Two Telling comments? The Answer Perhaps?

[Cyd]

"If your goal is to make daily kilt-wearing a norm, I wish you luck. I suspect however you will have to be happy being benign form of exhibitionist, which is absolutely fine. Just recognize it for what it is. Especially in Scotland."

And there it is, gentlemen, guys, or whatever you like, on the nose, you/we are a collection of eccentric exhibitionists. I think Cyd is right. So we can take down this site.

NO, NO! If that is your take, your logic differs considerably from mine. It is precisely the reason this site should exist!!

If you don't recognize that what we are doing is unusual and wearing a kilt every day in the 21st century a way of attracting attention, you are being delusional. There is nothing wrong with eccentricity, and if it turns out to be a good idea it will eventually be adopted as the norm. It is also however a swim upstream. In the meantime enjoy life and be happy.

I am beginning to think some of you guys see this forum more as a refuge of like-minded people seeking comfort from a cruel world, rather than a place to share ideas about highland dress, kilt construction, and everything else that goes with it. There seems to be a tendency to try to quash anything that doesn't fit into your view.

I think maybe I will just move on. Frankly, a lot of you are guilty of the very things you complain about.

[English Bloke]

In my experience, with some exceptions (Tartan army, Burns suppers, occasional weddings, street buskers, or folk generally regarded as eccentrics...) the kilt as a form of daily garb for men is as unpopular in Scotland as it is anywhere else. Most Scots who see a Kilt being worn in a non-special setting in Scotland, naturally assume foreigner / tourist. And to be honest, they'd not be far wrong. I'm chums with some Scots who have never, and will never wear a Kilt.

It's just the way it is. This is why it's important to encourage the Kilt both within as well as outwith Scotland or the whole industry around production of same will just fade away, or worse, be consumed by shoddy low quality imports. But that's an argument for another day perhaps.

[Mel1721L]

I went to pick up some people from the airport last night. I didn't know until one of them called my mobile number and I heard his voice that they were Scottish. I was wearing a cilt and sporran with the Welsh Dragon on the flap. On the homeward journey, I asked why he didn't wear a kilt and his reply was "I haven't got the balls!"

[cessna152towser]

I agree with Jock and Steve here. Wearing a kilt on the street here in Scotland midweek I have often been taken for an American tourist.
The kilt is neither the most comfortable or practical garment for many activities.
For casual wear during warm summer weather I have found the Utility kilt style with pockets and no sporran is a comfortable alternative to shorts, yet non-trad kilts haven't caught on as mainstream wear here in Scotland where there is still an assumption that kilts should be tartan and are only for more formal occasions or for following the national soccer and rugby teams.

[MacKenzie]

Interesting. Jock, you (and others) have danced all around it before, but just hadn't actually stepped on it. In fact, just the other night, after reading some comments on the other thread I told The Redhead that, "I believe Scots don't wear the kilt in Scotland because they're afraid they'll be taken for a tourist."

Or go to the Edinburgh Tattoo. I liken that to, many years ago, when I lived just outside Colonial Williamsburg. The LAST thing I wanted to do was go to Colonial Williamsburg.

[thecompaqguy]

The issue of anyone wearing the kilt in England doesn't have the same response, so I edited what I posted earlier...

Anyway, I think I throw people a curveball being a man of colour... Today, I dropped in on the Harpenden Highland Gathering, I was expecting to see perhaps 25 to 30% of the crowd who went to watch kilted... it was a sea of shorts and jeans, and aside from those running a stall, or pipers either playing or taking a break. Granted, I should have mine on (I was going to wear my black & white Menzies tartan, but I was working 'on call' and railway stations don't take kindly to kilts as it's not part of Health& Safety workwear if you're working near the track, or , bending down to fix equipment )... so I decided to forego the kilt this time... I packed it in the car, but there's no place to change into a kilt... Perhaps next year... I met Chas, but I don't know who else from the Forum dropped by...

[StevieR]

I think the fact of the matter is that most Scots don't wear the kilt ever, never mind daily. And for most Scots there never has been a tradition of kilt wearing.

The great kilt was unique to the highlands pre Culloden. Post Culloden and even after the Victorian "renaissance" the vast majority of all Scots would have worn trousers (the chaps, that is!) and even if the inclination was there, again, for most (who only owned two pairs of trousers - one for work, one for Sunday best) the purchase would have been deemed frivolous in the extreme.

As a boy I well remember a consensus that if the kilt was worn at all, it was deemed the preserve of the highlander. A lowlander should mark his allegiance to family or country by wearing tartan trews. My dad and uncle, to the best of my knowledge, were the first kilt wearers in my family since some distant relative may have worn the great kilt - "shoe-horned" into them by my granny, very much against their will, back in the 1940's. My dad never bothered after that, though my uncle persevered.

I will be attending a niece's wedding (in the Highlands) next year. Her father and brother will be in hired kilts. My uncle, his son and I will be the only ones from the brides family in kilts we own. I suspect most of the male guests will be trousered. As my own foray into the kilt is only a recent thing, I will suffer the inevitable "pish" take from the assorted throng and will be chided by various aunts and great aunts for wasting my money on "one of those things". All the same, I suspect that more Scots wear the kilt now, than they ever did in the (not too distant) past, although for most, it would be restricted to a wedding, Hogmanay, Burns Supper or some other special occasion.

[BBNC]

I don't want to ruffle any feathers, but has anyone noticed that the normal, everyday wear for much of Western Europe looks like it was imported from North America, especially the US? What about the UK; we picture a gentleman enjoying the outdoors dressed in tweeds, tattersall shirt, tie and tweed hat. Or would that be touristy in England?

[StevieR]

I don't want to ruffle any feathers, but has anyone noticed that the normal, everyday wear for much of Western Europe looks like it was imported from North America, especially the US? What about the UK; we picture a gentleman enjoying the outdoors dressed in tweeds, tattersall shirt, tie and tweed hat. Or would that be touristy in England?

Perhaps normal, everyday wear for North America was imported from Europe?

[James Hood]

In all the outside-the-USA places personally visited / traveled, this metro-Chicagoan was aghast and to all practical purposes repelled by the vast, vast, vast, vast pure numbers of visibly-not-USA locals in...

...blue jeans, "brand" athletic shoes, flip-flops, tee-shirts with logos etc, denim, baseball caps and "American black leather" jackets. What was reeeaal weird is how many american pro spots teams logos were on so much of the clothing in "Non-USA."

Personal "return thought" to them, "WE DO NOT dress well, WHY DO YOU WANT TO LOOK LIKE "us" ?????????????????