Contemporary Kilts -- a Visual guide....

[rondo]

I consider this Modern or contemporary Highland dress:

Why? Because the hose are athletic socks, the shirt is a police uniform shirt, shoes are hiking boots. Kilt is USA Kilts PV, YMMV. Does this pass the 20 yard blink test? Who knows? Just clothes to me.
Rondo

[Jock Scot]

I consider this Modern or contemporary Highland dress:

Why? Because the hose are athletic socks, the shirt is a police uniform shirt, shoes are hiking boots. Kilt is USA Kilts PV, YMMV. Does this pass the 20 yard blink test? Who knows? Just clothes to me.
Rondo

Pretty much, yes. The footwear might let you down and funnily enough, so might the bonnet! These days, bare-headed is more traditional in Scotland and a balmoral is more of a special occasion daywear attire for most of those that wear them. The shirt appears to have no official badges so that's fine.Then we must consider the context aspect------are you wearing the bonnet to protect yourself from the weather? Are you about to go, or have you just been on a stoll in the country to justify the boots? This is why judging these things from a picture without knowing the context, is sometimes a wee tad tricky.

[rondo]

Pretty much, yes. The footwear might let you down and funnily enough, so might the bonnet! These days, bare-headed is more traditional in Scotland and a balmoral is more of a special occasion daywear attire for most of those that wear them. The shirt appears to have no official badges so that's fine.Then we must consider the context aspect------are you wearing the bonnet to protect yourself from the weather? Are you about to go, or have you just been on a stoll in the country to justify the boots? This is why judging these things from a picture without knowing the context, is sometimes a wee tad tricky.

This was on Freemont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada... hot day, bright sun so the bonnet protects my very bald head from sunburn, I never go out without a hat. I was actually wearing some oxford shoes the day before but they hurt my feet, hence the hiking boots [much more comfy]. The context was a reunion with my shipmates from the US Navy and the events were all very casual. That day I encountered a few other kilted people and we were all similarly attired.
Rondo

[Jock Scot]

This was on Freemont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada... hot day, bright sun so the bonnet protects my very bald head from sunburn, I never go out without a hat. I was actually wearing some oxford shoes the day before but they hurt my feet, hence the hiking boots [much more comfy]. The context was a reunion with my shipmates from the US Navy and the events were all very casual. That day I encountered a few other kilted people and we were all similarly attired.
Rondo

In that case your comfy boots have tipped the scales away from THCD. It is these wee details that define these things and many will say so what? Well, you dressed for comfort and you are happy with that and in day to day REAL life, it matters not one jot, most of the time, whether you are wearing your kilt attire as modern contemporary, or THCD. BUT IT DOES, on a kilt website when trying to explain the minute details to kilt enthusiasts that want to understand the finer points of kilt attire and the why's and wherefores of the what's, when's and where's of kilt attire. These details do actually matter, even today, in some circumstances, so this knowledge is relevant to some on some occasions, particularly when we consider the kilt and appropriate attire in traditional form has its roots placed fimly in another culture, when compared to saxon attire. The problem comes when modern contemporary enters the equation.

I realise this is a modern contemporary kilt thread in a modern contemporary kilt forum and THCD is not really under discussion. BUT your picture and Steve's bring us to the difficulty of coming up with helpful definitions and maybe the imperfect but quick "20 yard,blink of an eye" test may just help. Now The MUG and utility style kilts and tartan kilts with outside cargo pockets leave, I think, no doubt that they are modern and contemporary. So it seems the dreaded "grey areas" are still with us. So understanding what we are looking at and the why's and wherfore's are details that we cannot escape on the path to greater understanding of our pet subject, the kilt.

[rondo]

It's all good, Jock...I'm okay with "grey areas"... I seem to have a knack for finding them in everything I do. On that day I was concerned with being comfortably clothed. In that I succeeded.
Rondo

[kiltedrennie]

I'm digging the tartan cargo kilt! I've seen them cropping up in a few places lately... where'd you get yours?

From Got Kilt for $150. They call it a hybrid kilt. It's a modern utility kilt constructed from a 13 ounce 50/50 blend of wool and acrylic. Cooler to wear than an acrylic.

The three pockets close with a flap, each with a pair of snaps. There are two cargo style pockets on the hips, and a pocket on the right rear behind the pleats. The outside of the left cargo has a half height open pocket. The outside of the right hand cargo has a couple of pen slots and a smart phone pocket with velcro flap.

The front panels have two snaps each on the belt-line. The top panel fastens like a traditional two buckle, the straps are tartan material with grommet reenforced holes for the buckle pin. The panels are not quite as narrow as some utility style kilts but are not as wide as a traditional. The waist band is wider than jeans or slacks, with belt loops. Not quite wide enough for a wide kilt belt, but my trouser belt is too small.

I'm very happy with my first utility kilt. At first, the wider pleats and the narrow panels drove me nuts. I also felt like I needed to pull it up higher. Chalk that up to wearing traditional kilts all the time. After a week, I've grown used to it. The construction and feel of the material is better than I expected for $150.

[Java]

I'm bumping this thread, because I think it could be very useful, and I want to see it survive. For instance; I need some boots. I live in the middle of nowhere, so I can't just wrap on a kilt and go shopping for them. If it can't be bought at Wal-Mart, it has to be mail ordered. Do I want 10" jump boots? The Life-in-a-kilt looks great in them, but he's about 6'14" tall. Are my legs too short for them to look good? Am I too fat to pull off the look? How about 8 eyelet Docs? Are they too short?(how can we not have a "Boot" thread stickied?) Yes, I'm too old to care what people think of me, but I want to respect the kilt. I think this thread would be great for that kind of question, because the title of the thread screams "Picture Thread". Now we contemporary kilt wearers need to get on the stick and post some pictures! Many thanks to Mael, and the others that have posted pictures. I promise I'll post some soon.......

[Java]

OK, I'm replying to my own post, which is probably the height of arrogance, but I found a picture so I can contribute;



This happens to be a tartan kilt, but I wear my canvas kilts exactly the same way. These 6" hiking boots are the ones I'm replacing...........

[CMcG]

I'm bumping this thread, because I think it could be very useful, and I want to see it survive. For instance; I need some boots. I live in the middle of nowhere, so I can't just wrap on a kilt and go shopping for them. If it can't be bought at Wal-Mart, it has to be mail ordered. Do I want 10" jump boots? The Life-in-a-kilt looks great in them, but he's about 6'14" tall. Are my legs too short for them to look good? Am I too fat to pull off the look? How about 8 eyelet Docs? Are they too short?(how can we not have a "Boot" thread stickied?) Yes, I'm too old to care what people think of me, but I want to respect the kilt. I think this thread would be great for that kind of question, because the title of the thread screams "Picture Thread". Now we contemporary kilt wearers need to get on the stick and post some pictures! Many thanks to Mael, and the others that have posted pictures. I promise I'll post some soon.......

Hopefully the guide that Steve is creating will address some of your questions...

I've always found the following side-by-side comparison helpful, at least for modern kilts (posted on Duncan/Channon). Personally, however, I prefer a bit more bulk on the socks...

[MinusHD]

I usually wear Bates 11" Paratrooper Side Zip Boots. In all honesty they don't fit my narrow feet well, but I originally liked the look with the high polish toe cap (and slightly brogue-like pattern on the edge of the toe cap) . I believe they are a little tall, but that’s what I’ve got, so that’s what I’m going to wear for the foreseeable future. I have some square-toe brown Ariat work boots, and some standard brown leather hikers that I've worn before, too. Plus a couple of outings in flip flops.


I believe I dress in a “contemporary” fashion, but use some “traditional” components in my style. In this case I was playing with my band at my house for my own birthday party over the weekend. I haven’t managed to have a great photo taken of me while playing with the band in my kilt, but the obscured outfit shown below includes a light blue button-up shirt, black kilt belt, big buckle, cheap black day sporran, 8 yard 13 oz. wool American Heritage tartan kilt, kilt pin, Lovat blue hose (scrunched down), and the paratrooper boots:



This next photo shows similar outfit (with equally poor photography, if not worse) and was previously posted to XMTS. I'm wearing a black shirt, tan hose, and Lovat blue flashes. Everything else from my knees to my waist is the same:



Some might say these particular combinations lean pretty far toward a modern/casual THCD style, but scrunched down hose and paratrooper boots or an off color shirt help to disqualify them, depending on who yo ask. I just wanted to look “kind of nice”, but wasn't necessarily trying to be traditional on purpose... although I fully understand that the traditional accessories might make it appear so.

I will also wear the same kilt with a polo or t-shirt, hikers, work boots, or flip-flops, etc... like in this odd selfie from US Independence Day:



I plan to run a 5k race kilted this weekend wearing running shoes with my "All Ireland" tartan original Sport Kilt and an workout/technical shirt. That's pretty contemporary, I think. I might wear my black hose with the matching tartan flashes, but that might just make my look a little bit to silly... my cheap black hose might not be great for my feet during the race.


I've also started my first X-Kilt project (though I can’t get very far without a workable sewing machine), which is part of another thread. Hopefully there will be more photos of that process (and wearing my kilts in the wild) to post in the future.