Full Formal Attire, with the Kilt BACKWARDS!!

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Traditional dress doesn't neccessarily mean formal dress. One could make an argument that traditional dress for a Highland Games is anything but formal.

I always instruct people to dress for the occasion. Highland Games are outdoor events, day-long, held usually in a field somewhere, where you go to watch athletic competitions, hear live music, and do a bit of shopping.

Would you wear a tuxedo to such an occasion? No. And the Prince Charlie is the Highland Dress equivalent of a tuxedo.

I usually tell people who plan on wearing their kilts mostly at Highland Games and other outdoor festivals to wear a simple leather sporran, sensible shoes (you'll be on your feet most of the day), and a nice looking casual shirt. If you wanted to dress is up a bit, you can wear a tie with a tweed jacket and/or vest. But it shouldn't really need to be any more formal than that, unless (as Gilmore suggested) you are also attending a wedding at the Games or a similar function.

It is not that the Prince Charlie outfits don't look nice. They are just not the outfit for the occasion.

But I think Ron is on to something. People wear them to the Highland Games, in my opinion, likely because they spent all this money on a really nice looking Scottish outfit, so by-golley they are going to wear it to the Scottish Games!

As to the guy with his kilt on backwards -- maybe a rental?

[gilmore]

Traditional dress doesn't neccessarily mean formal dress. One could make an argument that traditional dress for a Highland Games is anything but formal.

I always instruct people to dress for the occasion.

I agree. Dressing for the ocassion, and knowing how far out of the mainstream to go, if at all, says something about oneself, or is how one expresses oneself by way of what one wears. Some are more articulate than others.

I recently came across some photos of Tartan Army fans online. Tartan Army is the collective name of Scots (and others, I guess) who follow Scotland's football (what in the US is called soccer) team, sometimes literally. They go to games all over Europe, even in the Americas, and many of them wear kilts. In fact, I would think that you are much more likely to encounter a Scot in a kilt at a Tartan Army event than a wedding, Burns night, or anywhere else.

Take a look at the kilts in some of these photos:
http://www.tartanarmyonline.com/Tartan-Army-Photos.html

and especially these:

http://steeltownsphotos.fotopic.net/c1013336.html

http://rae-finlayson.fotopic.net/c1014698_13.html

You will see lots of fur sporrans worn in the middle of the day, some hanging almost to the knees, many cheaply made Pakistani kilts, hose worn in all sorts of ways, kilt belts and no kilt belts, glengarries sporting more feathers than Queen Elizabeth would wear in hers, all in glorious disregard for much of anything other than having a good time.

So, at highland games in the US one should wear an argyl jacket rather than a PC, while if one is back in Scotland one should dress otherwise?