Globe and Mail style expert gives kilt advice

[BruceBC]

Thought this article would be interest. Russell Smith, the paper's style expert, answers the question

"I have acquired a family kilt and was wondering what can I wear with it?"

His answer is as follows.....

"There are strict rules about Scottish ceremonial dress for various levels of formality, and you can find them in detail online. They involve finding a series of accoutrements with fantastic shivery names: sporran, ghillies, skean dhu. But I don’t believe in reserving such flattering garments for weddings and funerals. There has been a revival of male skirts as everyday wear in the past decade, and kilts can easily be paired with casual shirts and jackets. Treat them as any other piece of clothing; invent your own outfit. I like heavy boots with a kilt, as male legs can look a little spindly without them. The classic combination of leather brogues, wool knee socks and a tweed jacket is too conservative for city life. Instead, try a black cashmere hoodie and tall lace-up work boots (with the laces not done all the way to the top, of course). Kilts don’t have to be tartan, but please avoid the canvas “utility” kilts that you see environmentalist Goths in – the ones with the cargo pockets. Rough fabric and too many doodads work against the spirit of elegance in fine pleated wool. So no pockets, grommets or chains."

From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Sep. 16, 2011

the url
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...rticle2167593/

[Bugbear]

My grommets are bigger than your grommets... Dude.

[Whidbey78]

My grommets are bigger than your grommets... Dude.

[Jordan]

Sounds like fairly good advice to me, What's a Grommet anyway?

[CDNSushi]

Sounds like fairly good advice to me, What's a Grommet anyway?

The usage in this case is unclear.

Grommet:


Grommet:


Grommit:

[CMcG]

I guess if one asks a style writer for an opinion, they will get an ear full, eh? I wonder if the author wears a kilt?

The advice is... interesting. The one thing I take issue with is this:

"kilts can easily be paired with casual shirts and jackets. Treat them as any other piece of clothing."

Dressing the kilt as though it were a regular part of a man's wardrobe and not a costume is good advice. Wearing a jacket that is too long and doesn't have a sporran cutaway just looks sloppy and covers up too much of the kilt!

[Bugbear]

Ya, Lord of the Grommets.

He probably means the metal eyelets that are sometimes used on clothing like for shoelaces. They're a little like rivets with a hole in the middle. My canvas kilt doesn't have any.

[Paul Henry]

I guess if one asks a style writer for an opinion, they will get an ear full, eh? I wonder if the author wears a kilt?

The advice is... interesting. The one thing I take issue with is this:

"kilts can easily be paired with casual shirts and jackets. Treat them as any other piece of clothing."

Dressing the kilt as though it were a regular part of a man's wardrobe and not a costume is good advice. Wearing a jacket that is too long and doesn't have a sporran cutaway just looks sloppy and covers up too much of the kilt!

I don't agree, I think many of us treat a kilt as another piece of clothing,I take the point about jackets that are too long,but there are many jackets that are short enough, but teaming up a kilt with casual shirts is very much a mainstay of many of the forum members.

[CMcG]

I don't agree, I think many of us treat a kilt as another piece of clothing,I take the point about jackets that are too long,but there are many jackets that are short enough, but teaming up a kilt with casual shirts is very much a mainstay of many of the forum members.

It doesn't seem that we disagree... I'm all in favour of people wearing the kilt as another piece of clothing if they so choose.

My problem with the advice is that it failed to give the caveat that not just any old jacket looks good with the type of kilt the author is advocating. For example, neither a regular 3/4 length leather jacket or a sports coat would work too well. There are, of course, many options in non-kilt oriented jackets that could work but the author didn't specify what to look for...

[cessna152towser]

Well its good to see recognition of the kilt as a casual garment but the writer's attitude to canvas kilts with cargo pockets is rather disappointing.