Just because we can?

[NPG]

I will start by saying that I wear the kilt a handful of times a year. I would actually like to wear it more often, but I am hesitant. For instance I would like to wear it to church, but I fear that it will cause me to become the point of interest and take away from our reasons for being there. I would like to wear it to more formal events like the Opera or the Symphony, but I have not had the chance. With that I feel that I am probably some where between what Jock describes as his kilt wearing habit and the habit of daily wear that he is concerned about.

Now I feel there are multiple questions with multiple answers here. Allow me to explain -

First, I think there is a difference between someone who wears the kilt most chances they get and someone who wears the kilt in almost defiance to employers, hosts, spouse or anything else that would suggest that wearing the kilt is not a good option. I've seen threads here where people tried to find ways to wear the kilt in places or to events where it has been expressed that such attire is not wanted nor appreciated. I think that mind set is one different from those who try to wear the kilt on as many occasions as they can.

Second, I think you find that outside of Scotland we are more inclined to wear the kilt because in both Canada¹ and the U.S. we have much less history. While we have histories to be proud of for sure, they only go back so far. I've seen many a person wear the kilt simply out of a desire to connect to their ancestors. In my study of both Scottish emigration to the U.S. and my own genealogy, I've found that there has always been an affinity for the old country. I think the growth of so many Scottish related organizations in the U.S. and Canada in the early days is a testament to this affinity. This is not limited to Scottish ancestry either, a branch of my family is from Sweden and while how that heritage is celebrated is not the same (i.e. not usually through attire), trust me when I say the heritage is still celebrated by Swedish descended Americans just as strongly as the Scottish descended Americans celebrate. I think there is something about the "melting pot" culture in countries like the U.S. and Canada that make retaining and demonstrating one's heritage important. The kilt is a big part of this for those outside of Scotland to show who they are and where they come from.

Third, I think the kilt will always be at risk of being appropriated for a fashion statement, it is an item of attire that is different from the cultural norms. I've seen attempts at this and every time it seems to be a passing fad that is over almost as quickly as it starts. There is a general "curiosity" the surrounds the kilt I think and that results in people donning it for a fashion statement, but generally speaking these types tend to be flighty and often run to the next trend before doing any real harm.

Finally, I agree that people should learn how to properly wear the kilt before/while wearing it. Now I might not agree on every point on what is or isn't appropriate, but I still think a knowledge of the rules is good. For instance I saw an image a few days ago of a man wearing his kilt backwards (pleats in front) and I could not help but comment not just to set him straight, but to make sure others knew that was not the proper way to wear it. This is a tough battle though, we live in an age when people do not know how to wear a suit properly let alone a kilt.

¹I'm not trying to speak for Canadians as a whole, since I only lived there briefly, but point out a potential similarity I've seen.

[Jock Scot]

Some very interesting replies chaps, well done. Just to be clear though, I will often wear the kilt around and about the Highlands probably two or three days a week, all day. Its what Highlanders do. Often I will wear clothes other than the kilt because, common sense, consideration to others and discretion dictate otherwise and again, that is what Highlanders do and it is something non Scots fail to grasp easily.

For the Highlander wearing the kilt is not for reasons of admiration----well maybe it was when we were 15, but we soon grew out of that!----, its not these days really a conscious cultural thing although it must be a sub-conconcious thing, its not a comfort thing either. Perhaps its just that Highlanders have been doing it for so long that we cannot really explain why we do it and why we feel so uncomfortable, uneasy perhaps, when others outwith the Highlands attempt to wear the kilt.

Perhaps its the subtleties of kilt wearing that are so often missed by those outwith these shores that your undoubted enthusiasm and New World reluctance to place your roots in the "bottom drawer" that makes you look so uncomfortable---wooden even---- and defensive? I don't know, but I see it here on this website quite plainly and we see it in the Highlands very often when visitors are around. Perhaps its the desperate search for the non existent kilt rules that confuse so many and the far more loose, but nonetheless just as critical, atmosphere of conventions, accepted practice, local protocols and aesthetics are difficult to grasp? In my experience, they are certainly very difficult to explain!

I am really enjoying this thread and I am learning a lot. Thank you.

[Nathan]

Jock is right that the horse has left the barn regarding kilt wearing outwith Scotland. Kilts have been part of Canada's history since well before the country was officially founded. Scots in Canada and their descendants have chosen to wear the kilt on occasion since the very beginning.

Kilted regiments, recruited from areas with large Scottish populations, are part of the fabric of our military and one can find photos of many Canadian Prime Ministers and other prominent Canadians kilted, including our sitting PM who is proud of his Sinclair and Elliott roots. Indeed, documents and correspondence confirm that Canada's first Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald purchased a full array of Highand regalia in Edinburgh while visiting the UK. And, according to biographer Patricia Phenix, Macdonald wore complete Highland dress and accessories for his first wedding on September 1st, 1843 to Isabella Clark.

Photographs of kilted Canadian Scots can be found in an unbroken line from the beginning of photography.

To be sure, Canadian Scots have never shown a reluctance to wear the kilt on appropriate occasions and it would seem that trend will continue for many decades to come.

Perhaps this ruffles the feathers of some those who were lucky enough to stay on the auld sod but, in my experience, it would never occur to a Canadian Scot that there was anything unnatural or abnormal about wearing a kilt to a Scottish event or, indeed, to their own wedding.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau


Former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker


Maureen McTeer (wife of Prime Minister Joe Clark and Sentator Bob Muir from Cape Breton)


Not a kilt but here's Sir John A. Macdonald in a tartan jacket and tie.

[ForresterModern]

Horse has left the barn is a distinct understatement. There are statistically more kilts and kilt wearers out with Scotland than there are in the cradle of the homeland. Much like the mass Irish immigration to North America after the American revolution that actually followed the multiple waves of Scot And Scots-Irish immigrations for the hundred years preceding the revolution, within a few years of arrival they became whether by desire or force Americans of scots, scots-Irish, or irish decent had to fit in while bringing bits of their old cultures along. Cherished original Appalachian music has strong Celtic roots, Calvinism and it's variants, even hillbilly language all are deeply rooted in the Celtic, particularly Scottish veins. It is natural that certain traditions like the kilt were nearly lost in NA as their value as a functional clothing item and as a symbol of ones' generally less than happy ties with the homeland (why would they have left if things were so good at home?). They took what they wanted and needed and left behind as much of their burdens (even unhappy clan ties--remember the clearances?) and started anew. But as those lean time have turned to prosperity over the decades and centuries we on this side of the water have sought out our heritage, in general the more shiny and romantic parts, to embrace as our own no matter how distant (my ow something like 14-15 generation ago in my patrilineal genealogy) which leads to Scotland, and to the symbol of Scotland, the kilt. You Jock have followed a whole different journey to reach your point in your life and heritage, with the kilt having a different in your life, lineage, and thoughts. You are "old" to the kilt while we are "new" to the kilt, and in an entirely different social social sphere where the kilt is not a uniformly worn item of clothing (far greater ethnic mixing) so we will naturally have differing views of when it should, can, and damn it will be worn. The American Irsh think corned beef and cabbage a traditional Irish meal, and it is I America, just not in Ireland. Why should the kilt be any different, especially given the longer separation in time so many of us have suffered since our own direct connection to Scotland?

[The Q]

With a somewhat shorter relationship to Scotland, I brought my parents down from there for a holiday down here in Norfolk two days ago after my fathers 80th birthday a couple of days before.. Sadly missing my Nephew who flew in from Canada(Montreal) the next day to meet his parents and for the local Bo'ness fair day..

I wear the Kilt when I can, which is not often, I've, in another thread, explained the sad practicalities which prevent me wearing a kilt much of the time. So most of the time it's for formal events. The nearest general wear is for informal evenings at my various clubs.

I do note someone said they would never wear a kilt at a beach, well I would not likely wear a hand made kilt at a beach, but a cheap PV kilt is another matter.
Getting changed to swimwear in a kilt would be a lot easier than hoping a beach towel will stay up!!!

Depending On the weather, I may wear a kilt on one of the upcoming weekends, taking my parents out..

[Thunderbolt]

What do I think? I think it's pretensious to think that some would even care what you think.

A kilt, in it's basic form, isn't exclusively a Scottish garment. Therefore, you aren't entitled to an exclusive judgement, no matter your assumed authority on the subject, or even to judge those who wear, even oddly, the kilt whenever they want. Or, any other garment of their choosing.

I don't choose to wear a kilt full time, although I unequivocally support another's right to do so. Even if I'm off Scottish ancestory. Additionally, I'm a piper and the Pipe Major of our local band.

I do not care for contemporary kilts. But I don't care, also, that others choose to wear them.

Maybe I just choose to mind my own business.

[NPG]

I am going to respectfully disagree with Thunderbolt, I am one who does care what Jock, or other Scots might think of my wearing the kilt, if for no other reason as to be aware of how someone in their position might view things.

Just to be clear though, I will often wear the kilt around and about the Highlands probably two or three days a week, all day. Its what Highlanders do.

My misunderstanding of the original post then. In that case I would fall on the spectrum that wears the kilt less than yourself. Though I'll admit envy to being able to wear the kilt as often as you do.

As I was thinking about this topic, and the point I was previously making about highland attire being an important ancestral connection for those of us across the pond. I think this might be why you'll find many of us here own more than one kilt, or have multiple kilt jackets and certainly why we at times are a little to attracted to the items with clan badges. We are looking for these links. Most American's I know who trace their ancestry love to look at all the branches and often feel a connection to even the more removed parts of their heritage. We have a longing for knowing the past before we were what we are now.

Now I am biased as a historian, but I think the past, both personal and national is something important to us in America (and I imagine in Canada too), in a way that I do not think Europeans always understand. Here in the U.S. we have a historical narrative that is very dependent on our "differences" from an imaginary old antiquated Europe. But this dependence also means that Europe is always there as a reminder of where we started. I think this weighs heavily on our cultural conscious.

To give an example, I teach the first part of U.S. history (~1400-1865) the first three weeks are centered around materials that describe both the situation in Europe at the time of "discovery" and the impact in Europe of the race for colonization. At this point I walk them through an exercise where the pretend to be an adventuresome colonist trying to make their fortunes in the new world. If the student is of German decent so to is their protagonist in this assignment. Nearly all of them choose to mimic their own ancestors journeys anachronistic or not. Most of the students clearly have a sense of connection to their roots whatever they be. Ironically by the time I get to the American Revolution, I always try to show my students how in some ways it is a civil war, invariably they reject that idea because we are "different" we are "revolutionary" compared to those silly European Monarchies . It is this sort of odd relationship to our history that is part of why I believe American's tend to be so proud of their heritage, but also why we are often ignorant of it.

There is a point here I promise... Now with that in mind, I can think of only two heritage groups that are commonly celebrated across the U.S. the Irish and the Scots. Now to make matters worse we muddle it all up here, as it has been forgotten or ignored that the Scots-Irish were the founders of our St. Patrick's Day celebrations and why you see the kilt and bagpipes in nearly every parade. I have a theory as to why this is other than the fact that many of the early emigrants were of Irish or Scottish origins - they were also not English. Now bear with me, despite the fact the the Act of Union happened roughly 70 years before the American Revolution we Americans still seem to have a tendency to blame the English for our quarrel with Great Britain. I don't know why this is, but I also attribute it to much of Mel Gibson's success in movies like Braveheart and The Patriot.

I'll try to distill my ramblings a little here. For better or worse I think the kilt in the U.S. is a symbol of where many American's mark their "start" in this country both for those descended from Scots as well as Irish. It also works as a way of saying, "I'm not English" as silly as that is, it seems to have at some point become a part of the American narrative.

As an aside I'd be interested in what Europeans think of as traditional American attire or if they even consider us to have one. I personally have no connection to pilgrims, cowboys, or pioneers, the tropes I often think of as American icons.

[Liam]

I am going to respectfully disagree with Thunderbolt, I am one who does care what Jock, or other Scots might think of my wearing the kilt, if for no other reason as to be aware of how someone in their position might view .

And sir, while I don't agree with some of your, Jock's or Thunderbolt's points, I enjoy hearing what other kilt wearers thoughts are. That is what this forum is all about, is it not?

[Tooj]

I'll weigh in that I wear a kilt because I do. I don't for show or attention any more than any other article of clothing on any other day. Nor do I spend a lot of time worrying over Levis being worn in Europe.

Samoans who live "outwith" Samoa still get traditional family tattoos and the islanders recognize their family ties by the patterns they wear. They look upon it as a way to express a love of family, as do I when I wear a kilt.

[Liam]

Nathan.... I particularly enjoyed your picture of John Diefenbaker wearing a kilt. I hadn't seen it before...