Quote Originally Posted by CMcG View Post
"Traditional Highland Dress The place to talk about traditionally made kilts and classic highland apparel and style."

I understand traditional to mean beliefs and customs that are passed down from generation to generation. This involves preservation through reproduction of the tradition.

I understand classic to mean something that is of enduring value and that meets definitive standards. This involves older, model examples but can also include new ones that are different in some way while maintaining classic values.

To the rabble I'd like to submit some thoughts for discussion:

In highland apparel and style, what is truly classic and what is traditional? Are they the same or different?

What are the sources and influences of your concept of classic?

Where does your knowledge of tradition come from i.e. who passed it down to you, who passed it down to the person who passed it down, etc?

How does a site like XMTS contribute to the maintenance or alteration of traditions and concepts of classic?
It's interesting this thread has been started as I was just thinking about the very topic not more than an hour ago...

My thoughts may not exactly answer your discussion pointes, but what I would put forward is that, in a broad sense, we can take "traditional" highland dress to be taken from the time when the kilt became the National dress for ALL of Scotland and not just the daily wear of Highlandmen, ie the era of Sir Walter Scott and King George's visit to Edinburgh. "Classic" seems to me very subjective, though I perceive that many kilt accoutrements draw from the hey day of the Highland Clan System (pre 1745) for style inspiration (eg gauntlet cuffs etc). I could be off on the "classic" aspect as I'm only going on my impression of fashion history... I'm sure Mr Newsome will wade into the fray here sooner or later to straighten things out.

Regards,
Wesley