Why wear a kilt?

**t_challa** · 26th May 13, 08:23 PM

Hey guys.

I think the question I have been asked most since I bought my first kilt 2 weeks ago is "why wear a kilt?".

ith:
It's obviously not to be expected from a black guy in london with dreadlocks (but obviously I never let that stop me

). My answer when asked the question has been to reply "why NOT wear a kilt". But it did make me wonder, what made you decide to finally get kilted? Is it a family heritage thing? fashion? conversation ice-breaker? just a way to show off your legs? Everyone has a reason and I think it'd be fun to hear everyones reasons.

As for me, my reasons are two-fold: 1) kilts are cool.

2) after seeing Samuel L Jackson wear a kilt in The 51st State, it made me realise that black guys can carry the look off.

**Bill aka Mole** · 26th May 13, 08:41 PM

I think that they look great and are infinitely more comfortable than pants. Just imagine how boring life would be if everyone thought and acted alike.

And I enjoy electronics engineering.

**Nighthawk** · 26th May 13, 10:01 PM

Well, first off, I love the way they look.

Second, I have a slight deformity in the vertebrae above my tailbone. Pants put pressure on it, and after a while, cause my sciatic nerve on the left side to become inflamed. Anyone who has ever suffered sciatica knows, it's like living in nerve pain hell. So I can either wear a kilt... or pay a surgeon to cut me open and grind up my bone. So screw that!! I'll wear a kilt.

Third and most importantly... The ladies seem to love it.

**John_Carrick** · 27th May 13, 12:17 AM

In London you can go round in a kilt or pretty much anything and hardly anyone bats an eyelid, but it is certainly not the most low key clothing you can adopt. Certainly people do ask about it - especially in pubs.
Apart from the comfort factor, I find that I can wear a kilt with a short sleeved shirt and/or a sweater as casual smart wear and feel that I am dressing in a stylish way. I used to wear shorts all the time (when not at work) and I just feel like a sack of potatoes.
I do a lot of walking at weekends and on summer evenings and it is very suitable for that too.
John

**Gaulv** · 27th May 13, 12:46 AM

I decided to get kilted recently me self .in jr high I had worn a kilt at a couple events found it fun costuming at the time. As grew older always wanted to own them just never had the skill. Some recent family research has found strangly enough my Nan's (see mothers mother is Mac pharlane's on both her m

**Braw Cathairneach** · 27th May 13, 01:41 AM

"...It's obviously not to be expected from a blackguy in London with dreadlocks..."

The last time I checked, my wife and wee great grandson were black as well. Have a photo of the lad kilted while Scottish dancing on stage at four years old. I need to figure out now to post a photo on this forum, but I digress. The wee bairn is kilted because his paw-paw is kilted. Maybe our Bermuda brethren as well as other diasporan will edify readers of this forum that Scottish tradition and culture are not exclusively caucasian.

**Dale Seago** · 28th May 13, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by Braw Cathairneach

Maybe our Bermuda brethren as well as other diasporan will edify readers of this forum that Scottish tradition and culture are not exclusively caucasian.

Don't want to hijack the thread, but here's an article that may afford some edification:

http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...e/article1.htm

**Starhunter451** · 28th May 13, 05:22 PM

That might be really good in the historical section.

**Starhunter451** · 28th May 13, 05:37 PM

I started when I started going to faire. But after becoming part of a locsl living history orgsnization, and one of the elders wesr one all the time, I realized that I can too. Now working on resizing the cheater kilt. Now I am obsessed with getting it done.

**OC Richard** · 28th May 13, 07:31 PM

Well I love all these photos of black guys in kilts!

Here is a local guy Tony, who is a good piper, Highland Dancer, and kilt maker!

Anyhow I got into the pipes as a musical instrument first, and Highland Dress sort of came along as an adjunct. But soon I developed a deep love for Highland Dress for its own sake, unlike most pipers who view wearing Highland Dress as something of a chore.

The basic answer, for me, is that I wear the kilt because it's expected, required, of a performing piper.