Wearing kilts of other tartans than your clans.

[Kilted in Maine]

Seeing as how there is no Jewish tartan, nor is there a tartan for Germany, Russia, Poland, or Lithuania, I have no claim to a clan or district tartan

Don't speak too fast. there are, in fact tartans for some of the above...

http://www.scottishtartans.org/german.htm

http://www.polishculture.co.uk/index...tent&task=view

[Jock Scot]

We all see tartans in our own way and choose whichever tartan for a variety of good and maybe not so good reasons,but that is an individual's choice and that is as it should be.Others may not agree with that choice, for their own very good reasons too and I can't help but think that the the Highlanders have a point when they keep their views to themselves,well public opinions anyway.Frustrating and sometimes confusing that may well be.Nevertheless, whichever way we look at a tartan and whatever we may think, it is down to choice and most certainly in this day and age, no tartan is worth falling out over.

I have often wondered if this seemingly natural caution,of the Highlanders, is a result of centuries of clan and family feuds where the airing of opinions may have resulted in dire and possible terminal consequenses.

[macwilkin]

We all see tartans in our own way and choose whichever tartan for a variety of good and maybe not so good reasons,but that is an individual's choice and that is as it should be.Others may not agree with that choice, for their own very good reasons too and I can't help but think that the the Highlanders have a point when they keep their views to themselves,well public oppinions anyway.Frustrating and sometimes confusing that may well be.Nevertheless, whichever way we look at a tartan and whatever we may think, it is down to choice and most certainly in this day and age, no tartan is worth falling out over.

I have often wondered if this seemingly natural caution,of the Highlanders, is a result of centuries of clan and family feuds where the airing of oppinions may have resulted in dire and possible terminal consequenses.

Well said, Jock!

Todd

[Bugbear]

Jock Scot, I have a few family members who would be much better off at least considering who might be listening before blasting out their opinions. I painfully learned early on to not repeat one of my family member's opinions in public.
Guess it's best to apply my opinions to myself, and understand that another person is not a cooky cutter version of me...
Peace and chicken grease as the saying goes.

[gilmore]

...
I have often wondered if this seemingly natural caution,of the Highlanders, is a result of centuries of clan and family feuds where the airing of opinions may have resulted in dire and possible terminal consequenses.

I suspect you're onto the right track. The same or similar happens or happened in the rural American South, where until recently most people knew well and/or were related to each other in their locale. It sometimes happened that an ill-spoken opinion caused decades-long breeches, enough that many are reticent to express opinions that they know others will differ over vehemently, especially politics and religion, as they say. There were enough examples of family members alienated from each other for decades, sometimes generations, to serve as cautionary tales.

In cases of opinions expressed of others there is a formulaic remedy, to end an ad hominem opinion with the phrase, "bless his/her heart," as in, "She certainly moved to Atlanta and became a drug-addled slut, bless her heart."

[Finn]

Currently, I have only one tartan kilt- US Army. I felt that it is appropriate, as I'm like the Wizard with no clan. My next will be a Weathered McKenzie because I REALLY like it. There are a few others which I'm attracted to, but there are others which I wouldn't wear for various reasons. I won't get any other US armed forces tartans (respect issue). I won't get the "MacMedic" or MacLaren or Isle of Skye just because I don't care for the appearance.
Be respectful of the clan tartans. That is my code.

[mcvarmit]

my mother spent most of her life trying to trace our roots, started with the vikings and the saxons. last name Summers, Sommers, Sumner etc. as close as she could get was Sept to the Lindsays. which still makes me an American mutt, and damn proud of it. i started wearing a kilt as a joke, i was due for my yearly prostrate exam, my doc's a woman so i thought it would be funny that instead of her saying drop your pants and bend over, she had to say bend over and lift your skirt please, much to her credit she managed to keep a straight face. the moral to this story, kilts were a lot more comfortable to wear than jeans. clan tartans don't interest me much, there are plenty of non clan tartans out there to choose from, beside most people would'nt know one tartan from another, blackwatch would be the exception. so i wear a kilt not because i can trace my roots back to scotland, but because they are comfortable. semper fi slick

[Ancienne Alliance]

I'm getting a few tweed kilts made for this fall and winter.

Check out this link, and please, read it all !


Best,

Robert

[Dirk Skene]

I have a Skeen that Rocky made for me & a Gunn I got from Semus at Sport Kilt. These I wear by "right." I also have a Royal Stewart, a Black Stewart & a Hunting Stewart. These I wear to honour the old Catholic Royality of Scotland. I also have a Gordon, a Mckenzie, another "hunting " of some kind & 7 others. These I wear because I like the colours.

Bottom line ...... wear what you like. The fact that you like it is the only reason you really need.

[Kilted in Maine]

Before joining X-Marks, I would not have dreamed about wearing a tartan for which I had no affiliation. My desire was to obtain a Dunbar and/or State of Maine tartan kilt. I have ties based on family history and state pride to each tartan respectively. Searching for those kilts led me to X-Marks. However, financial constraints have made this desire economically unfeasible at the present time. Someday I hope to own one or each of the kilts.

However, after joining X-Marks my horizon broadened and I no longer feel that I am still confined to wearing only tartans of “my clan”.

My first kilt was an SWK Irish National. I found I could honor my Irish roots as well at the Scottish. The pricing made it feasible to afford a kilt for myself and two sons.

I continued my search here, and Google, for an affordable Dunbar/SOM and I stumbled across an 8+ yd Stewart Old Modern 16 oz in my size (I am not a “common” sized individual). I hesitated since I have no affiliation with that tartan but I couldn’t resist the opportunity given the price.

So, I know have 2 kilts with a wish list for two more. Of the two I have, I only have an affiliation with one, the Irish National. What I have learned here is that it is OK to wear what looks good and what you like. While my wish list still contains those two tartans and I “prefer” to obtain tartans with an affiliation, I would not hesitate if an opportunity arose in the future.