ownership

[cloves]

this is sorta offtopic but I after perusing the Tripp threads it seems more important to me.

it's a question more than anything....

I work in a cd store and music is very crucial to me. I play it, collect it, sell it.....the whole thing. Every so often, I'll discover something fresh and new musically and it's really inspiring. A new jazz album, a new drummer I admire, a new song that can bring me to tears....whatever.
So I spend my days trying to get people to take a chance and buy it themselves. I have to share the love.
And then it happens, my new thing becomes popular with the masses and every Tom, Dick and Harry races into the store to buy it. I often hear them talking about it with their friends while they browse the cd bins, and it makes me cringe. Because it's no longer my little secret. I can't claim any sort of ownership anymore. All of the new band wagoners feel like poseurs to me.
When this type of thing happens, I have to take a step back and tell myself that, I was there once, just a few short weeks ago i too was a newbie.
I know it's shallow and closed minded to be so selfish, but as I get older I'm able to recognize when I'm thinking negativly and try to make positive changes and instead be encouraging as possible.

so the question is this....do any of you feel this way? about anything?

more specifically do you feel this way about kilts?
Instead of immediately dismissing something as "ugly." Why not step back and realize that ugly to you or not, somebody out there might just think it's cool. Those people who are willing to take a chance on something new, are the future.

Those newbie kids just discovering that popular cd, might be inspired to pick up an instrument and create new and wonderful music.
Just like that Tripp kilt wearer might be inspired to create the next wave of kilts or kilt accessories.

similarly they might want to become classically trained in their respective arts. Either way, new blood should always be welcomed in my mind.

[Fearnest]

Very well spoken, Cloves!

I know the feeling of possession (and of subsequent loss) you mentioned. And I appreciate your perspective on different perspectives! Thanks for the reminder that we all have different opinons (and that's both the glory and the challenge - to appreciate what we cherish personally while respecting in others that which we may personally find unfathomable).

[Kilted KT]

hmm...very interesting ideas here. The only aspect of the Kilt I take ownership is how I portray the kilt in the public. I try to make it as positive as possible, answering questions and dealing with nay-sayers in the most gentlemanly way possible. Detracting from the kilt or those who are just starting to delve into the kilt will take away from the ultimate goal..which is just to let people wear the kilt as they will, without public ridicule, regardless of the mainstream status of the kilt.

[Kilted Archer]

I too feel the same way about some things. As far as music goes, a specific example is how aggravated I was about 20 years ago when Midnight Oil suddenly became popular with "Beds are Burning." I remember shaking my head at all the poser fans and thinking "Where were you idiots back in 1978 when the Oils cut their first album? Have you ever heard 'Red Sails in the Sunset' or '10,9,8,...' or 'Head Injuries'?" Still, I continue to listen the Oils to this day knowing that I was a diehard fan long before the fair weather fans. As for how this relates to kilts, I actually felt this way when I saw my first Utilikilt. I felt total disdain for this "poser" garment. I thought "What weak idiot would wear one of those? A kilt in camo? Please! How absurd!" Of course, I now own four UKs in addition to my original tartan tank. I think now I'm just mostly glad that there are so many places to buy kilts from, both traditional and non. I think it's like how I feel about the Oils only I don't have disdain for the people coming into the world of wearing kilts through neo-trad kilts - I welcome them and I'm willing to accommodate their tastes, be it a Hot Topic kilt or an 8 yard tank.

[BEEDEE]

And then it happens, my new thing becomes popular with the masses and every Tom, Dick and Harry races into the store to buy it. I often hear them talking about it with their friends while they browse the cd bins, and it makes me cringe. Because it's no longer my little secret. I can't claim any sort of ownership anymore. All of the new band wagoners feel like poseurs to me.
When this type of thing happens, I have to take a step back and tell myself that, I was there once, just a few short weeks ago i too was a newbie.
I know it's shallow and closed minded to be so selfish, but as I get older I'm able to recognize when I'm thinking negativly and try to make positive changes and instead be encouraging as possible.

Given that the little kilt and the cult of the tartan really only started with Walter Scott's Celtic Society in 1820 and the Royal visit to Scotland in 1822 it is not unsurprising that fashion will continue to evolve. The current crop of 'fashion' kilts exemplified by casual tartan kilts and the use of alternate fabrics - solid colors and camo, cotton and PV only reinforce the idea the fashion is ever changing.

We are already seeing some cross over from casual trousers with the application of cargo pockets to casual kilts.

So Cloves, I do agree with you, change is inevitable and we only have two choices - embrace it or ignore it. Either way, it's not going to go away.

Brian

[neo71665]

change is inevitable and we only have two choices - embrace it or ignore it. Either way, it's not going to go away.

Brian

Couldn't have said any truer words.

[elitekiltedcommando]

Well spoken, Cloves... *tips hat*

[BEEDEE]

Cloves - I should have read the latest copy of THE HIGHLANDER (March/April 2007) that arrived earlier today. There is an article there reporting the speech that the Scottish First Minister, Jack McConnell gave at Princeton University, April6, 2006, entitled Scottish Values, Ideas and Ambitions: From Witherspoon to Today. When he gets to modern Scotland he says: "A smaller example of the ease in which Scottish identity displays itself is with our national dress. When I left school in the 1970s it was rare for a boy to wear a kilt at his final-year school dance. Now I see school dances where nearly all the boys are rigged out in the full kilt - some traditional - and some not so traditional. The point is not that we are going backwards, hankering over an image of the past. The point is that it has become a modern fashion statement with an industry of fashion designers to back it up."

So if someone as high up in the 'establishment' as the First Minister acknowledges changes in the Scottish National Dress, who are we to criticize?

Brian

[beloitpiper]

The point is not that we are going backwards, hankering over an image of the past. The point is that it has become a modern fashion statement with an industry of fashion designers to back it up.

I strongly disagree. It is not "backwards" to ressurect old traditions. To some people, a kilt may be a fashion statement, but to me, it is a heritage statement. Do I think the kilt looks fashionable? Yes I do, but I do not use it to shock people or change the fashion industryor anything like that. The only thing I am trying to say when I wear a kilt is "I am d*nm proud of my heritage. I love it, it is part of my deepest being, and I will keep it alive both in my heart and body."

[Kid Cossack]

Cloves:

Yeah, I'll fess up. I wear a kilt every day. I haven't worn pants, or short pants, in . . . dang, a couple of years at least. And I'm mostly the only guy running around Houston in a kilt. When I went to the Highland Games last year, it just felt so wrong, all these guys running around in kilts everywhere. I wasn't proud that they were honoring their heritage (or just flashing some calf)---I was irked that these POSERS were out here DOING MY THING.

I take deep breaths, and think to myself, "Share the love, dude, share the love."