Maybe I'm wrong, maybe the Kilt isn't 'just clothes'.

[CDNSushi]

As we see it, why dress up as a Scot---play being a Scot---when you are not?

Like everything, I suppose there are many ways to look at something. That is certainly one way. A Scot may look out and see foreigners who are playing at being Scots, but I guess I don't see that, necessarily. I think I see it from another angle.

First, the Scottish diaspora has made it so that Scots have not only settled into all the corners of the earth, but they've integrated their culture (which includes the national dress) in with the local culture to the point that it holds the same status. In Canada, I grew up around enough pipe bands and events where kilt-wearing were both represented not as Scottish, but as CANADIAN! When I attended a parade, it never crossed my mind that the pipe band might be Scottish, or imported from Scotland. No, it was a Canadian pipe band at a Canadian parade. When I saw a funeral with a piper, I never assumed that it must have been a Scot that died, but much more likely, an important Canadian... So as far as that goes, for me the kilt represents a Canadian garment as much as it does a Scottish one, so if someone were to ask me: "Why don't you represent your own proud nation?" I feel that I could reply: "I am!"

The best analogy I can give is kind of like when I see a Honda Civic or an Acura, I don't see an import... I see a domestic model, as it was assembled in Canada, by the Canadian manufacturing division of Honda, for use in Canada by Canadians.

Second, as far as cultural identity (and the clothing/national costume thereof), let me just say that if my own heritage (Czech) had a kilt-like garment, I would probably be all over it. I see my own kilt-wearing as a fashion choice and comfort issue, which I am glad to borrow from the Scots. Just like the Japanese know a good thing when they see it, this is the land of misappropriated cultural elements. The Japanese have become experts at taking all the best of what each country and culture has to offer, and make it uniquely Japanese, to the point of unrecognizability from the original. Japanese curry is nothing like Indian curry, Japanese kimchi is nothing like Korean kimchi, and J-pop music is nothing like American pop music... And yet, they happily took what they thought was something worthwhile. In the same light, I've also taken the sarong from the Sri Lankans, the Dhoti from the Indians and the kikoi from the Kenyans.

I am not ashamed of being Canadian, nor of being Czech... But rather, I don't feel that I should put on cultural blinders. When you come to my house for a BBQ, you'll probably see me in traditional Japanese garb. Why? Why not Canadian or Czech garb? Because I wear what makes me comfortable and what I think looks good, and what serves the function I'm looking for which I think is very different from the "I wear what I like" attitude. To me that would imply a lack of good reason...

So for any Scot who would look at me and assume that I were wearing his country's national costume because I wanted to pretend to be Scottish, he would be dead wrong, and I would encourage such a person to consider some other possible reasons behind it. ith: