Scotland versus the World!

[YoungMan]

I intended it to be a gross # of kilts. Per capita would be much harder to judge I think. All that averaging.

[Howard Clark]

I'm with the rest of the world camp.

[Standard]

At first I misread the questions as killt "weavers" not wearers, which brings up another interesting question of where are the most kilt makers located.

As to the intended question at hand, judging by the reports of Hamish, Trefor, etal I'd say that unfortunately the rest of the world outnumbers those in the homeland in sheer number of kiltwearers. The very fact of the worldwide nature of this site, and the (relatively) few that are from Scotland would tend, in the short run at least to bear out this conclusion.

:ootd:

[Jordan]

I also voted rest of the world thinking about it a sotland is a small country so it would make sence that there are more kilts and kilt wearers in the rest of the world, after all hamish lives in England after all and he must have a fair percentage of the kilts in the uk

Jordan

[sathor]

I find it interesting that most of the kiltmakers that I know of in the US (including kilt retailer that don't make them themselves) are in the northern half of the US. I know I have heard of some local ones in the south, and I think Flamingo Kilts is in the south, and Matt is in the Carolinas (I think) which I find interesting. I would find it interesting to see comparative maps of where the kilted people are VS the kilt retailers.

[ForresterModern]

There is a bit of a difference between the questions you are asking. On one hand you ask who has more kilts, then on the other more kilt wearers. Two somewhat different questions that might yield different results as one kilt wearer does not equal 1 kilt (Hamish is the perfect example). As has been noted here before Scots tend to have fewer kilts, usually in only one or maybe two tartans, if they even own one at all. A lot rent them for the special occasions of weddings, funerals, and special celebrations. There are a lot fewer (per capita) rental kilts in the US/North America than there are in Scotland, and a lot more kilt wearers who have multiple kilts of various tartans in the US/Canada.

Tough question to really get a hold on. Probably the best way to get any kind of valid answer would be to ask a couple major vendors on both sides of the pond to whom do they sell most of their kilts (including those expected to go out for rentals), North America or Scotland based customers.

[Dr Mac]

Counting kilt-wearers (rather than per centage of population) I have no doubt there are more in the other countries of the world than Scotland itself.

[Tartan Shortbread Jock]

As a Scotsman I say....er..hum...hey...am not sure, Scotland is a very tiny
country, but our family is the rest of the world.

[cessna152towser]

Well, both my neighbours also own kilts. I reckon most Scotsmen own at least one kilt, however many only have one kilt and only wear it occasionally. An American based writer in my clan society communique made the observation that kilts are usually only worn by Americans while they are visiting Scotland and by Scots while they are visiting America. He may have a point.

[ThistleDown]

Several questions rolled into one, I think.

Percentage of the male population owning a kilt: Scotland
Percentage of the male population wearing the kilt: Scotland
Number of kilts owned per male: elsewhere.

A large percentage of adult males in Scotland own a kilt, but almost 100 percent of males regardless of age will hire a kilt -- if they don't own one -- several times in their lives for weddings and other events. The comfort level with kilt-wearing is very high.

As has been said elsewhere, Scottish males who have a kilt have A kilt; rarely do they own or wear more than one. If they have a clan or family connection, that's the tartan they wear.