Wearing the kilt in Scotland

[cessna152towser]

I'm appalled to learn of CeilidhDoc's experience of St. Andrews. My daughter took her degree at St. Andrews from 2000 to 2004 and I usually wore a kilt when I visited her. Nobody ever questioned my nationality or right to wear a kilt.
Racism can occur anywhere in the world. In fact the only time I have been attacked was when I was punched in the face by an English lager lout back in 1989 in Eastbourne in the South of England who took umbrage to my Scots accent. I was not wearing a kilt at the time. Did it make me racist or anti-English? No. Indeed many of my friends are English and I have been across the border today doing my regular volunteer duty at an air museum in the north of England, and wearing my Royal Air Force tartan kilt.

[SeumasA]

One thing I like about this forum is the international audience. Here in the States we tend to look at things from our own unique viewpoint, and we don't always remember that others (including our neighbor to the north) oftentimes have a completely different perspective.

I was telling my wife about this discussion and mentioned my earlier comment about blending in. She was quick to point out that my Levi's and cowboy hat would label me as a tourist every bit as much as wearing the kilt.

[Jordan]

One thing I like about this forum is the international audience. Here in the States we tend to look at things from our own unique viewpoint, and we don't always remember that others (including our neighbor to the north) oftentimes have a completely different perspective.

I was telling my wife about this discussion and mentioned my earlier comment about blending in. She was quick to point out that my Levi's and cowboy hat would label me as a tourist every bit as much as wearing the kilt.

Your hat would but Jeans would blend right in over here.

[TheOfficialBren]

Your hat would but Jeans would blend right in over here.

Perhaps but probably not if they're cowboy cut Wranglers.

[Jordan]

Perhaps but probably not if they're cowboy cut Wranglers.

Unless they are massively different I doubt they'd stand out too much.

[SeumasA]

You know, I saw a lot of jeans but I don't think I saw anybody in actual Levi's.

[Lodrorigdzin]

You know, I saw a lot of jeans but I don't think I saw anybody in actual Levi's.

G-star Raw Denim is the go to brand, and that's Dutch.

[TheOfficialBren]

Unless they are massively different I doubt they'd stand out too much.

Tight, starchy, and extremely uncomfortable to wear. Highly impractical trousers in an urban environment since they were designed for cowboys by cowboys.

(I was mostly making a funny, my friend, when I brought up cowboy jeans. )

Edited to add (and support what SeumasA said):
I used to live in Hollywood and attended a music school with a majority of the student body being from Western Europe. I got to know tons of British people. An observation that I also made is that their fashion was very different. Even their jeans were not like American jeans. They were cut differently and certainly styled differently. Even the denim seemed to be different in many cases. Not once did I see them wearing American brands or styles unless they bought them here. I also learned to like (and adopt) a few foreign styles, too. Diversity, my friends.

[tpa]

I'm appalled to learn of CeilidhDoc's experience of St. Andrews. My daughter took her degree at St. Andrews from 2000 to 2004 and I usually wore a kilt when I visited her. Nobody ever questioned my nationality or right to wear a kilt.
Racism can occur anywhere in the world.

I an similarly appalled to hear of CeilidhDoc's experience of St.Andrews, but not altogether surprised. Many years before I was at Dundee University, at that time it was know as Queens College St. Andrews. Dundee was at that time a violent city, "mind the blood" was a frequent call from the bowling alley bouncers as you ascended the stairs; yet in my 3 years at Dundee I cannot recall an attack on a student and Dundee was a very multicultural University. However on one of a very few visits to St. Andrews, I encountered a glassing incident in a pub, which I assumed was a one off. Subsequent reports indicated that I was wrong about the one off scenario, so I am still not sure about St. Andrews. Many years previously my mother was a very happy student there, so perhaps things have changed; but I would certainly say, such behaviour is very atypical of anywhere else in Scotland, Glasgow included, providing you are sensible.

(This post, in similar but not precise wording, was originally posted several days ago, but seems to have been lost in the ether; so apologies to anyone who gets a duplication.)