Kilts and costumes

**dpseadvr** · 3rd October 07, 10:21 AM

I saw in a thread a couple of days ago (can't find it now) in it somebody was talking about wearing there kilt as part of a holloween costume and people where getting onto him about it. I think they where saying it is there everyday wear and shouldn't be a costume or something along those lines again I can't find the thread.
I was wondering what the big deal was. I know there are a lot of current and ex Mil guys on here do you get mad when somebody dresses up in BDUs or plays Army you fought hard to earn the right to wear the uniform of what ever service you where in. So should they not play Army because that is somebodys everyday wear?
I know this will bring a lot different responces I was just interseted in peoples opinions.
By the way my boy will be a Frog Man for holloween HOOO YA

**keepoffgrass** · 3rd October 07, 10:42 AM

i dont see a problem with it, but...
If you wear your kilt how you wear it every day, you know, with a t-shirt and your hose pushed down I dont see that as a costume. However, if youre wearing your kilt with a jacobite shirt, and a swordsman vest or something like that, or maybe a great kilt then i would say that would make a pretty nice costume. Most people dont see kilts as daily wear, so they think of them as "costumism" I think for the most part anyways.

I ordered a Gryffindor house sweater and tie for Halloween this year. lol Im a Harry Potter dork though, so I imagine I'll wear them after Halloween as everyday clothes too. I think the crimson and gold should match my kilt pretty well too :-)

**James MacMillan** · 3rd October 07, 10:55 AM

I guess it’s a matter of degrees. If you wear it like this:

Then it is a costume. - and a bad one at that!

If you wear it like this:

Then it isn’t a costume!! And everyone of them look great!!!

Nuff said!

**Jock Scot** · 3rd October 07, 11:45 AM

I am sorry to be a "stick in the mud",but kilts are not and never have been a costume.Part of a uniform certainly,part of Highland dress most definitely,copied the world over--- be my guest,but please please please,I beg you, NEVER worn as a costume.

**ChromeScholar** · 3rd October 07, 11:52 AM

but kilts are not and never have been a costume

I don't see the problem with wearing a kilt as part of a costume, any more than I would have a problem with wearing a pair of jeans, a tuxedo, or a jellaba. If, for instance, I decided to dress as a bagpiper for Halloween, what else would I wear, if not a kilt?

**Makeitstop** · 3rd October 07, 12:08 PM

As long as you don't treat all kilts as costumes I don't think there should be any reason to object.

Personally, I think anything can be a costume if you are creative with it. Just show up in your regular clothes and go as a sociopath. I also enjoy the piece of paper taped to the shirt that says "world's laziest costume." And I once wore a bathrobe, tin foil hat and slippers (and went 2 weeks without shaving) to go as a paranoid schizophrenic. In all these cases the clothes were part of a costume, but do not constitute costumes without the explanation.

And of course it can be a good way for people to get more comfortable wearing a kilt in public, and around friends who might not be used to such a radical change.

Hell, wearing my improvised belted plaid thingy as part of a braveheart costume was what put the idea in my head to get a real kilt.

And right now I'm trying to figure out what to wear for the upcoming Halloween party, and all I know is I want to work a kilt into the costume.

**Clockwork John** · 3rd October 07, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by Makeitstop

Personally, I think anything can be a costume if you are creative with it. Just show up in your regular clothes and go as a sociopath.

One year my wife and I went as nudists on strike.

As others have said, a kilt can be a costume(eg. period dress), but generally, a kilt is not a costume.

**arrScott** · 3rd October 07, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by Jock Scot

I am sorry to be a "stick in the mud",but kilts are not and never have been a costume.Part of a uniform certainly,part of Highland dress most definitely,copied the world over--- be my guest,but please please please,I beg you, NEVER worn as a costume.

I respect where you're coming from, but I'd argue that a uniform is something you wear to play a role "for real." A costume is something you wear to play a role "for pretend." For example, I play on a vintage base ball team; we recreate baseball as it was played in the 1860s. We wear vintage-style shield-front shirts, flat-topped caps, knickers, and stockings. When I wear that outfit to play a game, it's a uniform. When I wear it to answer the door on Halloween night, it's a costume. It's all about what you intend when you wear a thing.

Should, say, police officers ever wear their distinctive outfits as costumes rather than uniforms? I'd think not. It would confuse observers and undermine the authority of the clothes when worn as a uniform. For kilts, this consideration would only apply to specific individuals who are trying to persuade specific others of their seriousness in wearing the kilt, whether as a uniform or everyday wear. In that case, for those people, wearing a kilt as a costume would undermine their purpose in wearing a kilt at other times. But that shouldn't prevent others from having fun and wearing their kilts as costumes if they please.

I mean, nobody would say, "You shouldn't wear pants as part of your Halloween costume if you normally wear pants," right? Just because you wear a cowboy hat around town the rest of the year doesn't mean you can't dress up as a cowboy for Halloween.

**The Wizard of BC** · 3rd October 07, 12:19 PM

I'm going to jump in here for a moment.

So if a guy wants to go to a Halloween party dressed as that famous and historical figure Mel Gibson with a great kilt, face paint, and honking big sword he would be doing some kind of harm to those of us who wear the kilt everyday?

I think not.

My two cents worth is that as long as the kilt is worn with pride, worn well, and not as some MacTablecloth junk it is ok with me.

I also think that these days a great kilt and jacobite shirt, which is perfect to be worn at Ren Faires, being worn on the street, is so wrong. I think it is ignorance that causes folks to think that that is correct modern kilt wear.
Ignorance can be corrected with education. Each one of us who wear the kilt should be informing others by our own appearance. This is why we have a "Do's and Don't" thread.

As our numbers grow, as more people see us wearing the kilt properly, they will begin to understand the difference between daily wear and costume wear.

Then when someone wishes to wear the kilt as part of party wear it will be know at once that it is just a costume and will not be confused with kilts as modern daily wear.

**Jock Scot** · 3rd October 07, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by ChromeScholar

I don't see the problem with wearing a kilt as part of a costume, any more than I would have a problem with wearing a pair of jeans, a tuxedo, or a jellaba. If, for instance, I decided to dress as a bagpiper for Halloween, what else would I wear, if not a kilt?

I am not too sure what the history of jeans,tuxedo or jellaba are,but are you suggesting that they are any more than variations of "clothes"?You are not suggesting that they are costumes,are you?The kilt is also a piece of clothing,no more no less,but a costume?No way.

The kilt is an evey day choice of clothing for a Scotsman,should he choose and to suggest that The kilt is a costume shows a singular lack of knowledge of Highland attire and its meaning to any Scot wherever they may be in this world.I do not wish to be rude,but an awful lot of suffering and more than a little blood has been spilt over too many years for the kilt to be regarded as a costume.