Wearing a kilt is not a "Journey", with "stages"

[OC Richard]

Day One...see Utilikilt
Day Two ... search online
Day Four ... discover Stillwater Kilts
Day Six ... order Stillwater kilt

My experience couldn't have been more different, because none of the things you mention existed in the 1970s.

Like many Americans the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards' mega-hit Amazing Grace (1972) got me all fired up about learning the pipes, though my father already had a few piping albums and I was already interested. Living where we did, my only exposure to kilts was from old movies such as Tunes Of Glory shown on TV.

With no place to get anything, I went down to a local fabric shop, bought some plaid wool, and pinned up a kilt as best I could based on what photos I had (including an old National Geographic article on Highland Games) which my grandmother sewed. As best I can remember, the 'tartan' looked like this



My father and I drove for hours to see The Black Watch on tour in 1976 and in the program was an advertisement for The Scottish Shopper in Seattle. I got their catalog and from it ordered my first sporran, kilt buckles, hose, and some real tartan from which my grandmother made my second kilt. We still did not have any pattern to follow and had to guess at things from photos. At around this same time my father and I drove for hours to attend our first Highland Games (Santa Monica) and we discovered a little Scottish shop in Beverly Hills, JR Christie, which we would visit every once in a while (it was an all-day round trip). At this time I got my first set of pipes (from Scottish Shopper) and shortly afterwards we moved to the Los Angeles area where I discovered, and eventually joined, a pipe band. The kilt that band issued me was the first "real kilt" I had ever seen up close.

This all began a lifetime of fascination with the pipes, the Celtic languages, Highland Dress, tartans, the Highland regiments, and so forth. I bought and read every book on the subject I could find. (Remember no internet then, so books and direct in-person experience were the only way to learn.) I went to a huge Gun Show every year (in the late 70s) that always had several booths with vintage Highland Dress. It was there that I had the opportunity to get hands-on exposure to dozens of vintage military kilts, sporrans, jackets, and so forth, which gave invaluable insights that books alone couldn't provide.

My journey continued with decades of playing in pipe bands and attending Highland Games and visiting Scotland and working in a Highland Outfitter shop and doing Country Dancing and so forth. During this time my attitudes about Highland Dress were always evolving.

A massive eye-opener was acquiring the book The Highlanders Of Scotland, and starting collecting vintage kilt photos, and collecting vintage Highland Dress catalogues. I had always 'taken the long view' of Highland Dress but now I began to pay attention to the details.

A big contribution to my journey was coming across X Marks the Scot. Here I 'discovered' things which had always been in front of me but that I'd never paid attention to.

My journey is still ongoing; my knowledge is always increasing and my attitudes always evolving, 40 years on.