Please tell me if I'm being told lies by my bad bf......

[Dale Seago]

Just a guess, but regarding #2 he may be thinking of making a silk purse out of a sow's ear as per Liam Neeson's Rob Roy movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpIJCn-r72I


So I hope ye like him fine!

[Ravelyn]

LeeAnne: According to Kathy Lare, a renown kilt maker, ...

I hope I won't come across as a smart a__ if I offer a small, friendly correction (with, believe me, the best of intentions). It's only because I see the word "renown" misused quite a bit. "Renown" is, as the sound might imply, a noun. The adjective form is "renowned." Thus, one could say "a kilt maker of renown," or "a renowned kilt maker."

As for the original question, I side with those who hold that a kilt is a kilt, whomever wears it. If I was ever to get drunk enough to put on a dress (Heaven forbid), I expect everyone unfortunate enough to see me would still call it a dress, not a toga.

[Spartan Tartan]

Just a guess, but regarding #2 he may be thinking of making a silk purse out of a sow's ear as per Liam Neeson's Rob Roy movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpIJCn-r72I


So I hope ye like him fine!

LOL! Of COURSE that is what he is thinking!

[azwildcat96]

I'd say this horse has been totally beat to death...The previous 22 posts have made it clear that your bf is full of . . . well . . . it.

Call it a kilt, call it a kilted skirt, call it whatever you like.

Pass on the sporran, carry a purse, or whatever you normally carry for your wallet, car keys, lipstick, phone, etc.

Wear whatever you feel comfortable wearing underneath. Your choice, not his!

By the way, if your bf isn't on this site, keep it a secret from him...I'm sure he's a great guy and all, but we'll gladly help bust his childish comments, and keep you from being the butt of his jokes.

[Mickey]

I'd say this horse has been totally beat to death...The previous 22 posts have made it clear that your bf is full of . . . well . . . it.

Call it a kilt, call it a kilted skirt, call it whatever you like.

Pass on the sporran, carry a purse, or whatever you normally carry for your wallet, car keys, lipstick, phone, etc.

Wear whatever you feel comfortable wearing underneath. Your choice, not his!

By the way, if your bf isn't on this site, keep it a secret from him...I'm sure he's a great guy and all, but we'll gladly help bust his childish comments, and keep you from being the butt of his jokes.

Gotta agree with some of the folks here. Wanna wear a tartan kilt/skirt/whatever you want to call it... do it. What you wear underneath and why is your business. What you wear underneath is, IMO, (unlike some others), NO indication of your character, or your man's.

But across the board I agree that I've not seen a girl yet wearing a standard sporran in the standard fashion that looked good. My wife will wear a kilt, but if she has a sporran, it is worn as a handbag, not across the hips.. her choice, not mine. She feels it is wrong, for the same reasons that I do. Just doesn't look right.

[O'Callaghan]

A kilt is a skirt no matter who wears it. Nomenclature is not intended to limit, but merely describe accurately for the sake of comprehension. Not all skirts are kilts. To be a form of kilt it should have pleats in back and aprons in front.

A military style kilt, whether worn by men or women, say in a pipe band or as a highland dancer or athlete, may for simplicity be called simply a kilt.
A mini kilt is shorter and intended for, please only, women.
Kilts over the knee are referred to as kilted skirts or kilt skirts.
Kilts to the ground are called hostess skirts and are considered formal.

Dancers and athletes of either sex are required to wear undies. Soldiers are required not to. What you as a civilian do is entirely your own business and not even your boyfriend's if you don't want him to know.

I think this is the definitive answer above.

By military style, he apparently means a kilt that is approximately knee length. As he says, that would be just a regular kilt or a ladies' kilt as appropriate. The side it fastens determines the gender it is intended for in exactly the same way as, for example, a jacket, although in the case of pipe bands usually everyone wears kilts that fasten on the men's side.

I think for a celidh a regular ladies' kilt might be best, but it is many years since I attended one, and most of the people there were not in highland dress when I did, so I am not really the right person to ask.

Men seem to be stuck with knee length. If I say that wasn't always so, someone else will disagree and off we will go at a tangent. Where it should fall relative to the knee is the subject of many tedious threads! Mid-knee if you're in the army, otherwise you only have the fashion police to consider.

I have seen women wear a sporran, but it's not usual. Mostly if they do it means they are in a pipe band, but not always. At a festival it would not be out of the ordinary, but at a celidh it would look out of place.

Someone else mentionned billie kilts. That is not exactly a standard mini kilt, but also has a band of fabric at the top with the tartan pattern (the sett, as it's called) cut on the bias. Why they are called that is a mystery to me, but is a common style in ladies' highland wear. Probably someone selling them called them that and it stuck.

One of these days I'm going to get a kilt for my wife, probably long but not floor length, so it would be considered a kilted skirt. Actually, it will have to be exactly the length she wants(!), which is perhaps between a kilted skirt and a hostess kilt. It will cost more than any of mine, though, as it will use more fabric and she will only wear her clan tartan (she is partly Scots and I'm partly Irish, and I am content to wear generic Irish kilts).

[kilted bear]

I think what you wear under your kilt is up to you.. I personally like the "regimental" style... but i'm a guy... you do whatever is most comfortable for you....

[Frank McGrath]

Semper ubi sub ubi.

+ ***

[creagdhubh]

A Scottish Highland kilt (Feileadh beag) is by definition and tradition, a man's garment, however, I have no issue with women wearing (men's) kilts, as I am indeed aware of many women (and I know several personally) who are members of a pipe band wearing kilts, sporrans, Argyll jackets, Glengarries, etc, etc, and they always look very smart, and a wee bit sexy too!

However, there are 'kilted skirts' available from any reptuable Highland dress company, of varying lengths and design, that are much more suitable to women, versus a traditional kilt, which is cut to fit the body shape of a man. Our own Barb Tewksbury has discussed this topic on the forum before, as she as made kilts for her daughter, who is a member of a pipe band.

Have a grand time at the ceilidh, and no worries, you don't have to be Scottish to enjoy a good time with your man and fellow mates...enjoy!

Slainte mhath,

[Pleater]

Remember that short clothes are a relatively modern innovation - no respectable woman would wear a garment as short as a modern kilt in Victorian times - and although the 'flappers' wore their skirts short in the roaring Twenties (1920s) they would have caused consternation in the streets - longer length coats and capes were de rigeur. It was not until the 1960s that hemlines rose, but they were to be worn with tights, and often with long socks or boots as well to reduce the impact of so much skin. It was not unusual to wear a mini skirt with an ankle length coat.

The standard way to close a kilt is left over right - there is no alteration for women - it is like the kimono in that.

My kilts fifty years ago were fastened on the right, kilts worn by girls or women in old films, photos, knitting patterns, magazine illustrations etc. were closed on the right.

Girls might wear a knee length kilt, but for women the normal length was 27 inches - one half of the 54inch of the standard wool fabric woven back then in British mills.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: