Quote Originally Posted by Kent Frazier View Post
This has been a great discussion and I'm learning quite a lot from it. To the best of my knowledge, neither my wife for our friend had even heard of a Utilikilt. I know I hadn't until I joined these forums.

The discussion was about a character in the Outlander series of books by Diana Gabaldon wearing a "formal kilt". I said I didn't think there was a "formal" kilt, but that the accessories determined the formality. I'm not sure exactly the time period she was referring to, but the books are about a woman who travels back in time in Scotland. The "modern" time period in the books is just after World War II.
Perhaps it is because back then people tended to dress more formally. It seemed every man in North America wore a suit and tie, every man wore a fedora. Casual just was not known, no child went to school wearing jeans unless he was the child of dirt poor farmers. That was similar to the UK. In England, I know in the 70's every child wore a school uniform in wool, the shorts were cold in the winter but I'm talking blazer, waistcoat and beanie cap and that was public school. I was dressed up to see the doctor or if flying on an airplane or such. It's rare now to see someone wear a shirt and tie in casual setting and that is a shame. In Scotland, in that time frame I'm sure they dressed in a more formal way than they do now and I'm not talking Prince charlie or plaid. I'm sure casual was just not known back then. Here or there.