Quote Originally Posted by New World Czech View Post
What we also need is the approval of the wifey. I have made the attempts to branch out in color and pattern and have been nudged or forcefully pushed back into line. Since joining this forum i have been a great fan of Matt's style. Even though Matts check jacket is subtle it would be too much for her and any diced or tartan hose are a no no. All the other jackets would be off limits and not allowed to cross the threshold.
That's understandable. My wife was much the same way for a while. Her typical response was something like, "you're going to wear that with THAT?! " It's funny, though, that after a few times she started to like it. And especially after exposing her to photos of Scots wearing all manner of different patterns and colours together, it finally sunk in that there's nothing wrong with it. Occasionally I will still get the eye roll and a comment about being sartorially dysfunctional, but I think it's more in jest than seriousness.

I find this is the most challenging aspect of getting the spousal unit to support traditional Highland attire. Let's face it: it's a big leap for some American women to come to terms with their husbands wearing a kilt (in public, no less!) in the first place. Especially if they've never really been immersed in that culture. But then for a husband to break all the known rules of American fashion sense by mixing patterns can be over the line.

I have a theory that the modern American media has done a bit of social programming which has taught women to be embarrassed by their husbands. If you pay attention to the role of husbands in commercials and television programs, you'll see that in the majority of cases we are portrayed as buffoons and fools, with the wives being the intelligent and sensible ones. Just watch any segment of television and keep an eye out for it. You'll see it immediately. This theme has been reinforced for years, and in my opinion has had an effect on women all over the country. Even though they may respect us and love us, in the backs of their minds they expect their husbands to embarrass them somehow. And so they unintentionally assume the same role as the wives portrayed by the media, where they need to 'correct' us and keep us from being little fools. This is a subject that's been bothering me for several years now, and it's to the point where I can't even tolerate most media portrayals of married couples any more. But I think it's having an effect on society, which may (or may not) be at play in cases like this.

You just need to explain to your wife that our American sense of matchy-matchiness isn't at all the norm for Highland attire (or even for British attire, as far as that goes). Show her some photos, point out the instances of mixing patterns and colours together, and basically desensitize her to it. You don't necessarily have to make it obvious that that's what you're doing, but make it a subtle campaign of exposing her to a different sense of style than she's used to. Make her realize that her sense of American style doesn't apply here, and that this is actually the norm for Highland attire. Once she realizes that this isn't simply a case of her husband being a buffoon as the media has told her to expect, she will start to come around. Hopefully.