Traditonal vs. Historical

[Steve Ashton]

Jock, while I can understand and agree with what you say, I have to look at the forum with a bit wider perspective.

The members of X Marks were once known as "The Kilted Cognizati". This meant that if there was anything that you wanted to know about the kilt, or even if you just needed reassurance that you were not alone in this world, X Marks was where you ended up.

I am seeing a troubling trend. We are now being seen as "old stuck-in-the-muds". We talk about only on thing. We will not hear, and therefore push out, everything else.

We have heard from quite a few members, even within this thead, who say that the concept some like yourself, seem to see so clearly, is not clear or evident to them.
We seem to have fallen from our acceptance of others and new or different concepts and ideas.

It started innocently enough with topics like white hose. Well I submit that, to the world in general, white hose are what is presented as Traditional Scottish Formal Attire. Is there no wonder some are confused? But when an innocent newbie comes on and posts a picture of himself in his new Scottish made outfit that includes white hose and belt plus vest we seem to chase them off with the tone of our comments.

And heaven forbid someone should come onto X Marks with a Utilikilt worn low enough to drop the hem to mid calf.

Unless we stop insisting that some undefinable thing is the ideal or goal to be achieved, we will slowly wither and die. Unless we stop insisting that the goal is to look like some retro throwback to the 1930's, soon all that will be left here are a handful of traditionalist who all look alike.

The goal of fashion is, and always has been, to be new and different. Where do we think all those different jacket styles came from?

Even in the traditional kilmaking business the goal is to be different. To find something that is unique and makes one kilt stand out from the rest.

What actually made what we today call traditional is mass production. The Prince Charlie, Argyle and Tweed Argyle jackets are the product of standard patterns and standard fittings. I think we forget this when we hold these up as "this is our tradition and how we have always done it. "

In my early days of wearing the kilt I too used what I saw on the websites of the Scottish companies as my guide to how to dress. Now, I go out of my way to avoid wearing anything from Traditional Scottish Wear.

And as the one responsible for keeping this forum receptive to its members I have to put my foot down sometimes. If we are to survive, to continue to be timely, receptive and inviting to those who find us via a google search, we simply cannot afford to confuse everyone so much.