Kilt Pin - Optional?

[OC Richard]

As a new kilt wearer, I am curious about the kilt pin. Is it pretty universally worn? Is being without one a glaring omission, particularly in a formal setting?


Scott

I very rarely wear one, mainly because I don't like the idea of punching holes in a perfectly good (and expensive) kilt.

Kilt pins have always been merely optional.

In the Army, of the five old kilted Scottish Highland regiments, only The Gordon Highlanders wore them.

In The Highlanders of Scotland, a collection of portraits painted in the 1860s, that portion of the kilt is visible on 34 of the subjects, and of the 34 only six are wearing kilt pins. (This is especially ironic because these portraits are often accused of depicting Highland Dress more elaborately than it actually was.)

[chewse]

I truly do like wearing a kilt pin; in fact, in most instances, I'll wear two kilt pins. I have a variety of kilt pins that make it onto my kilts throughout the year. I do have a tragic story however. My wife made a surprise purchase for me at the Scottish Tartans Museum a year or so ago while we were traveling through North Carolina. She bought me a beautiful antique sailor’s anchor kilt pin. I just loved (past tense) this kilt pin and wore it on many occasions. Unfortunately, the anchor part of the pin dislodged from the pin itself and fell somewhere on the grounds of a festival. I never did find it. So, should I ever get another precious kilt pin again (or fragile kilt pin), I think I’ll be especially careful while wearing it on my kilt.

[James McFetters]

Good stuff to know!