a hot day.