Am I going to be a Kilted fopar or not???

[highlandtide]

Strictly speaking, gents should stay away from the so-called "dress" tartans with white in them, since these are really reserved for women -- the "arsaid" tartans. Now, I'm not telling anyone with a "dress" kilt to scrap theirs, wear what you want, but this is the custom.

Cheers,

T.

I dont agree with you there epscot. Although arisaids were a womens garment and usually made out of the "dress tartan" that doesnt mean that men shouldn't have "dress tartan" kilts. You should also remember that the Victorians made all of those rules anyway, and why would we want to follow their flamboyant rules?

[macwilkin]

Here's what the FAQ page for the Scottish Tartans Museum in Franklin, NC says about dress tartans:

Dress tartans are based on the old arasaide tartans worn by women in the Highlands of the 17th and 18th centuries. These tartans had a white base. Today's dress tartans are made by replacing one of the prominent field colors of a tartan with white. These are used most frequently in dancing, but are often seen in formal and even casual occasions. There is no rule that says one has to wear a dress tartan to a formal occasion. Most men do not.

So, yes & no -- it is a Victorian rule, but there is some validity to it, and there are a lot of other "rules" for wearing the kilt that come from the Victorian age -- and really, without the Victorian "tartanmania", probably none of us would be wearing a kilt anyway.

I should have clarified my post that I personally would never wear a dress tartan -- as I said before, I don't care if someone else does, that's their business -- BUT, there is no such thing as a "dress" tartan that all members of the clan are supposed to wear to "formal" functions, as some imply about the dress tartan.

Apologies, highlandtide.

T.

[highlandtide]

Apologies, highlandtide.

None needed. It is ok to disagree.

Our goal is to get people wearing kilts and throw out the stupid "rules" as they were. But everyone is entitled to their opinion.

[bubba]

None needed. It is ok to disagree.

Gentlemen can disagree without being disagreeable.

[macwilkin]

Our goal is to get people wearing kilts and throw out the stupid "rules" as they were.

Or leave the "rules" for those who like them. Tolerance is a two-way street. I hae run into a lot of "non-traditional" folks who are just as intolerant of those of us who are "bluff old traditionalists", and ironically they are charging us with being intolerant of them!

Case in point: At a Burns Nicht back in 1999, a fellow showed up in a kilt with Doc Martens, chains everywhere, a KGB shield for a kilt pin, a giga-pet, and a black turtleneck with long hair. His mother told our Society President that he dressed that way to "pi** of the 'tartan police'". He assumed that he would be met with hostility and came in with a chip on his shoulder. As it turns out, not one of the "traditionalists" said anything negative about him -- we were happy to see another kilt. I have my own opinions about his outfit, but I'm not the one wearing it.

Wearing a kilt is about freedom -- and that freedom includes those of us who like the tradition and rules, as well as those who go against them. In a way, we are all going against the "rules" anyway, so we might as well go together. But that means acceptance on both sides.

Okay, the griping lamp is out!

T.

[bubba]

Let's face it, we are all making our own rules as we go. We're pretty much following Bears philosophy that kilts are garments, not kilts so we wear what we each thinks looks good at any given time. I think my choices would give the tartan police a massive stroke most of the time but I'm comfortable and that's what really matters to me.

[macwilkin]

so we wear what we each thinks looks good at any given time.

Amen, Amen. Hear endeth the lesson!

T.

[bubba]

and man, did I ever typo that one

[highlandtide]

That is what I meant by throwing out the stupid rules. The stupid rules being the ones that say "you have to do it this way or that."

Freedom's just another word for nothing under the kilt. Thanks Bobby McGee!

[kiltedscot]

Am I going to be a Kilted Faux Pas or not?
Episcopalscot wrote: there is no such thing as a "dress" tartan that all members of the clan are supposed to wear to "formal" functions.
Please note that the concept of a specific tartan "belonging" to a particular clan is also so much Victorian fantasy. When asked by the Highland Society of London in 1815 to submit samples of the "tartans of their clans", many clan-chiefs were puzzled. The Chief of Clan Donald, for example, replied as follows: "Being really ignorant of what is exactly the Macdonald tartan, I request you will have the goodness to exert every means in your power to obtain a perfectly genuine pattern, such as will warrant me authenticating it with my arms."
The style of kilt-attire that we regard as 'traditional' today is based on the outfits of the Highland regiments at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, viz: a tailored jacket and a buckled close-fitting kilt with pressed knife-pleats (and a separate plaid for dress occasions).

Alaskan, I should still like to know by whom "red is considered to be more formal" given that those early regimental tartans were all based on the Black Watch!