Thoughts experieces and why don't more men wear kilts??

[Woodsheal]

Let's face it: trousers in their various forms are much more culturally universal than the Scottish highland kilt. Asking why the kilt hasn't caught on is like asking why the Japanese kimono or the Iroquois breech-clout hasn't caught on....

[hospitaller]

Having come from another country to live in the US, I can say with an outsider's perspective, that it is not about 'the norm' as much as it is about the 'lack of knowledge about the country-as-a-whole's ancestry'.

Meaning, we see a lot of people dressing in a LOT of weird, off and out of the norm ways. They just don't wear kilts.

Yet, those of us who do wear a kilt, and actually look closer to the norm than some of the wares people wear nowadays....are labeled as 'attention wh*res', 'wallflowers', skirt wearers, etc.

I don't think the US as a whole has a problem with people wearing odd clothes or being out of the norm. It does however have a problem with a perceived 'man in a skirt'.

Part of it comes from the overwhelming lack of knowledge of the country's own history, and immigration origins of its predecesors.

I usually mention the area I live in, Louisville, KY.

The place is nothing but 80%+ of Scots immigrants. Anyone remember about the 'hillbillies'?

About every other surname in the area is Scottish, yet, people still can not believe their eyes when they see a man in a kilt. Or 2 men in kilt for that matter.

Hell, most locals believe their name is Irish for gawd's sake.

No one forces them to wear a kilt, but knowing their own traditional garments, at least people wouldn't be so quick to ridicule or make negative comments.

.

[McFarkus]

I'm just now to the point that I'm not afraid (maybe cause I'm married and I'm no longer worried about what the lasses (women?) think of what I look like?) to wear one. Being I only have one-arm, I've been picked on, laughed at, and many other belittling comments. Did it bother me? Sure. Now does it? No, I've grown up and a lot of people do that because they are scared of what it is (one-arm, kilt, whatever) or are ignorant to the fact.

I've never seen anyone kilted in my area unless it was at a Celticfest or Highland games. So, I'm hoping once I acquire one, wearing it daily (checking on the acceptance at work now), it will motivate others to actually wear theirs.

Hopefully this will help others to get over the "fear" of not wearing it and start wearing their kilts.

Michael

EDIT: Ohhh and my wife wants to see me in one. That's a plus right there!

The last reason is a very good one. When you get your kilt wear it proudly!

[EagleJCS]

I usually mention the area I live in, Louisville, KY.

The place is nothing but 80%+ of Scots immigrants. Anyone remember about the 'hillbillies'?

About every other surname in the area is Scottish, yet, people still can not believe their eyes when they see a man in a kilt. Or 2 men in kilt for that matter.

Hell, most locals believe their name is Irish for gawd's sake.

[Off Topic] (and somewhat long):
Actually, Louisville is largely Irish and German in population today (at least among the caucasian inhabitants). The Irish came in the mid-to-late 1800's and the Germans came about 20-30 years later. (I've lived here all my life, and have a couple of books on this city's history.)

In a brief nutshell, summarizing greatly, the city was founded by Revolutionary War Colonel (later General) George Rogers Clark. He left a small settlement on an island just off the bank of present-day Louisville before going to attack some of the frontier British forts during the Revolutionary War. After a couple of years the settlement moved onshore and grew with more and more settlers. In the mid-to-late 1800's there were a lot of Irish immigrants, which settled in the neighborhoods of Portland (to the west of modern downtown), and Butchertown, Phoenix Hill, and Irish Hill, just to the east/northeast of what is now 'Old Louisville', which was at the time the main part of suburbia (just 1 mile or so south of the Ohio River and modern downtown).

In the late 1800's and early 1900's, there were a lot of German immigrants, which settled in southern 'Old Louisville' and points south and east, forming what is now known as the Germantown neighborhood. In the 1930's and '40's came a few more immigrants, a few settling in what are now known as the Highlands neighborhoods. (Whether they were actually Scottish or no is up for debate - I think it was just a real estate marketing ploy based partly on being in the higher part of town).

The rest of Kentucky (paticularly the southern and eastern parts of the state, whence come the 'hillbillies') had much more of a Scottish heritage, but not Louisville. (My Scott ancestors gradually moved up from Green County in south-central Kentucky).
[/offtopic]

I think most of the posters have it right - most guys in the US aren't comfortable standing out in the crowd, hence the lack of frequent kilt wearing (members of this forum notwithstanding). There's a lot of pressure to 'fit in': do the "right things", act the "right way", wear the "right clothes", etc.

Personally, I prefer to save my one kilt (a 'tank') for more formal occasions. That's not to say I won't wear it casually, but I just haven't had the desire to.

[Nighthawk]

You've covered a lot of territory with your post, and before I respond I thought I'd ask you to tell us what the Puritans believed, and how those beliefs have influenced modern day US attitudes.

Thanks.

Well, Wickipedia says it best (as to who they were and what they believed.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritan

The part that I see as having had a lasting impact on US attitudes is the group piety and purity. I go to eBay France, for example, and do a search for kilts. What do I find? I topless woman modeling a kilt skirt- right on eBay for anyone to find!! In the States, that would be grounds for all kinds of litigation. "My son might see it!" Boo hoo. So what? Janet Jackson flashes half a nipple for half a second and we have a heart attack! I have to ask- why? What's the big deal? The only answer I can come up with is that it's latent attitudes left over from our Puritan origins. That's why they came here, after all- to get away from all the "degradation" of European society. The Puritan movement was so extreme that deviance could easily mean death. We can't be executed in this country now for being a little but different, but we can sure be persecuted for it. That was my whole point.

This is the thing that I think relates the most:

The central tenet of Puritanism was God's supreme authority over human affairs, particularly in the church, and especially as expressed in the Bible. This view led them to seek both individual and corporate conformance to the teaching of the Bible. It led them to pursue both moral purity down to the smallest detail as well as ecclesiastical purity to the highest level.

Individual conformance- you do what the majority tell you to do, both in public and in private. That is the way mainstream American society seems to me.

[Rex_Tremende]

Oh dear. This can't be about conservatives vs. liberals, since people of both stripes wear tartan.

Anyway, in my experience, the resistance I've observed by people I know who've thought about it is on the grounds that they are mortified of sticking out.

Regards,
Rex.

[Nighthawk]

Oh dear. This can't be about conservatives vs. liberals, since people of both stripes wear tartan.

Anyway, in my experience, the resistance I've observed by people I know who've thought about it object on the grounds that they are mortified of sticking out.

Regards,
Rex.

I was working on the assembly floor at my job today for the first time in years- I'm usually in the office- and I had that exact same fear...

[macwilkin]

The place is nothing but 80%+ of Scots immigrants. Anyone remember about the 'hillbillies'?

Of course, the Ulster-Scots "Hillbillies" wouldn't have been caught dead in the garb of the "wild Highlanders", who were of the "wrong" religion and supported (although that could be a dicey issue in its own right) the Divine Right Stuarts.

Remember, it's only been a recent innovation of Lowlanders and Ulstermen wearing the kilt and tartan -- originally, the kilt was a Highland garment.

T.

[Rex_Tremende]

I was working on the assembly floor at my job today for the first time in years- I'm usually in the office- and I had that exact same fear...

LOL.


Took me a minute there.

Regards,
Rex.

[TheSp8]

Asking why the kilt hasn't caught on is like asking why the Japanese kimono or the Iroquois breech-clout hasn't caught on....

Well, I must say I do have a breech-clout. I've worn it into stores on the way back from hunting and I got about the same level of interest in my clout and leggings as I usually do in the kilt.

I think overall it is a fear of standing out. After all, the wolves pull down the one that stands out. The only opinions I care about are my wife, my son, and my rater(only applies to work). As General Patton said, " If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking." It seems to me that the folks here are some free thinking sorts and so can make an independant decision regarding their sartorial preferences. That's my two pence worth anyway.

YMOS,
Tony