The Rules and Exceptions Thereunto.

[Court]

Sir Robert, that's such a cool post!.....

To me, the rules and their origins are as fascinating as the tartans themselves.8-)

Sir Robert, I second Jimmy's quotes. However, as an American (who happens to be descended from not only Scots but Welsh, Irish, English, German, French and a smattering of Scandinavians) I take a somewhat more liberal view. I regard kilts as a living, working, garment (thank Heaven!) and not some dusty old costume frozen in time. It is unavoidable that the wearing of kilts will evolve based on the different locations, populations, climate, etc.

Now, having said that, I can assure you that when I travel to Scotland I will take the utmost care to wear my kilts in a manner befitting the deep and abiding respect I hold for my Scottish heritage as well as Scottish culture in general.

Court

[bear]

What are these things you humans call rules?

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Bwaaahaaahaaahaaa!!!

What are these things you humans call rules?

Hooking. Slashing. Tripping. Fighting. Offsides. Icing. Cross-checking.;)

[James]

Oh dear-back to rules.

You'll no find them in a book-or set out by this or that authority.

Sorry here I have to be blunt, rude even: there conventions, and you either know the conventions, or you do not.

It is as simple as that.

Where can you find out about them?

Well no one is going to say-or write a book: the best suggestion is to observe people wearing highland dress-possibly reports of games in the highlands will be your best source. See what is being worn and how.

A tip being to ignore the dancers-bands and visitors: look at the judges and the like.

Sorry.

James

[bubba]

I gotta say something here. Rules are for show. You can't possibly believe the highlanders originally wore kilts according to rules. It was a functional garment for daily wear. It was the English that created rules for it. I wear my kilts in the same spirit the old highlanders did, to protect the body from the elements and in modern terms to avoid arrest for indecent exposure. I'm old. I don't have to care about rules. ;)

[prattw]

And conventions vary from place to place. Personally I prefer to match my hose to a color in my tartan, which means Lovat Green or Lovat blue with my dress-up kilt in Grant Ancient, bottle green or navy blue with my cheaper kilts in Grant Hunting (aka Blackwatch) for knocking about at the games in a temperature of 105F or so. Or I may go with gray or oatmeal.

HOWEVER, for an occasion formal enough to wear my PC and fly plaid, I wear off-white hose, because locally that's the custom and explaining why I'm wearing "casual" hose in a formal situation gets old in a hurry. Elsewhere I generally ask around, since off-white may be seen as gauche. (Given a choice, I think that black hose look great with a formal outfit.)

Another example, clan badge t-shirts with kilt have become virtually traditional for games and such in the US. This might be related to our much higher summer temps. I undertand that this would not be acceptable at games in Scotland. (Of course, given Scottish summer temps, I'd probably be wearing a t-shirt _under_ my longsleeved shirt, and keeping the waistcoat under my tweed jacket fully buttoned, anyway.)

Will Pratt

[Court]

All of this talk about "the rules" reminds me of when I was a boy and my American mother would be intructing me as to cut my food with fork in the left hand then switch the fork to the right to eat. When I protested that my Father didn't switch hands and held the fork "upside down", he replied with a wink, "You have to learn the rules before you are allowed to break them...".

I am still learning... and still breaking ;)
Court