MTV News

[Mattg]

Awesome! Good publicity!

[starbkjrus]

Very kewl. Congratulations!

[GTRMAN]

Be afraid... Be very afraid.. I'm all for Kilts catching on. I'd love to see it.

However, MTV usually causes things to become insanely popular at an insanely fast pace thus causing a backlash.. Not only that, but those of us who are outside our teens and early 20's will likely be seen as copycats and dirty old men who are following trends to pick up little girlies......

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

That's great Rocky! Did they mention how they found out about you? Was it a friend of yours that let them in on the secret? Or maybe it was those Madonna kilts!

[GMan]

A great positive the world will know the greatness of Kilts!!!

[RockyR]

I'm not TOO worried about this causing a big stir... It's only on MTV.com/news, NOT on the TV.

She googled the term "Kilts" and we were one of the top 3 names on the list (that in ITSELF is pretty darn cool). She didn't know about the Madonna thing until I told her... she thought that was pretty cool. Have a feeling that'll make it into the story.

She had called Steven at UK, but he didn't return her call, so she interviewed "UK Booth Workers" at a festival. I told her about Steve at FK and Robert at Rkilts. She might call them as well.

She's looking to cover kilts from the "widely accepted" and "rebirth" kind of angle... not so much the clan affiliation angle.

[pbpersson]

She's looking to cover kilts from the "widely accepted" and "rebirth" kind of angle... not so much the clan affiliation angle.

You mean something like "men's kilts are being widely accepted across the country and experiencing a rebirth as the most comfortable form of casual clothing for men"?

That sounds like a good thing....I think we can use that sort of publicity.

Even if it was on the television I think it would be difficult to cause a sudden mass conversion of the population to kilts. The cultural change is too dramatic.

However, any such news articles can only serve to speed the acceptance of kilts. Most of the laughter when I'm at the mall I think comes from teenagers.

[Ugly Bear]

MTV usually causes things to become insanely popular at an insanely fast pace thus causing a backlash.

Interesting. What things did MTV cause to become popular, and thus caused backlashes? Aside from musical groups, that is.

[RockyR]

[quote/cajunscot]That's too bad, in my opinion. My students generally accept the kilt because I discuss my Scottish heritage and the concept of the "clan tartan". [/quote]

While I (as a tartan kilt maker) would LOVE for the kilt to be most widely known for it's clan affiliations and Scottish Heritage, if you want the kilt to be "widely accepted", then it has to go BEYOND that. It has to appeal to people OTHER than just those of us with celtic blood.

[macwilkin]

While I (as a tartan kilt maker) would LOVE for the kilt to be most widely known for it's clan affiliations and Scottish Heritage, if you want the kilt to be "widely accepted", then it has to go BEYOND that. It has to appeal to people OTHER than just those of us with celtic blood.

With all due respect, Rocky: why do you have to go "beyond it", though? Why must history and tradition be ignored and sacrificed for something to be "accepted"?

My point was, that my students at our community college accept the kilt as a heritage symbol and it's history. After talking to some, they express interest in their own heritage. A few have even asked me about "non-Scottish" tartans if they have no Scottish blood. The very fact that tartans are being designed for Italians, Swiss, Norwegians, Germans, Chinese give the tartan kilt that appeal to others that you mentioned. It's been my experience that students will love history if you make it interesting and something they can relate to; I'm all for telling them about the modern trend in kilts, but they could have also dropped a name like Ewan MacGregor, showed a picture of him traditionally decked out, and talked about his kilt symbolizing his family. That would have worked.

I don't want the kilt to be "widely accepted" just for for the sake of being accepted. The kilt isn't for everyone, and that's all right. In my experience, most folks I talk to accept the kilt once I explain what I mentioned above.

To me, a discussion of kilts without some discussion of its roots is wasted. But, I'm a history teacher, and I hate to see history ignored. You have to know where you came from to get where you're going.

Please don't get me wrong, though: I'm happy that you are getting some exposure, though. That's good.

Regards,

Todd