I agree with the above, in that highland dress is a dynamic thing, and so questions regarding tradition can soon start going round in circles: compounded by such once very strong traditions such as the kilt never being worn south of the highland line by anyone with any pretense to being a gentleman*-apart from the military. Now it is seen as a common form of Scottish as opposed to highland dress.

* That would mean that I'm no gentleman!

However there is another problem, and that is of conventions-these are not of necessity written down-and might be restricted to a certain clan/region/organisation-gatherings even. Possibly this is a very British thing, where certain nuances of behaviour which are 'known' as opposed to being set out in any book-pronouncement etc, do influence ones standing and behaviour.

This can lead to immense differences of opinion: for when attending certain events kilted-I will often be observing unwritten rules that I know it is necessary to follow-rather than adhering to dressing in what might appear to be the accepted fashion according to the book-wider atitudes.

Thus if attending say a gathering I'd certainly wear a tweed jacket and tie together with appropriate headwear-there are other nuances-but enough is enough. For I'd be observing an unwritten convention as to how to dress for the occasion. Yet such a way of dressing would be entirely distanced from my casual day to day attire.

So today we do have an interesting situation: where one the one side there is the dynamic evolution of the kilt and matters pertaining to it. Then there are the recorded traditions and the various books saying how the kilt etc should be worn, coupled with the various edicts of pundits and authorities. Lastly come the trouble makers like myself, who have been brought up adhering to certain conventions as to how highland dress should be worn on this or that occasion-who from time to time find ourselves at odds with the other two approaches.

This leads to the suggestion that the real problems are not of tradition-convention-dynamism even: but how we can accomodate our various approaches in an amicable way so as to further the evolution and wearing of such a sensible garment.

James