Quote Originally Posted by Chris Webb
BUT, the fact remains that whether or not you are part of the "cause" you have still benefitted from the efforts of those who have been and continue to be a part of it. Because of the actions, tenacity, and raw intestinal fortitude of those who have gone before us the number of kiltmakers is growing, prices are coming down, more and more men have the option of wearing kilts to work and even more men are finding it easier to venture out in public in a kilt.
I have to disagree Chris. I wear my kilts because my family has a lot of ties to Scotland. As Todd pointed out, those of us that wear kilts for heritage and family reasons have always been free to wear a kilt when and where we like. We haven't had to "venture out" in public, we just went. No one had to fight for me to wear a kilt to work (I just wore it if I felt like it), and if someone in the public makes a comment about my kilts.....c'est la vie! To each their own.

Yes the list of kiltmakers has grown, but that is due to a bigger market. This has been accomplished by a bigger product offering. Utilikilts didn't come about because of pressure from full time kiltwearers. Instead fulltime kiltweares have come about with the introduction of these new companies and lower prices. I have always been able to get a kilt if I wanted to.

Using your own arguement though, you could say that full time kiltwearers really benefited from those people that they love to call "Weekend Wallaces" (man, that is a goofy term). After all, it was those people that wore kilts, for heritage reasons, to weddings, funerals, and Burns nights that kept the kilt alive in the new world for almost 200 years. Had that not happened the kilt would be part of a history book and none of us would be wearing them now.

One point I think that you missed though Chris, is that it really seems that people in North America especially have tried to search out some form of heritage in the hopes of feeling like part of a bigger picture. There was a time where being "American" was ok for people. Now with African-American, Asian-American, Native-American, etc,etc titles, people of European heritage were looking for their -American. Discovery of their Scottish, Welsh, Irish, etc heritage gives them something to look in to and research. Kilts being a part of that connection, dictated that demand would go up.



We all play a role.