Cultural differences in kilting

[Sir Didymous]

I've been doing a lot of browsing lately and noticed some things. Most highland attire sites have Irish, and Welsh tartan lists separate from their Scottish ones. I have seen this since I went shopping for my first kilt, it's nothing new and is certainly an understandable way to help their customers find the best tartan for them. However, I happened upon a couple of retailers that had their clothing selections broken down like this. Since each one of these is representative of a separate culture unto itself, I'm sure that there are legitimate differences in the way that the kilt is worn and/or accessorized. But really, just how different are the fashions? I know that the Irish make use of the brat and the saffron kilt, and the Welsh have the ysgrepan, but what other differences are there. One site even had their kilt jackets separated by culture. Are the styles really so regionalized?

[chasem]

Think of them more as variations on a theme than completely different jackets/ensembles.

[davidlpope]

I've been doing a lot of browsing lately and noticed some things. Most highland attire sites have Irish, and Welsh tartan lists separate from their Scottish ones. I have seen this since I went shopping for my first kilt, it's nothing new and is certainly an understandable way to help their customers find the best tartan for them. However, I happened upon a couple of retailers that had their clothing selections broken down like this. Since each one of these is representative of a separate culture unto itself, I'm sure that there are legitimate differences in the way that the kilt is worn and/or accessorized. But really, just how different are the fashions? I know that the Irish make use of the brat and the saffron kilt, and the Welsh have the ysgrepan, but what other differences are there. One site even had their kilt jackets separated by culture. Are the styles really so regionalized?

The Irish and Welsh variations on Highland Dress are recent retail innovations (in my view) designed to sell more stuff to more people. Apart from the saffron kilt used by the Irish, most of these things only came about after 1996 when House of Edgar released their Irish County tartans. In most cases they've taken a Scottish item (jacket, sporran, etc.), added a different little tweak, and called it Irish/Welsh...

[TheOfficialBren]

The Welsh did not hostorically wear the kilt. A few Irish nationalists on the fringe adopted it as a knee-jerk reaction during a period called the "Gaelic Revival" during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Aside from that there is very little connection historically to the Irish wearing kilts. They are Scottish, particularly Highland Scottish. Some Lowlanders wear the kilt on occasion but it is distinctly part of the cultural tradition of the Highlands (specifically the Central Higlands, if memory serves).

[Mel1721L]

The Welsh began wearing the kilt/cilt in the mid 60's and the family name plaids were designed by comittee with families of the various names being involved only 12 years ago. These cilts are woven in Wales and are 14oz cloth, they are also hemmed. The sett is different to Scottish tartan, being rectangular instead of square. The jackets have plaid panels on the cuffs depending on the style, but these are really wedding jackets I think. I wouldn't want one as it is restricted by the type of plaid displayed to just one cilt, making it quite inflexible. I also use Scottish styled sporrans, as the Welsh version uses goat hair which I have an issue with. The Irish and Welsh don't have a kilt tradition, but neither did the Scottish until someone started it.