Traditional female wear????

[Alan H]

All I have to say here is "Hi, Jessica. Welcome to the chaos".

Actually, that's not true, I have something else to write. There's another kilt-wearing Jessica here. You'll find her, here and there on the forum but mostly in the Athletics forum, as she breaks another "Highland Tradition" that only the men throw hammers and cabers. You see, she's an athlete in my throwing club. Her handle here is MacFhearchair.

She wears a sportkilt on the competition field, and wears her Farquharson wool kilt whenever she's inclined to dress up a bit. She teams it up with a nice leather doublet and whatever blouse seems good to her. ... and she looks just grand. She will also happily take the wind out of anyone who tries to tell her that she CAN'T wear a kilt.

GoodGirlGonePlaid also wears shortish-but-not-X-rated kilts to throw in at the Games, though she doesn't post here at all any more, really. I could name several others who do the same.

sydnie7 wears kilted skirts that she's made. In fact, she's made an absolutely grand kilted skirt in the X Marks the Scot tartan and I think she looks just fantastic in it. She's quite the seamstress.

Carry on.

Oh and welcome....welcome also to Copperheid and lesley.

My two cents...if you want a practical womans perspective on all this, from the UK, from someone who's been doing this for a good long time, then listen to what Anne has to say. That's "pleater"..that's her handle here on X Marks.

[Domehead]

All I have to say here is "Hi, Jessica. Welcome to the chaos".

Actually, that's not true, I have something else to write. There's another kilt-wearing Jessica here. You'll find her, here and there on the forum but mostly in the Athletics forum, as she breaks another "Highland Tradition" that only the men throw hammers and cabers. You see, she's an athlete in my throwing club. Her handle here is MacFhearchair.

She wears a sportkilt on the competition field, and wears her Farquharson wool kilt whenever she's inclined to dress up a bit. She teams it up with a nice leather doublet and whatever blouse seems good to her. ... and she looks just grand. She will also happily take the wind out of anyone who tries to tell her that she CAN'T wear a kilt.

GoodGirlGonePlaid also wears shortish-but-not-X-rated kilts to throw in at the Games, though she doesn't post here at all any more, really. I could name several others who do the same.

sydnie7 wears kilted skirts that she's made. In fact, she's made an absolutely grand kilted skirt in the X Marks the Scot tartan and I think she looks just fantastic in it. She's quite the seamstress.

Carry on.

Oh and welcome....welcome also to Copperheid and lesley.

My two cents...if you want a practical womans perspective on all this, from the UK, from someone who's been doing this for a good long time, then listen to what Anne has to say. That's "pleater"..that's her handle here on X Marks.

Well said

[neloon]

Dixiecat,
"they would not be following the current rules "
As is evidenced by many contributions to this site, we Scots are not too big on rules!
Anyway, since we are rather far off the original question, I shall say no more on this lest I break the confidences of people whose names you would know.
Alan

[MacFhearchair]

Greetings fellow Seasaidh - I was actually a Seasaidh Linne once, too! ...before my uncle adopted me and they changed it to Seasaidh Anna. *shrug*

Anyway I wanted to point out ScotWeb to you. They have ALL kinds of clothing items in the whole gambit of tartans - including stuff "for" women (to give you a clearer idea of what stuff is made by the Scots with women in mind, at least). I at once point was considering buying one of their wedding gowns. In the end, I had my 8-yard, 16-ounce Locharron wool, Farquharson "ancient" kilt made by them - and they did a very fine job of it. I informed them that my plumbing is internal to my torso (a more evolutionarily viable strategy if you ask me ) and that I don't have any of those funky mutant chromosomes that are missing more than half their data. They took my measurements and built me a tank and darned if it's not the hardiest garment I've ever wrapped around my naked butt!

Traditional smaditional, to a degree at least, right? I mean, if "traditional" were the means and the end, we would all be striving to look a bit more like these dudes:

360px-Scottish_mercenaries_in_the_Thirty_Years_War.jpg

(Alan H, I actually searched for the "like" button on your post for a few seconds before I realized I wasn't gonna find it. Anyway, "Like!")

[Katia]

If you don't really want to be interested in authentic Highland Dress then go somewhere else.

So does this mean you are or are not saying that a woman can wear what is traditionally not a woman's garment?

(Not trying to be contentious, actually, but your post sounds like it's in favor of women wearing a full kilt until this part... where it sounds like you're arguing that if a woman is wishing to wear a full kilt, then it is not "authentic," with "authentic" for a woman being a kilted skirt, hostess kilt, or an arisaid or some other garment from the past, and some might certainly interpret it that way.)

Now I am starting to wonder here and as a mere male I am having to be careful here, but------.

So baring in mind my accumulated and admittedly meagre knowledge of female attire gathered over a fairly long life and in consultation with Mrs Jock and a couple of her friends sat around the breakfast table at this very moment the consensus is:-

That unless women are playing in a pipe band, women do not wear kilts. However they do wear tartan skirts in various lengths with pleats in and yes school uniform can require females to wear kilted(I am assuming they are talking pleats here?------yes they are) tartan skirts.

Just asked another question to the committee. What about women wearing a mans kilt?

After gales of laughter and comments like man's kilts would go round us six times! The answer was; "If we wanted to, we would, but they(mans kilt) are not cut to fit the female shape and they are so heavy."

Just saying.

This woman wears a full kilt. After wearing one for dance, I'd never go back to a boring, low-yardage kilted skirt that has no movement to it.

Sure, if I picked up my former partner's kilt it would go around me several times... because it was not MADE for me. MY full-pleated kilt fits just fine (it wasn't made for me either as I bought it secondhand, but it WAS made FOR a woman with similar measurements). Perhaps you argue it's not a "proper" kilt because it's not 8 yards, if you consider only amount of material used instead of construction, but the pleats are a "proper" depth; it's just that I am not as large as most of the men here so I have no need for an 8-yard kilt (it would be like one of you wearing a kilt of ten or twelve yards) and mine is probably around 6 yards.

And "they are so heavy"? Funny, that's the same thing I hear about a lot of things people think I shouldn't be lifting because I'm so delicate and stuff. I lift them anyway. And it's always the other people who turn purple in the face about it, not me. I do just fine.


Of course, take anything I say with a grain of salt as I often get weird looks for wearing sporran and sgian dubh. And don't really care. I can't think of any good reason for me not to do so; the arguments are usually simply "but... girls don't do that!" Oh my, if we women had always acted according to that "rule"... And of course we won't mention the fact that I also 1. spend my time doing a man's dance, which plenty of men seem to still be sore about if some comments I've seen around the 'net (not here) about female dancers are true, and 2. haven't a drop of Scottish blood (as far as I know) but I wear a kilt anyway, so clearly my opinion is worth naught anyway, besides the fact that I'm a contentious bitch who hates people telling me what to do, esp. when their opinion is based solely on what is under my kilt.

Me, it ranges from a plain black t-shirt for casual wear to a more dressy black top or sweater. I've never been the "frilly blouse" sort so a jabot is right out. Haven't worn with a vest or jacket yet but it might be worth a shot some time.

I have talked privately with many of the top (and I really mean that) judges in Scotland and I can assure you that interpretation of "rules" on dress here might surprise and disturb you. Call it "marked down" if you like. I will say no more!
Alan

I've always been told the rules state that 5 points can be removed for violating the dress code. I imagine one would be disqualified for wearing the entirely wrong outfit (jig outfit for Highland dances, for example), but I had never understood one would be entirely disqualified from a dance simply for violating a minor rule (especially since many of the rules are so vague and many dancers seem to have "invented" interpretations that are more stringent than the actual written rules would imply-- there actually seems to be a lot of angst about this, to the point that I've seen intense debates over whether one can wear one's hair with bangs/fringe). Mind you, the removal of five points could have a significant effect on one's placement if the results were close. If judges are judging based on personal preference even though it's not necessarily what SOBHD regulations say, then that is another issue altogether.

[Dixiecat]

Dixiecat,
"they would not be following the current rules "
As is evidenced by many contributions to this site, we Scots are not too big on rules!
Anyway, since we are rather far off the original question, I shall say no more on this lest I break the confidences of people whose names you would know.
Alan

Alan, I cannot let you say that even in jest when talking about the rules under which SOBHD judges are governed. The rules that are in place were made by Scots for the fair judging of highland dance. They MUST follow the rules or they should be thrown out on their ****. It is an absolute serious breach of ethics for them even to be discussing this kind of thing with you. Every judge must sign an undertaking not only to abide by the rules and regulations of the SOBHD, but also to follow the Dancer Code of Ethics. Like you, I do not wish to discuss this further as it is upsetting to think that there are judges out there who are not being fair to dancers.

[Phil]

So does this mean you are or are not saying that a woman can wear what is traditionally not a woman's garment?

(Not trying to be contentious, actually, but your post sounds like it's in favor of women wearing a full kilt until this part... where it sounds like you're arguing that if a woman is wishing to wear a full kilt, then it is not "authentic," with "authentic" for a woman being a kilted skirt, hostess kilt, or an arisaid or some other garment from the past, and some might certainly interpret it that way.)

It always helps if you refer to the entire post rather than just a selective quote. The gist of my post was to highlight the incidences of gender stereotyping that arise among your North American compatriots. Whether this is simply due to unfamiliarity with the various forms of Highland dress or for other reasons I do not know. The original post, however, disclosed the OP's attitude towards women wearing kilts which is quite the opposite of our experience over here where kilt-wearing among females is not regarded in any way as exceptional. Neither, in fact, is wearing a jabot, buckle brogues or any other form of attire which seems to attract negative opinions from certain quarters among your compatriots.
The thread seems to have moved on to discuss the rules of Highland dancing of which I have no knowledge so will leave that to others.

[AJBryant]

The only issue I have with women wearing kilts is...

Are we *all* bound by... er... "regimental" traditions?

Cause some of those dances....

[neloon]

The only issue I have with women wearing kilts is...

Are we *all* bound by... er... "regimental" traditions?

Cause some of those dances....

Soldiers in regiments are not bound by so-called regimental "traditions" so why on earth should women be?
Alan

[seasaidhlinne]

Footwear? That has me confused as well, what do I put on my feet????
I'm definitely not going to be buying anything this month (student loans, trying to make sure I get the right Fraser Tartan)