Cheap formal wear?

[macwilkin]

DWFII, sort of sounds like me when I lived in the WDC area and would go to Alexandria, VA's Scottish Walk to watch how people would dress. It was amazing how people would turn out (WWII RAF uniforms, people carrying flintlocks, etc.).

I am also one of those people who would expect some respect for Scottish heritage and custom if you wish to wear the kilt. That said, you don't need to be Scottish to do that. Just respect the culture.

While it is a costume, it isn't fancy dress (I.e., a masquerade costume chosen to suit the wearer's fancy).

Since I wasn't there, I can't say for certain, but were those individuals you saw reenactors? Granted, there are reenactors and reenactors -- I saw my fair share of both in a decade of participating in living history with NPS.

T.

[DWFII]

While it is a costume, it isn't fancy dress (I.e., a masquerade costume chosen to suit the wearer's fancy).

Well said.

I might add that if I had an audience with the Chieftain...or even if I were just making a pilgrimage to castle MacSween...I might wear a well-done-conversion Argyll jacket if I did not have a PC, but I'd rather wear jeans and a windbreaker than a kilt with rolled down socks and athletic shoes.

[DWFII]

Since I wasn't there, I can't say for certain, but were those individuals you saw reenactors? Granted, there are reenactors and reenactors -- I saw my fair share of both in a decade of participating in living history with NPS.

T.

I have a very close friend in Williamsburg...he's actually head of his department at Colonial Williamsburg.

He has done a lot of re-enacting in his career, all time periods including the Colonial period. At present he is a corporal in the 2nd Glasgow.

Of course he is an historian of the first water, but one thing he has drilled into my head over the years is the necessity to pay attention to detail, to get it right, and to respect the tradition--that it does matter, in other words...

In fact, from talking to him about his Civil War reenacting, I gather they even have a word for someone who doesn't realize that it matters--they call them "BOB's"--short for "Better Off Bowling."

[macwilkin]

I have a very close friend in Williamsburg...he's actually head of his department at Colonial Williamsburg.

He has done a lot of re-enacting in his career, all time periods including the Colonial period. At present he is a corporal in the 2nd Glasgow.

Of course he is an historian of the first water, but one thing he has drilled into my head over the years is the necessity to pay attention to detail, to get it right, and to respect the tradition--that it does matter, in other words...

In fact, from talking to him about his Civil War reenacting, I gather they even have a word for someone who doesn't realize that it matters--they call them "BOB's"--short for "Better Off Bowling."

BOBs...I'll have to remember that one. In my day, we just called 'em Farbs.

Your friend is quite correct...that was the same thing that was drilled into my head in NPS.

T.

[DWFII]

Yay!! Now I'm a Japanese warrior wearing a Scots kilt!!? Yikes!!

[DWFII]

Farb??

BTW, I grew up in Rolla, Missouri...not far from the Ozarks.

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

Cajunscot, Reenacting what? They could have been, but reenacting isn't really part of Scottish Walk. I felt like showing the RAF bloke my BDS-US ID and bitching him out for wearing the uniform without permission. Against the regs to wear the uniform if not on duty not have permission, especially outside the UK. I'm not that much of a w____er to do that.

Scottish walk was a place where people would get dressed in their Scottish finery and parade on the first Weekend of December, to bring this back on topic. It was becoming more of a Scottish costume party IMHO.

[macwilkin]

Cajunscot, Reenacting what? They could have been, but reenacting isn't really part of Scottish Walk. I felt like showing the RAF bloke my BDS-US ID and bitching him out for wearing the uniform without permission. Against the regs to wear the uniform if not on duty not have permission, especially outside the UK. I'm not that much of a w____er to do that.

Scottish walk was a place where people would get dressed in their Scottish finery and parade on the first Weekend of December, to bring this back on topic. It was becoming more of a Scottish costume party IMHO.

A unit reenacting a Scottish regiment in the French & Indian and/or Revolutionary Wars would be most appropriate for a Scottish walk in Virginia.

Before you cast too many stones, there are plenty of reenactors & living historians in the UK as well.

T.

[macwilkin]

Farb??

BTW, I grew up in Rolla, Missouri...not far from the Ozarks.

Rolla is actually part of the Ozarks, according to my Ozarks geography professor.

T.

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

I know about reenactors, but the RAF person and the Jacobean were walking together. Maybe they were members of the Society for Extremely Creative Anachronism.

For those not in the know, http://www.scottishwalk.org/.

When I saw the RAF person and the Jacobean was 20 years ago before the walk had become as large as it is now. At that time, it was still pretty much an informal event. Now, it has become an event that features Scottish military regiments, highlanders, school bands, citizen groups and associations, Scottish clan societies, floats filled with Campagna Center volunteers and children, the Lord Provost of Dundee (Alexandria's Scottish sister city), and local and regional political leaders, who ride in vintage cars loaned by antique car club members.

Much more elaborate than the event I was describing.