Quote Originally Posted by vegan_scot View Post


There’s much more to be said but this is long enough as it is. In any case, in reading this and making the connection to modern kilting with an historical context I realize that the kilt is, at least in the States and I’m sure to a certain degree in the UK as well, a badge of genuine individuality as well as an instrument of refusing the alienation endemic in our modern society which stems from mass-produced, disposable and in the end culturally insignificant consumer goods and replacing it with a connection to hundreds of years of tradition and rich culture. That in itself is inherently subversive to a consumer culture which stresses the here-and-now above all else.
That, and it lets your breath.
JK.
Your post raises some interesting points, and to be sure, some DO wear the kilt to buck the 'consumer goods-machine'. More, I'm sure, do it to connect to and express their heritage.

The question of 'modern' kilts though? were do they lie on the spectrum? Especially Utilikilts, which is trying to be the Levis of modern kilting. How about the mass produced PV and acrylics coming out of Pakistan or Scotland? (by this I mean 8 tartans, 24" length only, sz 28"-52")

I happen to have two OTR kilts, one in a common tartan, one not. I'm also not Scottish (though I DO potentially have some VERY distant cousins).

While it's true that I'm swimming upstream VS p@nts-people, I am still wearing something mass produced (in Scotland). It also has no cultural tie to me. I might just like not having to wear pants


Certainly, some of our board members have fetishized the buying and wearing of kilts, to the point where they are their own consumer force in a fairly small market

Also, as the kilting community grows, in real space or cyberspace, does the finding of comrades with similar interests and opinions mellow and eventually negate the "one man against the masses"?

Cool post, I'd love to hear other's thoughts on the matter.