Kilted US expat in Scotland needing advice

[SoulFyre777]

I’ve not been active here for quite some time, but I return today to present a conundrum to the rabble for input:

I am an American citizen that would wear kilts fairly often in the States who has now moved to Scotland last September. I brought my small kilt collection with me, but - in all transparency - I have thus far not actually been brave enough to wear them.

You see, when I moved here, I intended to assimilate with a new culture. I want to make Scotland my home. I don’t want to be “that American” who came here with tartan coloured glasses on expecting Scotland to be mainly Nessie, haggis, kilts, castles, or any other stereotype shown in the windows of any Princes Street tourist shop.

I want to be seen not as a joke, but as one paying homage to a country, people, history, and heritage that I love. Ideally, this would include being able to wear my kilts from time to time without feeling like folks are expecting me to queue up for the next Outlander bus tour; or rolling their eyes at the pretentious US expat in a kilt.

Can anyone else relate? Any advice for helping me once again kilt up with confidence?

Thanks in advance!
Adam


PS Reach out if you’re near Edinburgh! Maybe a kilted outting with a local might be just the ticket for my waning confidence! ;)

[Jock Scot]

Just don your kilt and get out there! No frills, no flash add ons, just the kilt and "normal accoutrements" and just be yourself. Expect no reaction and see what happens. Hurry slowly and good luck.

Oh one more thing! Just wear one tartan.

[spr0k3t]

Jock is right. You can't get over your fear if you don't embrace it. If you are going to kilt up, do it... just don't be daft about it. Last time I visited and kilted up, I had the feeling of a bloody tourist on crack. That feeling went away fairly quickly. Get out and go for a hike or something. Just don't be the kilted tourist and you'll be fine.

[Kiltedjohn]

Speaking as an exiled Scot who has lived in England for many years, I always like to be kilted in Scotland. I agree entirely with the above comments. Don't go "over the top", and enjoy kilt-wearing. I have been mistaken for a tour guide a few times (!), which is no doubt because very few people go about kilted day-to-day.

[Troglodyte]

Jock is right, as always.

Everyone in Scotland knows all about the kilt, and so it needs no explanation, excuse, reason or what-have-you, to be out and about in it - so expect no comment or questioning, or even no response at all.

You will be just another kiltie.

Remember your kilt is not fancy-dress, nor costume, nor uniform, so how you wear it ought to be just as natural and easy as any other garment. No-one cares..!

If you want to avoid being thought of as an American tourist, avoid tourist attractions (or go to them non-kilted, like everyone else) and refrain from doing anything that attracts attention - like shouting 'Freedom..!' and banging-on about your heritage and ancestry in a loud voice.

Remember, here in Scotland, we all have history and heritage in abundance and are quite content with our clan connections - so they very seldom ever get mentioned. We don't make a big thing of it, and it is tiresome when 'tourists' do.

In other words, when in Rome...

[Jock Scot]

.........

Everyone in Scotland knows all about the kilt, and so it needs no explanation, excuse, reason or what-have-you, to be out and about in it - so expect no comment or questioning, or even no response at all.

You will be just another kiltie.

Remember your kilt is not fancy-dress, nor costume, nor uniform, so how you wear it ought to be just as natural and easy as any other garment. No-one cares..!

If you want to avoid being thought of as an American tourist, avoid tourist attractions (or go to them non-kilted, like everyone else) and refrain from doing anything that attracts attention - like shouting 'Freedom..!' and banging-on about your heritage and ancestry in a loud voice.

Remember, here in Scotland, we all have history and heritage in abundance and are quite content with our clan connections - so they very seldom ever get mentioned. We don't make a big thing of it, and it is tiresome when 'tourists' do.

In other words, when in Rome...

Exactly so!

[SoulFyre777]

I might have guessed Jock Scot would be first to respond. Your level head and kind encouragement has been a staple to my kilted journey right back to the beginning. Thank you, sir!

Lots of great advice all around. One thing that I think has jaded the way I see wearing the kilt in Scotland are the tourists where I come from in Nashville, Tennessee. While it is the Home of Country Music with images of cowboy boots, Wrangler jeans, and big cowboy hats, the running joke there is that if someone passes by in a cowboy hat in Nashville, the locals turn to each other with a knowing glance, a shake of the head, and mumble “…tourist”.

Every time I’m on the Royal Mile, I see a handful of tourists wearing their newly purchased acrylic wool kilts (a shocking number even wearing them backwards). As someone who is “local” now, I seem even more aware of how they stick out like a sore thumb and I can’t help but feel reticent to add to the image of “out-of-towners” chasing a fantasy of Scotland.

For the record, I say all of that with not a small degree of empathy for these tourists. My first stop in Edinburgh the first time I visited in 2007 was one of the gaudy shops on Princes Street (“Pride of Scotland”, I think it was). I was just as wide-eyed and naive as any I see today — if not more so. So my tendency is to encourage (and maybe gently guide) folks when I can because it’s what I wish someone had done for me.

Anyway, thinking about this, I realise that the cowboy boots of Nashville and the kilts of Scotland are similar in some ways, but there are plenty of ways they are different. I appreciate the suggestions to wear the kilt in non-touristy areas. I think that’s what I will likely do.

For those from Scotland, though, what are your thoughts if you were to encounter someone in Scotland wearing a kilt and then hear them speak in the unmistakeable American accent? I tend to assume there would be some shaking of the head — just as in Nashville with cowboy hats — but maybe that isn’t typically the case. My experience is that the Scots really seem to be much better at avoiding judging people than many US Southerners I’ve known. ;)

[Jock Scot]

Well most of us have been tourists at one time or another, so on the whole I tend to treat our visitors with a pleasant smile and a hello. Most visitors are enthusiastic and courteous in their holiday surroundings and on the whole if, I have time-----I am retired----- I give them a bit of my time to have a brief chat.

What I----many of us,---- do avoid is the visitors "dreaded tartan justification lecture" which usually goes into minute detail of their ancestors, tartan, etc. and can last hours!-------If you are not careful. Oh yes, they happen! Of course visitors to most parts of the world are enthusiastic, particularly if they feel that they have a connection to the place, but the locals do need some consideration too.

However you and your family have taken a huge step to actually live here and that in my book, does, if I may say so, get my respect and I hope you and your family are made very welcome and enjoy your time here. From what I read in the posts on this website, I can quite see that there are often quite large differences in attitudes, thinking and styles, between one side of the Atlantic and the other. For that "I doff my bonnet" to you and your family for giving this side of the Atlantic a try!

[Arnot]

Can anyone else relate? Any advice for helping me once again kilt up with confidence?

I can relate a bit. I am an American living in the UK although I live in Lancashire. I always wear my kilts in a traditional manner and just go about my business. That applies to here in Lancashire or in Scotland. Nobody knows that I'm American until I speak. When I do speak, I am just myself and people are fine with me wearing a kilt. I am a kiltmaker and I do business with Scottish people here in Lancashire as well as with my Suppliers in Scotland. None of them treat me any different because of where I come from or the way I talk. Basically, just put it on and be yourself as has been said already. You'll be fine.

[Troglodyte]

For those from Scotland, though, what are your thoughts if you were to encounter someone in Scotland wearing a kilt and then hear them speak in the unmistakeable American accent? I tend to assume there would be some shaking of the head — just as in Nashville with cowboy hats — but maybe that isn’t typically the case. My experience is that the Scots really seem to be much better at avoiding judging people than many US Southerners I’ve known. ;)

I think I qualify to answer this...

During the season, I meet a good many Americans (as well as other nationalities) who wear the kilt and Highland dress impeccably. They generally have stricter attitudes to what is, or is not, 'done' and so appear close to the ideal as it is shown in cataloges and the like. They are a pleasure to see.

We Scots at home are much less strictly concerned with appearing to know the form, and no doubt much of what we do would raise eyebrows amongst the purists.

Here, few are concerned about wearing the outfit that is the 'approved' style - Tattersall shirt with striped tie, bold check tweeds and reproduction tartans make a wonderfu combination for the classic look, but the number who dress with such care and effort here in Scotland might surprise most foreign visitors - it is not many!

In my experience, few men in Scotland own a kilt, and those who do usually have just the one which gets worn to weddings, ceilidhs, gatherings and games - or the footie - and what gets worn with it, such as open-neck shirt, tweeds or evening doublet, depends on the occasion.

Foreigners wearing Highland dress appropriately cannot fail to please native Scots, in the same way that treating it as if indulging in some kind of Brigadoon/Braveheart fantasy, with banners and weaponry, is seen to be silly and irritating.

Americans do themselves a disservice in thinking they are the only ones who get it wrong - there are probably many more who get it 'right' that go unnoticed for that reason. Having an accent, being loud and attracting attention is a bit of a cliche for Americans, and is unjust. Americans are frequent visitors to the museum where I work, and are withoout exception quiet and courteous - often noticably so - and their genuine enthusiasm for the heritage and history we have on display is hugely gratifying.