Kilt in Italy

[dejudicibus]

Well, I know, it is unusual that Italian people wear a kilt, but I visited Scotland and Ireland and I fell in love of both countries. I purchased a kilt and few accessories when I was in the Highlands. Recently I was invited to a wedding to which many people from various countries will participate, each one with their own traditional dressing. I had not an appropriate suit, so I asked myself, why not wearing my kilt? My wife was enthusiastic. It is elegant and I really love the Celtic culture. So I purchased a fly plaid and a Scottish shirt from e-bay and here is. I think I will post pictures here after wedding.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Welcome to the board! It may surprise you to know that you are not the only Italian with an interest in kilts.

I have had a few people over the years here in the US of Italian heritage ask me to reccomend a tartan. In the past I have reccomended the Prince Charles Edward Stuart tartan, as "Bonnie Price Charlie" was as much an Italian as he was a Scot (he spent much of his life in Italy, and after the failed Jacobite uprising returned there, and is buried in Rome).

But there are actually a few Italian tartans now. One, just called the Italian tartan, was designed by Paul Davidson and Antonio Cirignaco to recognise the strong Scottish - Italian connections. The intent was to have a tartan for the many ethnic Italians who now live in Scotland to wear.

Another, called the Italian National tartan, commemorates the same ties. This one has actually been approved by the Italian Consul in Glasgow. Try this web site: http://www.clansmanitalia.com

Some Italian towns also have their own tartans. There is one for Prato (called McPrato) designed by Lochcarron for the tartan exhibition mounted by the Scottish Tartans Authority at the Museo del Tessuto in Prato in December 2003.

Lastly, I beleive the City of Rome has it's own official pipe band, and they wear their own "City of Rome" tartan.

So you see, you are not alone!
Aye,
Matt

[macwilkin]

Welcome to the board!

Are you aware of the Italian National Tartan?

http://www.clansmanitalia.com/

And this web site about the Italian community in Scotland, has a few more articles, links, etc. about this tartan (and others) that you might like to peruse:

http://www.scotsitalian.com/culture.htm

Cheers,

Todd

[Robin]

Welcome!

[dejudicibus]

First of all, I apologies for my poor English: it is not my first language.

Well, you are right, Matt: I am really surprised. I did not know of Italian tartan. I think it is really nice: colours are strictly related to Italian heritage. Good work. Thank you for letting me know of Italian Clan.

My family is very ancient. It has more than 1,000 years. My father and I collected a lot of pieces of information about our genealogy and heraldry. They are published on http://www.dejudicibus.it/genealogia/ . So I understand being proud to belong to a clan.

I am a consultant of knowledge management, but in my spare time I am a novel writer. I already published four books and, on May 2005, it will be published in Italy my first Fantasy book. There are no native Italian writers of fantasy. I am the first one to be published by Armenia, a leader publisher of Fantasy in my country. In my books Elves speak Scottish Gaelic. I use that language inside the book, providing the translation to Italian in the footnotes. I do not know Gaelic too, but I have a collaborator that translated it to that beautiful language.

And I love everything is related to Celtic culture. I am now designing the web site of my trilogy. I used a lot of Celtic knots to do it. All drawings are mine. I think Celtic knots are simply wonderful.

I am glad to be part of this community. Thank you for welcome.

[minimalistix]

First of all, I apologies for my poor English: it is not my first language.

Hell, English is my first language and I don't write very well with it either. ;)

[davedove]

Welcome aboard! I don't know for sure, but you may be our first Italian member.

I like your fantasy idea. Although I never wrote any stories, I created a game setting where elves were similar to the Welsh and dwarves were kilted.

[Graham]

Welcome dejudicibus, well Matt has very nicely shown the links between Italy and Scotland, all i can offer is this photo, I took it on the Orkney Islands, it is a Catholic Church built by Italians during the war.

A little bit of Italy in Scotland.

[dejudicibus]

...on the Orkney Islands, it is a Catholic Church built by Italians during the war. A little bit of Italy in Scotland.

Orkney Islands? So far! Incredible. Next time I will come in Scotland I would like to visit Orkney and Shetland Islands. I live in Rome, a very crowded city. It should be quite different to live over there.

This is what I like of Internet. You can meet good people all around the world even when you do not travel. And you learn a lot. A great way to know each other, avoid stereotypes and prejudices, and appreciate what's good in other cultures.

Thank you for picture, Graham.

[macwilkin]

Here is the web site of the Caledonian Society of Rome:

http://www.caledoniansocietyofrome.org/

And the City of Rome Pipe Band

http://www.cityofromepipeband.org/home.html

The Caledonian Society has a nice paragraph about the City of Rome tartan, which is used for their web site's background:

In late 2004 the City of Rome Pipe Band was introduced to retired weaver and tartan designer, Ken Clark, from Brora in Sutherland, Scotland, and in April 2005, with help from Ken, they decided to design their very own “City of Rome” tartan. The Black and Navy Blue background represents the colours of the “Azzuri”, the National Italian football team. The cross strip of Yellow is for the gold of the Vatican, with the over check of Maroon and Orange being the official colours of the Eternal City. The tartan has the approval of the City of Rome Authorities as the city's official tartan.

Perhaps dejudicibus will attend their Burns Night and give us a report? :mrgreen:

Cheers,

Todd