Why traditional?

[Tobus]

Tobus, I am always amazed at the constitution of you chaps out in that sort of Texas heat and then to add layers of wool into the equation just is beyond my comprehension. Anything over 70 degrees F and I start to falter. I endured your sort of heat for a few months in Western Australia and I must confess that I could not wait to get out of it!

Well, to be fair, it goes both ways. We Texans are acclimated to the heat, but put us in a cold environment and we turn into weenies (at least most of us who aren't from North Texas). I reach for a jacket when it dips below about 65 degrees. The kind of cold, wet, blustery weather you get in the Highlands would have me retreating indoors for 8 months out of the year. And the early descriptions of Highlanders sleeping on the bare ground, covered in snow, just wrapped up in their plaids, is unthinkable for me. I've only seen real snow a couple of times in my life, and it was when I was outside of Texas.

To stay on topic, we're all used to a particular environment in which we live. Wearing traditional Highland attire is obviously more suited to the Highlands than some other locations, but it doesn't necessarily mean that one has lost all common sense if we wear it in an environment where we're still comfortable, even if a native Highlander wouldn't be.

The most recent time I wore my kilt was at the Highland Games in San Antonio last month. While I typically do prefer the tweedy day wear look, I chose to go more casual and practical due to a forecast for thunderstorms and a concern for mud. I don't have any photos, but I wore a short-sleeved linen collared button-up shirt, Balmoral, no jacket, no tie, no cromach, with boots and my canvas leggings. I didn't want to ruin a good pair of shoes, hose, or have to worry about my vintage tweed jacket. So I went more for a nod-to-traditional-yet-firmly-practical approach. The storms didn't materialize, but I still felt comfortable with the decision not to get all tweeded up.

*edited to add: And if I'm being honest, I had been up late the night before doing some drinking and playing music, and didn't feel like getting fussy with my attire. Surely there's some Highland tradition involved there!