Changing Attitudes of the kilt out and about

[Norbo]

I think the reason some people have anticipation about wearing a kilt out and about is because they are worried about what other people think, worried about negative comments etc. This has been covered by other topics any way, i think over all this has been proved not to be the case.

However with a few exceptions “quite a few on this forum i imagine “ But over all the vast majority of kilt owners only don the cloth at special events. Its my opinion that because you almost only ever see kilts at weddings and functions and with people in the full gear, that it has become less an item of general clothing and more a dress up item like top hat a tales and this is why people don’t were them more often. I think people feel self conscious. Of course there are many on hear that may put the kilt on and just go to the pub for a drink but i still think most with a kilt in there wardrobe would not.

A couple of time’s while out i have been asked have i come from an event ?? I say “no why?” They say well your in a kilt and i reply ”Its cloths like any other and i were it like anything else”.
My Ex a scot from Glasgow would not allow her husband a scot from Perth to put on his Black watch recently for a day out with the kids that we all went on i thought was well out of order . She said later she was In barest and said no way he was wearing it with her . Knowing full well that i would be in my’n. I think seeing me in my’n he really would like to put his on more often.

While at this park as well i heard a Scottish voice as i walked by a group sitting by the water area saying even if i had one i would not bloody were it at , and i assume the rest of this sentence would have been,a park. And a friend must have said look at that bloke do you have one? Or something similar.
People need to get away from the idea that its a dress up item a special occasion thing. I think some of this comes from the fact that when you do see people wearing them they are in the full gear tweed jacket or prince charley jackets tie etc and there for makes people think you have to do the thing every time you go out. People on hear know this is not the case but i am thinking of the wider public, the people with kilts that have been hanging up for years or since they got married in it.

I think it looks great when people have all the gear on, i not saying there is anything wrong with this at all. I’m just saying that other people out and about and other kilt owners think you have to dress up to put it on and go out or people will look . I think if more people just put theirs on and went out to the shops people attitudes would change as the more you see them in a normal setting the more excepted they would be .

Id like everyone who reads this to put on their kilt and sporran with nothing more fancy and today or tomorrow for no special reason at all just go to the shops and get a pint of milk or whatever and go with your wife if that’s what you would normally do. Dont tell here your doing it or make any conversation at all about it just put it on without a word and get in the car to go out to do what ever it was you would normally do.

The idea is to inspire other people that you don't need an event to don the cloth and others are just going out in everyday life in theirs so may be some one will see you and think why not its been in the cupboard for years ill get it out.

[McMurdo]

You know many of us do this already, it seems to me that you are preaching to the converted. In the past I wore the kilt daily for 5 years and did everything I normally do in one. Life changes and so now I do not wear one every day but do find excuses to wear one whenever I want. I may wear the Maple Leaf tartan when I go out to vote today, not sure, but I have done this in the past. The thing is after years of wearing the kilt I find it impossible to change what other think. I simply wear the kilt when I feel it is the right choice and wear it in what I think is the correct formality. I would not for example wear my Montrose Doublet to a Highland Games.

[Grizzled Ian]

I agree with you, Norbo. Two times out of three when kilted, I am wearing a short sleeve polo shirt, whether it is a tartan kilt, my green hemp RKilt, or a khaki or chocolate cotton model from Union Kilts.

In March last year I resumed Scottish Country Dancing after more than a decade. Hot, humid first month of autumn, coastal New South Wales. I checked, of course, for this was a new city for me, and was assured that the gents could wear shorts in hot weather, but they _did_ _not_ _wear_ _kilts_. So I sweltered through the first Friday night class, sweat running everywhere. Braver the next week, and wore the khaki cotton kilt. Although it was a hotter night, I was oh so much cooler and more comfortable.

Now, on the rare occasion I wear trousers to dancing, they want to know where the kilt is. Mael Coluim, and many other members in a range of different circumstances I am sure, have experienced this inversion where the kilt has become the normal wear for them, and pants the comment-worthy exception.

Well done, Norbo. You have voiced that broad question about whether we do a disrespectful disservice in the long run to traditional kilted attire by wearing our kilts in contexts and social settings beyond the canon of the formal, and so perhaps diluting the tradition, or whether we contribute to the atrophy of the kilt by limiting our wear of it strictly to those formal occasions, a phenomenon which, the reports from Scotland suggest, has apparently led to kilt-wearing being regarded with some disdain by the general populace in the very country for which the tartan kilt is such a recognisable symbol.

[Richrail]

I wear mine daily except to work, we have safety regulations and a safety dress code. But I wear a kilt daily from just being out and about to yard work. As a matter of fact the other day I had just gotten off work and my wife called me to ask me to stop a pick up some meds for her. As I walk up to the pick up window the young pharmacy tech said "Hello, No kilt today?" Made me smile I had to say no I just gotten off work.

[Mael Coluim]

Aye, Norbo the more we encourage our kilted brethren the more the kilt will be common place. No problem with your request for tomorrow is my Kilted Friday, a take off from casual Fridays.

I refer to myself as an avid kilt wearer. I wear a kilt at least twice a week; this week and last week four days out of seven. That’s not counting coming home and putting on a comfy kilt for lounging about.

Like Grizzled Ian, when kilted it is usually dress down. Now, if there is a special occasion, I dress up with whatever is appropriate for it.

Folks ask me how many kilts I have. I reply I don’t know, more then trousers I do know that. Now my kilts run the gamut from tradition wool 8 yarders, 5 yarders, box pleats, PV semi trads and casuals, and twill poly cottons. So depending on the weather and situation, I have a kilt (more than one actually for the occasion). I have heard on more than one occasion when out and about a reference to me from someone I don’t know as the kilted guy, so my reputation precedes my presence.

When people ask me if I’m Scottish, my response is ancestry yes, but you don’t need to be Scottish to wear a kilt. Wear the kilt because you want to.

Actually if I was Scottish I probably wouldn’t be wearing the kilt as if I had one it would be hanging in the closet. And hopefully that is changing with more affordable options available than the traditional 8 yard kilt.

[GMan]

I am lucky, as my situation allows me to be Kilted daily. Yet looking back on it in my preKilt days. People tended to look at me anyway, they just did not linger on the stare.

All I have to say is KILT POWER!!!!

[English Bloke]

I'm a frequent kilt wearer. Don't need a party, don't need any form of excuse, nor do I need permission. I just put it on and go about my normal business. On the occasions I'm not wearing one I also get asked why I'm not wearing it.

All my mates are used to it by now although a few of them think I'm a bit bonkers. Some people outside my social circle are wary about it and I do get the odd snide comment, most are not and are usually intrigued and full of questions.

I suppose that's 'cause it steps outside normal 'Englandshire' clothing conventions. This bothers me not one iota. I'm happy and confident in myself and would rather be a sheep dog than a sheep. Never was much of a slave to fashion.

[Leatherneck Donald]

Totally off topic, Norbo, but what is your avatar? Whenever I catch it out of the corner of my eye, I see a chrome Yosemite Sam like from an 18 wheeler mud flap. I know it has nothing to do with Sam (BTW, I want a tattoo of Sam in a kilt), but in a Rorsach test kind of way, that's what I see

[thecompaqguy]

TBH The modern youth will always have it's interpretation on 'fashion', as shown in the meme below

but I've been out and about in my kilt, either kilted for an evening out, or something simple like getting something from my car. I was walking just in front of a lady who must have been
mesmerized by the swing of the pleats as I walked in my Hamilton Grey tartan.
Just a simple black sweater does the job with most kilts when I'm casual, if I really want to start comversations, then
I wear my saffron I have only had a couple of adverse comments, but aside from the silly 'skirt' remarks
(I am tired of trying correct them and justify the item is a kilt, I just say, thanks, it is a nice skirt, that's why I bought it )
or people asking if I have my bagpipes... or at the extreme end of the scale, insults in Jamaican Patois (battybwoy etc.)
you do need a thick skin at times. It's good to be an individual, not looking identical to all the other sheep...

[tpa]

I'm a frequent kilt wearer. Don't need a party, don't need any form of excuse, nor do I need permission. I just put it on and go about my normal business.

Ditto.

All my mates are used to it by now although a few of them think I'm a bit bonkers.

Not necessarily kilt related.

Never was much of a slave to fashion.

Fashion changes twice a year, most of my clothes are aged in decades, so I'm definitely with you on that.