justification for underwear when kilted

[Father Bill]

Yes!

If human beings had been meant to fly, they'd be born with wings.
...and if human beings had been meant to swim beneath the seas, they'd be born with gills.
...and if human beings had been meant to run around naked, they'd.........

Logic isn't always sensible.

[neloon]

"I particularly recall pictures"

In your dreams. All these tales about brass plates and mirrors on the end of sticks are patent nonsense. Why on earth would any inspecting officer be so coy ? The command was "Prove!" and required the soldier to lift the front of his kilt to confirm his "regimentality". Or was my father a liar?
Let us please get rid of myths and stick with the facts.
Alan

[Phil]

Phil and Neloon, your responses are simply puerile. It seems that your stock response to something you don’t understand or don’t want to understand is to pour scorn on it.

I believe that my response was to the effect that if you personally wish to dispense with underwear that is a matter entirely for yourself. I have no view whatsoever on your choice in that matter. I would, however, prefer not to speculate upon the remainder of your post as it really has no conceivable place in a kilt-related forum and the "puerile" response was precisely because of that.
As to the historic relevance of underwear, as a Scot I regard kilt-wearing as a thoroughly modern aspect of my background and culture. It is not some form of historical pastiche and to regard it as such is to misrepresent it, whether deliberately or in ignorance. I know that there are many here who enjoy re-enactment activities and the opportunity to dress in the costume of a particular period in history and this may indeed be where you are coming from. Be in no doubt, however, that treating our distinctive dress as just some sort of historic fancy dress in this way is not just incorrect it is also deeply offensive to find our cultural values and symbols misrepresented in such a way as if we ourselves do not know what we are talking about.

[Dixiecat]

Turning to women’s underwear, I am concerned at the influence the brassiere industry has over women, convincing them that every woman must have just the right bra, and that it is vital for every woman to wear a bra every day, all day.
In the 1950s and ’60s the industry encouraged women to wear bras that were far too tight. This became a medical statistic when vast numbers of women in the United States and Europe (and other parts of the world) contracted breast cancer. What the precise connection is, I am not sure, but the statistics bear this contention out.
Nowadays there is less emphasis on tightness and more on getting the right fit. Yet a great many women (out of igorance, perhaps) still wear bras that do not fit them properly.
Bras also homogenise the shape of a breast – when a woman has found a bra that fits her around the ribcage and approximately fits her breasts for size, she frequently has to endure bra cups that force her assets into the wrong shape. This, too, could be harmful.
My daughter has little beestings for breasts that do not shift about when unrestrained. But she firmly believes that it would be improper not to wear a bra, and so adds to the profits of the greedy brassiere industry.
She is also at pains to ensure that her nipples don’t stick out (she uses the term nipple stick). This is also due to a common belief that has no real justification that nipples are improper.
How can they be? Every human being (except for those unfortunates who have lost one or both) has two nipples. When they are cold, they stick out (whether male or female). While there is also the phenomenon of a nipple erection, it is virtually impossible to tell what the cause is, and (I would say) indecent to ask. Men are generally not bothered about this phenomenon. It is heartening to see that many women nowadays also pay little attention to this fallacy. Yet far too many women do adhere to it religiously, to little good.
(I am referring here to the visible shape of the breast under clothing, not the exposure of the breasts for whatever reason.)

Mike, I think you should stick to kilts. You obviously don't know anything about women's undergarments except that we wear them. You made some interesting comments about historical attitudes as undergarments changed, but the above post is just blather plain and simple.
As to stats for breast cancer and bras? omg, seriously? The 50's and 60's were also times of nuclear testing, harmful food additives, and careless disregard of waste disposal in areas of drinking water. I doubt that any connection to bras and breast cancer would have as significant impact as those.

[Tony]

As per usual, much ado about nothing
(or a small something)

[Mike_Oettle]

There has been a significant amount of blather in this thread, a significant proportion of it coming from people who simply don’t want to accept certain inconvenient facts.
Okay, there are people in many countries who have a silly reaction to the kilt. Just this afternoon a man driving past me in a parking lot called out: “Are you wearing underwear?”
You folk are clearly embarrassed by this phenomenon, and want to wish it away.
Where do you think the stories came from? Old Mother Hubbard?

And since Phil is always pooh-poohing anything I say, here is a quotation he might want to look up. It comes from Highlander: The History of the Highland Soldier by Tim Newark. In a chapter dealing with the Indian experiences of Highlanders in the Victorian era, he writes:

“John Masters also received a lesson on the importance of the kilt from a Highland major leaning against a urinal with the kilt raised: ‘Join a Highland regiment, me boy. The kilt is an unrivalled garment for fornication and diarrhoea.’ ”

Not a private, but a field officer. While he favoured fornication, I think at least some of us might look on it as suitable for marital sexual relations. And I can attest to its usefulness in time of diarrhoea.
Regards,
Mike

[tundramanq]

Need to add to Mikes post on testicular health. The testes need to run a few degrees below body temperature to produce and mature healthy sperm. Maintaining this optimum temperature is why they move way from the body when it is hot. Within the creamaster the veins that return blood from the teste forms a lattice structure around the artery the supplies blood to the teste. When hot and the structure extends, good heat transfer takes place and cools the blood to the teste. "Tighty whities" defeat this function and are the first thing fertility doctors have you get rid of. The other issue caused by tight supportive briefs is the creamaster muscles that supports and moves the testes and dartos skin muscles get weak and atophy. This is why "vigorous exercise" requires the use of support. All is not lost - switching to non supporting undies or no undies and being carefull for a few weeks the muscles will build up again and be able to support your testes and act as shock absorbers during vigorous activity again as nature intended.

[Chainsaw02]

This discussion is getting way too deep for my puny brain to keep up with. It has been fun and educational but I'm done. Knock youselves folks.

Larry Dirr

[TheOfficialBren]

Do you know I am not interested in what the Scottish Regiments did or didn't wear under their kilts, I am not interested in what Scotsmen past and present wear under their kilts and do you know, I am not interested in the least what the members of Xmarks wear under their kilts. However, I am interested in what I might, or might not wear under my kilt and frankly, that is none of any one's damn business, except perhaps, Mrs Jock.

About Gosh Darn time that someone said the most sensible thing on the subject!!

+100!!!

As for the rest, the OP hasn't been chiming in for quite a while. I think he was just sharing an amusing story and the thread ran away from it.

:sux:

[tundramanq]

Holy cow! I just re read the OPs story. We went wild over 3 months. I keep a hidden key in my yard for just this event. Tis easy to forget the keys in the process of gathering all the dog stuff I carry for our walks. I normally clip my keys to the belt retaining loop and pat them when locking the door. I have climbed ladders and crawled thru neighbors windows in me kilt with no problem. Just shed the constricting and button loaded PC. It wasn't designed for climbing. I havent walked my dog in PC or Tux yet. But I can see this happening if I forgot until after I got dressed up.