"Scots trip up on kilt style" (article)

[Phil]

These days people from the Lowlands(mainly) with little or no kilt heritage have no one to advise them with a kilt background.

As a dyed in the wool lowlander I have to take issue with Jock's continual pops at me and my ilk. Far from being the repository of all things kilted, in my experience the Highlands is almost bereft of kilt-wearers. On my many trips to various parts of the Highlands I have to report that I have seen more kilts in Edinburgh on any weekend than I have in 20 or more years visiting the Highlands.

I put this down to a number of factors, the chief among them being the general lack of well paid employment in these areas, but also the fact of availability in that, apart from perhaps Inverness and Fort William, there just aren't that many kilt shops there. Also there is not the kilt culture among the young people to the same extent, most of whom don't have the same opportunity to "kilt-up" for a rugby or football match and who, in any case, tend to look upon kilts as a bit of an anachronism, something their grandparents might have worn and definitely not "cool" or whatever the current idiom is.

Remember it was that undoubted "lowlander" Sir Walter Scott who was responsible for the re-birth of the kilt as a Scottish icon and it has been lowlanders who have nurtured and preserved the tradition ever since. There can be no other reason as to why the majority of Highland dress outfitters are concentrated in the lowlands than that is where the bulk of the customers are. I certainly experienced no lack of information and advice about the correct way to wear the kilt etc. during an upbringing in "the lowlands" and this despite having no mentors with either a military or a "highland" background.

[PEEDYC]

When the kilt was adopted as our National Dress it became more of an outfit for special occasions and I can understand why it is not worn correctly when there are so many opinions of how it should be worn and possibly the stock at hire shops with people being given what they have left. I also think people request certain jackets and possibly white hose and it is not all down to poorly educated shop assistants.

I pose the questions :- 1/ What is YOUR countries National Dress? 2/ How often do you see it worn? 3/ When should your countries National Dress be worn? (In whose opinion?)

I await replies with interest.

[Lime]

This use to constantly frustrate me; many seem to simply snap up every myth going and are far too ready to rely upon the advice of a badly dressed, spotty faced, teenager in a hire shop.

This isn't restricted to Scotland or to Highland attire: just the thought of some of the "suits" that some poor goons are sent to their weddings in is enough to make me shut the garage door, rev up the Bentley and take a very long nap.

I've concluded that not everyone is as interested in being well dressed as I am and simply let them continue their downward spiral towards velour jumpsuits and crocs. Does this make me a bad person? Absolutely!

[Jock Scot]

Actually Phil I don't think we differ by that much. Yes of course the lowlands has its proportion of kilted gentlemen such as yourself, but I think you will agree that the majority of Scotland's population live in the lowlands and that there is derth of a kilt wearing culture there and there always has been---in spite of you and Sir Walter.

[digitalR2]

Here is an interesting BBC article about some research that was recently conducted on Scottish weddings. Looks like even native Scots don't always get it "right"...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2075844.stm

It's a relatively old article dated 2002, but from my personal observation still true.
Most Scots wear a kilt at least ones a year but don't really pay a lot of attention how to do it properly (especially a younger generation). They don't feel the need for that and other people who knows the deal don't bother to correct them.

I don't think that the main problem is improperly trained kilt hire shop assistants, no.

[CDNSushi]

I pose the questions :- 1/ What is YOUR countries National Dress? 2/ How often do you see it worn? 3/ When should your countries National Dress be worn? (In whose opinion?)

I await replies with interest.

Czech.....

1. It's called a kroj. (Note, the "j" is pronounced as a "y" so we say: "kroy").

2. Almost never. Maybe during special, historical reenactments or dances, or cultural celebrations.

3. Almost never. These costumes are:
a) expensive as hell (you would never wear one casually)
b) rather hot and uncomfortable
c) they look ridiculous in the modern era
d) impractical at best, immobilizing at worst -- especially the women's costume

[OC Richard]

About that article, part of me rejects the author's underlying assumption that there's a "right" and "wrong" for everything. The "wrong style of jacket"?? Wrong for whom?

Fashion is democratic: it's defined by what the majority actually wear. So we can all say that it's not proper to wear black jackets for daytime weddings, but the fact is that the vast majority of Scots who wear kilts to weddings wear black jackets regardless of time of day. Thus, it is the de facto fashion.
(I assume that that's what the author is talking about, with his jacket comment, but I haven't read the book.)

About the subject of "National Dress", I suppose with most regions it's a distinctive traditional dress, in many cases no longer worn as everyday clothing, which has become a symbol of that region and is worn for special occasions.

Around the world the dress of the Western Cowboy is instantly recognised as being American. In Disneyland's "It's a Small World" ride, two figures, one dressed as a Cowboy and the other a Native American, represent the USA.

There's an old Monty Python skit where the American character is wearing a Cowboy hat.

Be that as it may, in my Middle School and High School years I wore Cowboy boots every day, and the only hat of any sort that I owned was a Cowboy hat. Many of us dressed like that, back then.

Once, when I was around 19, I visited Disneyland dressed in what was to me ordinary dress, Cowboy boots, jeans, a Western/Native American silver oval belt buckle set with coral and turquoise, a western work shirt, and a Cowboy hat... it was the 70s and I had big muttonchop sideburns, and was a stick of a person, 6'4" and maybe 170 pounds. Well Japanese tourists kept stopping me to have their photo taken with me! And it dawned on me that I was some sort of caricature of an American to them.

I haven't dressed like that since that time, but I suppose my current form of dress, zorries, shorts, and Aloha shirts is also somewhat of a caricature of an American.

[DougC]

If you can believe Wiki: "United States - Various forms of Native American clothing. Traditional dress in Texas, the Southwest, and many rural communities includes Cowboy Hats, boots and bolo ties." I think the article focused only in traditional dress in Texas and the rural USA--anyway, this is how I dress when its not 1) hotter than the surface of the Sun and 2) I'm not at work...not the Native American clothing; the boots and jeans.

Getting back to the article--interestingly enough, a friend of mine from Scotland taught me how to wear the kilt (his mom made my first kilt). I've had no complaints. But, I did go to a Burns dinner years ago and recall feeing like I was at a costume party based on what I saw others wearing. I think y'all hit it in the head--it comes down to being taught how to properly wear the kilt and then, when you feel comfortable, branching out and adding your own style...including flat caps!

[TheBrus]

The thought of pink tights makes me giggle every time! Perhaps his hire assistant was having the last laugh?

[McFarkus]

I pose the questions :- 1/ What is YOUR countries National Dress? 2/ How often do you see it worn? 3/ When should your countries National Dress be worn? (In whose opinion?)

I await replies with interest.

Most of my family (including the Scots) came over to the colonies in the 17th or early 18th century. Apart from the western wear mentioned above, I would think that blue jeans, t-shirts and sneakers (gym shoes) probably constitute American cultural dress. I know that when I was in Europe in the early 70's, I had folks wanting to buy my Levis right off my body.

I think one of the reason Americans are so interested in their cultural heritage is that many of us feel the US doesn't really have an identifiable culture. There are regional cultures, but the country is so large and so diverse (in terms of ethnic background) that it often seems culturally amporphous.