Should I bring my kilt?

[chrisupyonder]

Wear you kilt by all means but casual during the day. If going out in the evening, a tweed jacket with or without vest is fine. Don't bother with a black jacket with silver buttons of any style unless you are going to a very special occasion. Know your tartan, you will be asked on many occasions by the locals.

Chris.

[creagdhubh]

Good advice, Chris!

[Jimmy]

I would'nt miss the opportunity of visiting Edinburgh and not wearing your kilt. There is always other kilties about in Edinburgh, its the place to be kilted and I would forget the silly crazy American jibe, you will probably find yourself even kilted, quite anonymous in Edinburgh.
Iam in Edinburgh later this month for a Ceilidhculture festival event and will be kilted then even though I only stay 40 odd miles from Edinburgh

[English Bloke]

I've worn the Kilt in various places in Scotland and I've never had any grief. Everyone seems to assume I'm Scottish... until I speak that is.

[John_Carrick]

I've observed that too.
Or "Are you going to a wedding?" In a sweater? As if.
In Ireland people assume you actually are Scottish or play in a pipe band.

John

[Blackrose87]

In Ireland people assume you actually are Scottish or play in a pipe band.

I don't know. If I saw someone wearing a kilt at any of the main tourist spots back home, I'd first assume (rightly or wrongly) that they are American.
I guess assumptions don't matter, as once you start talking people will figure it out.

[creagdhubh]

I don't know. If I saw someone wearing a kilt at any of the main tourist spots back home, I'd first assume (rightly or wrongly) that they are American.
I guess assumptions don't matter, as once you start talking people will figure it out.

I see where you are coming from, Blackrose. Many of my fellow Macpherson 'cousins' that reside in various areas of Scotland and especially those that live in the larger cities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth, Aberdeen and Dundee, typically only wear their kilts (for day to day wear) whilst in the Highlands, or if they are attending a wedding, funeral, in observation of various holidays, or perhaps a ceilidh/ball in their respected hometowns. I have had this discussion with many of them before, which is how I have come by this information - it's all rather interesting.

Cheers,

[RunTheWorldOnMac]

I spent a week in Edinburgh 2 years ago in October, granted it was unseasonably warm but I only saw 3 kilts. A piper at Edinburgh Castle for an opening ceremony, a William Wallace impersonator, and a street performing piper. I was actually surprised I didn't see more. I went on quite a few tours in and our of the city and was quite stumped in not seeing more.

I am going back for my honeymoon this fall so I may have to pack my kilt. Actually, I am hoping to order one before I head down and pick it up there. 80)

Cheers,

Scott

[ForresterModern]

I spent a week in Edinburgh 2 years ago in October, granted it was unseasonably warm but I only saw 3 kilts. A piper at Edinburgh Castle for an opening ceremony, a William Wallace impersonator, and a street performing piper. I was actually surprised I didn't see more. I went on quite a few tours in and our of the city and was quite stumped in not seeing more.

On my two trips I have seen a spectrum of kilt wear in Edinburgh (6 days), in Glasgow (1 day), and across the central southern Scotland from Ayrshire to Musselburgh, St Andrews to Huntly to Aviemore to Aberlour to Inverness (briefly) and back to Edinburgh. Other than the expected shop keepers in kilt and related shops being kilted sometimes, I saw numerous pipers in either organized events, or at the gates of Edinburgh castle, or busking at various places along the Royal Mile, in central Glasgow, or in a small square in St Andrews. Doormen at The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh and at Turnberry, a couple random sitings just off the Royal mile of men in kilts and tweeds during the daytime (? leaving work on the Royal Mile shops?), a couple grubby tourists (English and American) in t-shirts and either cheap ill-fitted/ill worn tartan or contemorary kilts taking walking tours in Edinburgh, my friend and I in full dress regalia at a dress function dinner, a tour guide at the Aberlour distillery in corporate tartan, a couple fresh tourists in matching ill-fitted obviously new PV kilts with cheap sporrans and tall athletic socks in St Andrews, one woman in kilt with matching dress shirt and hose and Glengarry looking like she was coming from or going to a pipe group meeting, numerous kilts on pipe band members and judges and many on other civilians and athletes and herding participants at the Strathmore Highland Games at Glamis Castle (including one rather dapper gentleman resting away from the crowd on a wooden bench, another dapper gent in tweed and kilt in the ST Andrews Golf Club bar who struck up quite a conversation and traded me whisky for whisky for a couple rounds, and several before, during or after wedding groups out and about or around kirks in Edinburgh and St Andrews, plus Alex who picked me up from the airport in Glasgow on my second trip. Many more kilts visible in the cities than without, but I did catch a couple here and there in casual wear in a few of the small villages---a man at a petrol pump near Aviemore wearing a jumper and (god forbid, Jock) a tweed flat cap, another gent entering a restaurant in heavy tweed short overcoat as we were leaving, another in a small bakery in Aberlour, a couple older gents in tweeds and tartan exiting a tour bus at a hotel in Inverness. I think there are more there if you keep your eye out and are spending most of your day out and about and not necessarily stuck in a tourist line for some site or event. Interestingly I must have missed any Edinburgh locals in kilt for fitba events while I was there as I saw no tartan armies represented during my travels.
I recieved lots of passing glances and occasional whispered comments from the locals when out and about in Edinburgh and Glasgow, more direct approached and engagement from natives in shops and in restaurants and hotels in smaller towns, lots of curiosity about why a yank in a kilt, what tartan, what my lineage, why golf in a kilt, and numerous gentle comments on how nice and refreshing it was to see a man properly attired in "the kilt" outside of a wedding, funeral, kirk, games or pipe band. Lots of interest in whatever sporran I was wearing, as that really seemed a novelty, especially the skunk semi-dress (which got petted a few times after polite requests), lots of conversation starters in social situations and bars and restaurants and shops even on the street.

Again I say wear your kilt if you so desire and feel comfortable doing so, and comfortable that in doing so you are representing yourself and the tartan and kilt appropriately and with its due respect. In the cities you may get some unwelcome attention from idgits, tourists, etc.. but all pretty much in good fun and generally unthreatening. And personally I think the experience of your visit will be far more likely to be a lively and engaging one in a kilt than it would likely be as a standard tourist in trousers. IMHO. I do not think I will likley ever go to Scotland unkilted again, without good reason.

[RunTheWorldOnMac]

Good point! If you are in Scotland, why not be kilted at least once. Now I will really need to bring my kilt.