wearing the great kilt

[findyourinsanity]

I was wondering when i get my great kilt, would it be appropiate to wear it pinned over the shoulder at say church? Is it even ok to wear it to any formal occasions and if so how should you wear it? Sorry for the dumb questions i just dont want to be wearing it wrong when i get one and incase your wondering noone in my family has ever taught me to wear it right because i never see my father or anyone from my scottish side of the family. Thank you.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Good questions. In general, I tell people that there is no such thing as a "casual" kilt or a "formal" kilt, but what makes a kilt formal or casual is how you accessorize it.

So I would say that a great kilt can be perfectly fine for formal events as long as you accessorize it accordingly. That being said, here is some advice.

If you plan on wearing your great kilt to formal events, get quality cloth. A lot of people get great kilts made from tartan fabric that is either a woolen blend, not wool at all, or of a light weight. If all you are doing is wearing it to a festival, or a rondevous, or something like that, this isn't a problem. But if you want to look your best, splurge for the real deal and get a good kilting weight worsted wool. It will look and hang better.

Also, I tell people who wear the great kilt, usually, when you are putting it on, not to take great care in the pleating and try and mimic a modern tailored kilt. This is a mistake a lot of people make. It is more accurate for us to think of the great kilt as being loosely gathered instead of pleated. You'll read as much in my Early Highland Dress. But if you are going to a formal event, please feel free to ignore this otherwise sound advice. If the Highlander of Old was getting dussied up for a nice occasion, he certainly would have paid more care to how his feilidh was arranged, so why shouldn't you.

Lastly, remember that the great kilt is an historical peice of clothing. You need to decide how far you want to carry that. Do you want all your accessories to be historic as well? If so, you need to do some research and try to find sources for historic "formal wear" because much of what you see on the market just won't cut it. On the other hand, if you are wearing your great kilt merely as an alternative to the modern tailored kilt, feel free to accessorize it with modern formal wear accessories.

Aye,
Matt

[arrogcow]

I have to be honest, but I don't think wearing a great kilt to a formal event is proper. I have a great kilt, and the only place I wear it is to the Renn faire.

Great kilt is a historical piece of clothing. Would you wear a powdered wig and knee breeches to a wedding? A toga to Chruch? I think that the same applies to a gret kilt.

Just my opinion,

Adam

[beerbecue]

I just read the Thompson book, and I know it isn't the gospel, but he discusses the great kilt as formal wear, particularly when paired with a formal jacket and accessories, as Matt has mentioned.

I am reminded of the phrase "the kilt is a garment, not a costume", and I believe this includes the great kilt. After all, formal attire with a full plaid mimics the look of a great kilt, so why not just wear a great kilt?

If treated simply as an article of clothing, I would find that the feilidh would be appropriate for any occasion, as long as the rest of the dress is appropriate.

I wonder if the historical wearers of togas wore them to church? If it was the everyday dress I bet they did.....

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Hey Shannon, there's a GREAT way to find what you're looking for... and it's called "Google". The amount of opinions that you'll find are so strong yet varying, that you're really going to need to find the look that works for you. Google will take your questions and direct you to pictures that you can use for further decisions.

I'll give you a quick "for instance". There's a very set (yet debatably not authentic) look for getting married in kilts when you're Scottish. When you're Irish, the look is just a little different... or so I found in my extensive research. There were many experts out there, and many more sources of information. When I got right down to it, I found a VERY old source of pictures from Ireland and followed the look.

In your case, you'll be looking for a credible source of information and (hopefully) some authentic visual aides. Now, Matt has some links on his signature that you can use with ease. Some of your Google searches will probably even take you to the same sites. I would advise that you stay away from teh kilt companies, since they're in the business to sell what they have. Stay with family photos, museums, authorities and historical organizations. You'll find a LOAD of information and be able to merge the different sources to puzzle-together what's authentic and right for you.

We'll call it KSI. Instead of CSI... this will be your own Kilt Source Investigation.

[findyourinsanity]

thank you for the help so far.

[zeytoun]

I have to be honest, but I don't think wearing a great kilt to a formal event is proper. I have a great kilt, and the only place I wear it is to the Renn faire.

Great kilt is a historical piece of clothing. Would you wear a powdered wig and knee breeches to a wedding? A toga to Chruch? I think that the same applies to a gret kilt.

Just my opinion,

Adam

Would you wear a modern kilt with ghillies or a sgian doubh? A lot of the accessories worn with a kilt today are historical in nature (albeit Victorian historical), and serve little to no practical use other then looking good (like kilt pins and flashes). Just because something is historical in nature doesn't make it innappropriate for daily wear.

However, it is another thing to look silly. Since a great kilt hasn't been worn commonly since the tailored kilt took over, it is harder to introduce new fashion innovations. Also, there are mistaken ideas floating around about the kilt. Braveheart, for example, has a lowland Scot wearing a kilt circa 1300. Often you see guys at fairs wearing a great kilt accessorized as if it were an ancient viking garment. To get a more historically accurate idea of what was worn and when, watch Rob Roy (a better film then Braveheart too, IMHO).

By all means wear a great kilt if you like but be careful of a few things. Be practical. If you wear a great kilt in 90 degree weather you'll make people uncomfortable. A scot would have probably separated his great kilt and just worn the bottom half in very hot weather anyways. You can be historical but try not to be too anachronistic (like great kilt and viking boots) or too accurate (like a poor shoeless scotsman straight off a movie set).

[David in Maryland]

If you wear a jacket with the Great Kilt and pin the top portion at the shoulder, you should look very nice for formal wear. This would look like wearing a kilt with fly plaid, but you have all one piece and not two.

[arrogcow]

Would you wear a modern kilt with ghillies or a sgian doubh? A lot of the accessories worn with a kilt today are historical in nature (albeit Victorian historical), and serve little to no practical use other then looking good (like kilt pins and flashes). Just because something is historical in nature doesn't make it innappropriate for daily wear.

I don't have a pair of ghillies (but would wear then if I did) and only wear a sgian dubh with formal wear. The reason for this is that they have been continuously worn as part of "Dress" attire. The great kilt itself has not, and in fact was not worn at all until the Renn Faire thing took off. The same thing with togas (as I mentioned before). No one wears a toga except to college toga parties.

Adam

[macwilkin]

I know several gents in St. Louis Scottish society who wear great kilts with formal wear, and it looks quite distinguished. They pull it off very well. And neither one of them have anything to so with the Ren Fair crowd -- they simply wanted to wear a great kilt. They look a lot better than a lot of the guys in little kilts who have no idea how to wear them.

Also, there are mistaken ideas floating around about the kilt. Braveheart, for example, has a lowland Scot wearing a kilt circa 1300. Often you see guys at fairs wearing a great kilt accessorized as if it were an ancient viking garment. To get a more historically accurate idea of what was worn and when, watch Rob Roy (a better film then Braveheart too, IMHO).

Hear, Hear, Zeytoun! Well said, sir! I agree with you; Rob Roy was a far better movie from a historical standpoint, and really, I liked it better as a movie.

Oh, and the Sgain Dhu is not just reserved for "formal" attire. There are many examples of sgain dhus for day ware.

Cheers,

Todd