Quote Originally Posted by HeathBar View Post
I've seen pipers at highland games who come to the event in their street clothes, put on the kilt for their performance or competition and as soon as its over, put their street clothes back on.
That seems to be the usual attitude towards Highland dress among people in the Pipe Band scene. Whenever they're not actually competing they take off all or part of their uniform, so you'll see people with their kilts on but their ghillies traded for trainers/tennis shoes and their "hose" shoved down around their ankles, or with their hose and ghillies intact but with shorts replacing the kilt, or with shorts and trainers but the band's dress shirt and necktie still in place etc etc.

The guy who runs the pipe band I play in thought that having band members running around the Games looking like that was bad for the band's image, so he made it a rule that we must arrive at competitions in full uniform, and wear the full uniform the entire day. The only exception is wearing baseball caps instead of the band Glengarries. You'll note that few Pipe Band people wear their Glengarries except when actually performing, and that most Pipe Bands have baseball caps with band logos that members wear the rest of the day. One of the last things that any band's Pipe Major has to tell the band as they march "up to the line" to compete is "hats!" , a reminder for everyone to put on their Glengarries.

Pipe Band people almost universally dislike wearing their uniform unless actually performing, and especially don't like riding in cars in their kilts. (At a performance you can usually tell if someone has worn their kilt on the drive to the event.)