Why you don't see Scots wearing their kilts often

[GG]

Maybe a possible solution to the myriad variations of tartan would be to generate perhaps 6 or 8 tartans which bear a passing resemblance to many of them.

You could have two shades of red, of blue, a brownish, a greenish, a golden, a purplish - or even change the choice, have maybe four colours, and change them each year.

Once a certain number of kilts in circulation is passed, providing they are easily washable, a man would be able to acquire kilts to wear, with perhaps one 'wedding' kilt which would be his exact tartan.

The generic tartans should all be exactly the same set size, maybe 8 inches, and perhaps even have the same thread counts, so that the down time on the looms would be reduced.

Long runs would reduce costs for the weaving, though there might be an increased cost in making shirts, if the trend was for longer more substantial styles.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

I so very much agree with you, Anne.

[GG]

I expect that in Scotland where, by all reports, one is likely to catch some flak for just wearing a kilt, one would get even more of a hard time if he was to show up in anything less than eight yards of worsted in their own clan tartan.

If your assumptions are correct, there is a problem. High prices mean less usage of the kilt and a down going business.

Could you imagine that you "dared" not drive a small inexpensive car, because it was not regarded "real" or appropriate?

[tpa]

I think perhaps a lot of Scots are too hung up on what is proper and what is not rather than concentrating on what is comfortable and practical. Personally I'd go for comfort over "correctness" any day if such a thing really exists. I also think it tends to be forgotten that today's kilts originated from everyday wear and are relatively modern (in Scottish heritage) terms. I was certainly brought up to believe that you either wore a tartan related to a family name, as I do, my mother being of Anderson descent, or else wore a neutral colour as my father who was born in England, but brought up in the wilds of Argyll, did.
Personally I have just ordered a PV off the peg kilt in Royal Stewart (very limited tartan selection) as much out of curiosity as anything else. I have a casual kilt but it is a bit too good for some outdoor work so a really casual one is what I'm after. I don't know when it is going to arrive because I paid extra to have the length altered, which I was told was possible for a £10 fee if I was not in a hurry. It is still quite a large percentage on the original eBay price of £22.99, but for that money, who is going to argue. If it turns out to be everyday wearable, I'll probably follow it with one in Black Watch, which won't show the dirt so much!

[chrisupyonder]

I think perhaps a lot of Scots are too hung up on what is proper and what is not rather than concentrating on what is comfortable and practical. Personally I'd go for comfort over "correctness" any day if such a thing really exists.

I'm with you there. By the way, Lidl were also selling 8 yarders for around £50. I assume they would be better quality. I got my 5 yard one for £19.99 as they were coming to the end of the sale. Ok for digging the garden at that price.

Where have you ordered your PV from?

[Jordan]

I dint have a lidl kilt but I have a cheap denim one i got from union kilts which i use when I'm gardening etc, it's handy to not worry about it getting dirty.

[SoSelkirk]

It could be about simple mathematics. Pants have a waist and a length. Assuming 4 lengths of each, and 4 different waist sizes, you only have to stock 16 different sizes. Add 4 colors, and you have to stock 216 different sizes/colors. For kilts, add 3 different fell lengths, and you have 648 different sizes to stock. Multiply by 100 different tartans (conservative), and a clothier has to carry 6480 different pieces of apparel in hopes the right person walks in and wants to buy one kilt...

[Nighthawk]

My thoughts on this are... If kilts are to be seen as trouser substitutes then there should be a range of prices available and kilts makers would sell more in the end. You would not wear a £200 pair of trousers to dig the garden. You would have several kilts for various uses and a good quality made to measure for best, same as you do for suits and trousers. I want to see the day when you have complete choice of kilt or trousers in all price bands then we might see more men wearing them on a daily basis. I am sure you all have views on this. We have to set a trend here and get the kiltmakers to supply what the customer wants yeh!

There are, cousin!! That's exactly the way I do it. I have inexpensive off the rack kilts for daily wear, and I have an expensive hand sewn kilt for special occasions. I love my Amerikilt for casual occasions when my clothing might get damaged- like setup and teardown at the Games:



And of course, a lovely hand made kilt for weddings and such:



One cost me $100 and has lasted for almost 4 years now, and still looks just fine. The other, I don't wear often, and should last me for ever. So it is very feasible to be kilted every day of your life without selling your organs on the black market.

[Jock Scot]

So far there are few replies on this thread that come anywhere near answering the very good question. Yes the are a few Scots that wear the kilt regularly and I think we all agree that they are the exception rather than the norm. So what about every one else?

I think we need to consider many things that I will mention as they come off the top of my head in no particular order of priority.

Historically the kilt is Highland Scots attire and it is only in fairly recent times that the Lowland Scots have even considered wearing the kilt.

Lowland Scots(the majority by far) have little or no history of wearing the kilt as daily dress and even to this day there is a natural lack of sympathy to the kilt by many(not all as there is Highland blood from migrations South) lowland Scots particularly for daywear.

The Highland Scots (the minority) wore anything they could lay their hands on and I am yet to be convinced that the kilt, particularly the tartan kilt was daily apparel for many Highlanders. So the end result is that there is and never has been a Scotland where the kilt has been worn as general attire for the majority.

In consequence it is hardly surprising that the kilt is and has been worn for special occasions. Things may change, who knows.

Added to the above, we then have the Clan bit, OK mainly the Victorian Clan bit, but when all said and done Scotland is full of MacThis, Mcthat and Mactheothers so there is a very natural wish to belong and of course there is no better way to demonstrate the belonging bit than wearing YOUR tartan. Particularly as Scotland has a close knit society and long and deep social history which influences things in a way that young countries cannot really comprehend, however hard they try.

So the end result is a mindset of MY tartan and no one else's will do. It may change, although I doubt it.

Also the Scots have not been exposed, until very recently, to the cheaper option kilt, so yes indeed the £400/£500 kilt does only come out for special occasions ------just like it always has.

[figheadair]

An excellent summary Jock and bang on. I've worn a kilt all over the world and never had any trouble except in Scotland. Wear a kilt at the wrong time (i.e. not at an event or special occasion) and/or the wrong place and you'll get grief, especially from some of the youth. Is it any wonder that people don't stuck their head above the parapet.

[GG]

I've worn a kilt all over the world and never had any trouble except in Scotland. Wear a kilt at the wrong time (i.e. not at an event or special occasion) and/or the wrong place and you'll get grief, especially from some of the youth. Is it any wonder that people don't stuck their head above the parapet.

As long as the kilt business is blooming, and young people are standing in line to learn kilt making and become professional kilt makers, this attitude towards, in their eyes, rather stupid kilt wearers, often being Americans or otherwise foreign people, visiting their country, may be most understandable. Don't blame them. It is "their" kilt, after all.