Irish "Pimp My Kilt!"

[Tarheel]

The "calves of a God" eh? I visualize the problem with the laces. Something like "Popeye forearms" and shirt sleeve issues for our Caber chunkers. Maybe forgo longest laces, for just one loop around the ankles (knotted in front) with hose that blend or attract to the kilt.

[CMcG]

Ok, I am looking to properly accessorize my kilt as an Irish-American...

People's opinions will vary on what is proper or not. Personally, I understand the origins of the Irish kilt to be an adaptation of the Scottish kilt during Ireland's Gaelic Revival in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century. As such, I would recommend looking at traditional Highland attire for guidance.

Admittedly, I'm not Irish-American, but my Scottish paternal line had a lot of Irish women marry into it and I'm Canadian. As an example of how I do a more Irish look, here's what I wore to the pub just last night. Note that I'm not into the costumey elements like Ghillie shirts/brogues. I'm wearing an Irish tartan, claddagh ring, and a shamrock penannular kilt pin. Apart from those Hibernian details—and in the blink of an eye at 20 paces—this is basically casual-but-traditional Highland civilian attire.


If I were headed to a St. Pat's parade, however, I might want to jazz it up a bit with a nice loud green Celtics jacket

[MacGumerait]

Colin , I certainly prefer your cap toe oxfords over Ghillie brogues . Nice footwear !

[Chaser90EK]

Thank you much! I like the oxfords and they definitely look like a nice substitute for the brogues. I also like the sweater look with the kilt...I think I will be stealing that look for this winter.

[OC Richard]

Some great examples there!

A common Irish symbol is the Claddagh ring. What's cool about Claddagh rings is that many Irish-Americans and many born-and-raised-in-Ireland wear them (in most other matters there's a big divide between Irish and Irish-American).

Here's a thread I started a while back, taking a look at Claddagh ring inspired kilt accessories. Yes the Claddagh thing is often overdone by Irish-Americans! But at the same time it's a true symbol of Irishness.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...ssories-72700/

About ghillies, though I've looked at a vast number of old paintings and photos of people in Highland Dress, yet no clear notion presents itself as to when they started to be worn, nor of any evolutionary process. What is very interesting is that in The Highlanders of Scotland most of the ghillies are tan rough-out leather, suggestive of a rural origin. There is only one pair of black ghillies, and they have buckles, making them dressy and quite different from the rest of the ghillies, which are rather rustic looking.

Seems like in the 19th century as well as the 20th they were more popular amongst pipers than non-pipers. One wonders why.

Anyhow here's a real authentic Scotsman wearing them over 100 years ago



In this group of pipers, gathered to compete at Oban in 1950, only two are wearing ghillies, one with buckles. The military has never worn them, going with ordinary brogues as you can see.



Here you can see "Mary Jane" style buckle brogues, ordinary brogues, and tan ghillies worn in the late 1860s