Share your kilt reaction stories

[MartinMU]

When I started with my regiment piper look last year, the first thing my colleagues asked - are you going to be a true scots man. What will you be wearing underneath. My response was pretty simple, stockings, gaiters and brogues 😉

At the event two weeks ago, in the streets, me as being the only kilt wearer at -5 celsius, i got loads of compliments from people on the street. I had a significant presence with my style. I felt myself proud and gorgeous. Almost like a true scots man 😇

[OC Richard]

...I started with my regiment piper look...

A specific regiment? A regiment you served in?

It's a tricky subject and can get "kilt reactions" different to the ones pipers in ordinary civilian dress get.

From the first 19th century civilian pipe bands up until the 1970s civilian bands nearly always wore one of two types of outfits:

1) the ordinary civilian Evening Dress of the period

2) outfits based on the Full Dress of regimental pipers.



The tricky part of the regimental route is that each regiment's pipers had a unique uniform, so civilian pipe bands generally wore:

1) an outfit following the dress of a specific regiment

2) an outfit which was a hodgepodge of the dress of various regiments

3) an outfit which, while following the overall appearance of military dress, avoided all military-specific items (badges, sporrans, tartans, etc.)

Following the dress of a specific regiment, especially one still in existence, can blur the lines of being a re-enactor in some people's eyes.

[MartinMU]

A specific regiment? A regiment you served in?

Thanks for the tips.

In Switzerland we don't have piper regiments. I server in the Swiss Air Force and there is no dedicated band, but the regular swiss military brass bands.
General public cannot differentiate if I have black watch regiments buttons or RRS buttons on my tunic. They will not be able to tell the difference between a black watch tartan or a Royal Stewart tartan nor if my hose is the one of RRS or of an irish regiment. Due to this, any reaction I can expect and i experienced is if i am wearing something under the kilt and the gorgeous look which lot of people like from military tattoo's.

Yes, the tunic is kept neutral. All chevrons, insignias have been removed. I am not allowed to carry military uniforms neither the swiss nor foreign one in public. No sgian dubh, no dirk either. Thats forbidden.


In all cases, here in Switzerland, I am doing pretty ok wearing this for my events.

[RGM1]

My experience is quite positive in wearing a kilt. Some of the strongest statements of appreciation are from well dressed women who I assume understand better than most the effort it takes to do it right. Not being the sort who has gotten a lot of these comments, they are most appreciated. Nice not being invisible.

[OC Richard]

In Switzerland we don't have piper regiments.

General public cannot differentiate if I have Black Watch regiments buttons or RRS buttons on my tunic. They will not be able to tell the difference between a Black Watch tartan or a Royal Stewart tartan...

It's like that here in the USA also. Since we don't have kilted regiments nobody knows or cares if you're wearing regimental items when kilted.

For me when I'm out kilted playing the pipes despite "the public" not knowing if I'm playing the pipes well or badly, or dressed well or badly, I know. Like most musicians I'm my own harshest critic.

Yes, the tunic is kept neutral. All chevrons, insignias have been removed.

That's probably best.

There's an interesting exception, the longstanding practice in Scotland for the Pipe Majors of civilian bands wearing military-style dress to wear the four chevrons of the office of Pipe Major. Those chevrons are indicating only that the person is functioning as Pipe Major. They're not claiming military rank.

Here's a nice Scottish example of a civilian pipe band wearing military-style Full Dress, avoiding military badges, sporrans, doublets, etc. Still, the Pipe Major wears the chevrons of his office.

No sgian dubh, no dirk either. That's forbidden.

It's pretty much like that here too. It varies by State and venue, and so many venues here have a "zero tolerance policy" regarding weapons of any sort that the easiest path is to leave the Sgian at home.

[geomick]

... It's pretty much like that here too. It varies by State and venue, and so many venues here have a "zero tolerance policy" regarding weapons of any sort that the easiest path is to leave the Sgian at home.

All of the Highland Games I have attended in WI and IL had no problems with my Flett Forge Dirk, but some wanted to search my sporran to make sure I wasn't smuggling in alcohol.

[MartinMU]

For me when I'm out kilted playing the pipes despite "the public" not knowing if I'm playing the pipes well or badly, or dressed well or badly, I know. Like most musicians .

While keeping the military style for me, the good thing about the regiment tunic, it has easy swapable buttons. This means i can switch within less than 5 minutes from 42nd black watch to Royal Highland fusiliers. Wha i would never do is mix the distictive buttons, collar dogs, buttons and tartans. If I start with black watch, all will be black watch. I will be my own critic too.

[jsrnephdoc]

It's like that here in the USA also. Since we don't have kilted regiments nobody knows or cares if you're wearing regimental items when kilted.

and

It's pretty much like that here too. It varies by State and venue, and so many venues here have a "zero tolerance policy" regarding weapons of any sort that the easiest path is to leave the Sgian at home.

For me, the fundamental question. when wearing clothing or accessories that obviously are uncommon or can be taken as part of a costume, is whether doing so is respectful, or mocking, or flaunting common decency.

I don't wear a kilt when mowing the lawn. There's no need to, and of course there's very little real grass in Las Vegas anyway.

More decades ago than I care to remember, in my first real post-education JOB as a physician, I was "making rounds" at my hospital. An elevator door opened for me, and a 20-ish custodial employee emerged wearing the most common "Amurican" uniform—a Tee Shirt. However, this one was emblazoned with a logo that read "I'm so horny, not even the crack of dawn is safe."

Immediately I diverted from the elevator to the hospital administrator's office and reported the flaunting of common sense. It was taken care of.

It's clear from the traffic on this forum that for some in Scotland, and for a few members of the Scottish diaspora, kilts are INDEED common daily wear, and that's wonderful. But, for most of us, it IS a costume in one sense or another. And, that's recognized at one of the virtual CATHEDRALS of military piping—the Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo. When I attended in 2023, the very TITLE of the year's show was "Stories."

So, most of my kilts are in variants of my family tartan, but each of them tells a story (of respect for my family, or of still-meager knowledge of how and why the kilt has evolved), but when one is worn, it's worn with respect, and frankly to "look good" while doing so.

As for the weapons, I do tuck a REAL Sgian Dubh into my hose top occasionally. That's possible because here in "Amurica," reliance on shared public transit is almost non-existent, so it's feasible to arrive at and attend a private gathering without threatening or bothering anyone. But, whenever I kilt for a public event, I substitute the immensely inexpensive little plastic ball point pen shown in my <xmarks> Avatar that shares NOTHING with a REAL Sgian Dubh except size and shape, but CAN be a story-promoting source of curiosity satisfaction for anyone who notices, because it was acquired from a storied paleontology museum's souvenir shop, where, LONG before human weapons or even humans themselves roamed, T Rex's DID, and where until very recently, I lived.

And that foundation of my kiltlng practice is also why I already know what kilts I'll acquire next: one in the "Nursing Tartan," designed FOR, and perhaps even BY nursing professionals in the Scottish NHS, if ever it gets woven again and Barb Tewksbury can acquire some cloth for my wife, who in retirement is just SO proud of her career as a kind and caring American Registered Nurse, and the other in Robertson Red "white line" for me, because, simply IT tells a tiny story of the evolution of tartan, and, it doesn't just remind me too much of a stoplight.