Banned From a Pub in Aberdeen

[Ugly Bear]

I agree with you on the last point in the above post, but whether or not Scots today wear them, the heritage and history of the kilt will always be Scottish, period.

Yes, the heritage will always be Scottish, which brings up an interesting point. There is controversy today over who invented the kilt -- a couple theories out there are that it was invented by an Englishman, or brought in by Norsemen. But these theories mean nothing at all about national dress because the Scots themselves effectively "owned" the kilt.

Today, ownership is ... let's say it's a fuzzy issue. If more people abroad wear the kilt (traditional, and its modern descendants (Utilikilt et al)) than Scots do, who "owns" it? My position is that the identity of the kilt is shifting from the national dress of Scotland to a garment for the everyman.

And, just because someone chooses not to wear a kilt everyday or "casually" does not mean that they have no respect for the kilt as "national dress". I do not wear my kilt everyday, because it is a special garment to me, and I don't want to be on the same level as a pair of jeans that I wear everyday.

I agree. My point was simply that the Scots, in not wearing the kilt regularly, don't really have ... oh, I hate to say "moral authority" here, but I can't think of another term. They can't dictate what everyone else makes of the kilt.