Quote Originally Posted by davidlpope View Post
He may be informed by traditional practices, but he isn't constrained by these practices. He dresses in the way he thinks best.
Which, to me, is the definition of traditional Highland dress. One hundred years ago, someone included this phrase in his book entitled The Kilt & How to Wear It:

"The Highland dress is essentially a 'free' dress -- that is to say, a man's taste and circumstances must alone be permitted to decide when and where and how he should wear it... I presume to dictate to no man what he shall eat or drink or wherewithal he shall be clothed."

I'll repeat it again for emphasis: this phrase was written within a book that endeavored to tell the reader how to wear the kilt. So it is not as if the author (Stuart Ruaidri Erskine) was some kind of tartan anarchist advocating for an abandonment of all tradition and custom when it came to Highland attire.

But he did realize that a very important aspect of the Highland dress tradition is that the kilt is clothing and not costume, and as with any other form of clothing, it is up to the man and his own tastes and fancies to decide how he's going to dress.

When I attire myself, I follow the exact same line of thinking as I quoted from David's post. I inform myself by the Highland tradition, but I don't feel bound by it in any constrictive sense. This means that any time you see me depart from that tradition, it is always done as an informed choice and for a specific reason.

This is quite different from the kilt wearer who departs from tradition out of ignorance (or perhaps some sense of rebellion).