School in a Kilt

[liammaclean]

Hello, I am a high schooler with a proud sense of Scottish pride. I thus naturally want to wear a kilt to school. How advisable is this? In addition, will I be able to move freely enough to run around and play sports in a kilt? Thank you in advance.

[Domehead]

Good afternoon,
My son, aged 8, goes to school in an urban district, multi-ethnic student body with homogeneous dress sensibilities. He wears his kilt to school infrequently, but periodically.

He does so on non Phys-Ed days of inclement weather. As for response, it's a mixed bag: the usual nonsense and educated curiosity. However, after a few wearings, he's now percieved no differently than other ethnicities in cultural dress.

As for sports, on the rare occasion he goes out for recess, he puts his sporran and garters in his desk, pushes his hose down and plays with every other kid. Our rules are no playground slides and no tackle football. Euro Footy, Baseball (no sliding), Dodgeball, Tag, Rock Wall, Swings, Bars, Bridges are all "in play".

Hope this helps & Good Luck

Slainte,
Domehead

[Guinness>water]

I think that is awesome that you want to wear your kilt to school.

I wore one once, it was for extra credit. The teacher asked us to represent our culture on a certain day. It went well, everybody loved it, especially the girls .

Be ready for some heckeling though. You should have a lot of self confidence if your going to do it.

As stated above, I dont think I would wear it on PE days though. Squat thrusts in a kilt might end up being an anatomy class too !

[sydnie7]

Athletes, dancers and others who could normally expect "exposure" during their normal activities typically wear something under their kilt (aside from the kilt hose and socks. . .). Just common sense.

[Nathan]

Some years ago, I read a story in the Scotsman about a student in the Southern US being suspended for wearing his kilt to prom. I wore my kilt to prom and it went over really well but then again, I grew up in a predominantly Scottish community.

It really depends on the dress code of your particular school and the views of your principal. I'd check the guidelines to see if trousers for male students is explicitly specified and act accordingly. If it would contravene the established dress code and you decided you wanted to make it a civil/ethnic rights issue and wear it anyway, I'd make sure you have the full support of your parents first.

[usonian]

You'll probably want to check and see if your school and district have any sort of official dress code, and whether you'd run afoul of it by wearing a kilt. (High school administrators love enforcing their petty rules. When I was in high school there was a moral panic about Bart Simpson t-shirts. As ridiculous as it sounds, wearing one could get you sent home or suspended.)

Apart from that... wearing a kilt will make you stand out. If you're wearing it with self-confidence and pride that will show, and standing out can be a good thing - but of course there will always be those idiots who take it upon themselves to single out non-comformity and heckle you with stupid jokes/comments. Keep a thick skin, pay them no mind and they'll usually give it up when they fail to get a rise out of you.

[O'Searcaigh]

Hello, I am a high schooler with a proud sense of Scottish pride. I thus naturally want to wear a kilt to school. How advisable is this? In addition, will I be able to move freely enough to run around and play sports in a kilt? Thank you in advance.

Hello Liam. "Advisable" would depend on a lot of things, not the least of which is whether your school has some sort of "dress code" that might make it problematic. If not, then definitely -- go for it. There shouldn't be any reason not to be able to "move freely," or "play sports," in a kilt. Quite the contrary. After all, look at all the things our highland athletes do in a kilt. In my day, however, we all had to wear the same kind of "gym clothes" for formal P.E. classes -- the only time (other than band, team sports) where everyone was dressed the same ("uniform"). As already mentioned by others, just be sure not to go "regimental" anytime there might be a possibility of being "exposed" (which in high school is pretty much all the time). By all means, show your Scottish pride in a way that would make your Scottish ancestors proud.