Upcoming Holiday in Scotland and England

GG · 26th April 13, 04:22 AM

The same post twice. Therefore I deleted this one. Sorry.

**Dangerdean** · 26th April 13, 04:33 PM

I decided against taking my kilt to Scotland last summer because of the space consideration. A kilt takes up a goodly amount of suitcase real estate.
I really didn't see many people in kilts until Edinburgh. One Canadian in the Glasgow airport, a Spaniard at the Skye ferry terminal, a guy at Stirling Castle, another on Iona and the guy running the Clan MacPherson Museum. In Edinburgh there was a crowd of (mostly) German guys in nearly identical (I assume) rental gear, as most of the PCs were far too short for them, and a fair number of locals in kilts off to the football on Sunday morning.

**KiltFitz** · 26th April 13, 07:21 PM

Hi RAF

I live in Glasgow and wear my kilt frequently here, so much so that people have stopped asking me if there's a reason. It's true, it is uncommon for people to wear a kilt as a daily routine but at this time of year, there are all sorts of events like weddings and graduations etc that people will be on their way to wearing a kilt so I don't think you should feel self-conscious. In the evening, people just assume you are on your way to some kind of celebration (or just coming back from one), during the day the occasional tourist is fascinated but I like that and enjoy stopping for photos. Smart-phones being what they are, I often ask people to email me or facebook the photos to me.

I wear my kilt for lots of rugby trips too, both in the UK and abroad and normally I just travel with hand luggage so the kilt is the only thing I wear even if I'm spending several days at my destination. The most admiring looks I ever got were from 2 young women working in a card shop in Oxford when I popped in to get a card on my way to a friend's wedding down the road. They actually stepped out of the shop to watch me walk away (and I was quite popular at the wedding too but that's another story).

If you look uncomfortable, people will sense that but if you 'own' it, people just glance and get back to their conversation. Naturally this applies mainly to the more cosmopolitan areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh etc and there are areas where you would get a bit more stick but I probably wouldn't recommend visiting them for a holiday anyway.

Hope you have a great time here anyway, if visiting Glasgow I would recommend the west end where kilts are quite a frequent occurrence especially within the infamous "teuchter triangle" of west highland pubs near kelvingrove museum. If you see a big lump in a hunting MacGregor tank, it may well be me. By the by, in early June, there are a couple of highland games on near Glasgow at Helensburgh and Bearsden where you will easily blend in with other kilt-wearers.

**Markth** · 28th April 13, 12:44 AM

You will probably see a few kilts on show at the beginning of June Scotland play Croatia on 7th. There are 2800 of us attending and due to the price of flights departures are spread over 1st to 6th June from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London.

**BBNC** · 4th May 13, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by Jock Scot

Good advice above. My only addition is to suggest that you wear the kilt as per the Scots instruction book , not the "rest of the World" instruction book, it will be appreciated. Have fun.

Jock, I'm just curious...how does the Scot instruction book differ from the "other?" Forgive my ignorance, I'm just starting out with my first kilt. I'm trying to get my better half to take a photo so I can post it.

**Jock Scot** · 5th May 13, 01:26 AM

Alright as an example, I will tell you what I saw yesterday. The gentleman was, er, well, lets say from outwith these shores, was wearing a tartan kilt, perhaps two inches below the knee, white cotton hose pulled up so high that only he would know where it stopped, a t shirt with some sort of snarling animal covering most of it and a flat cap. OH and the footwear, was some sort of neon red basket ball shoe with bright yellow laces, tied in huge bow. I kid you not.

OK it was his choice and no one would deny him that choice, but this sort of attire is a regular sight for us and it does cause offence. Frankly we don't know whether to laugh, or cry and a keen observer may notice the silent raising of the eyebrow between one local and another and inevitably the thought occurs, "oh here we go, another idiot playing at being a Scot".

To be fair some----a minority---of kilt wearing visitors do make the effort and wear the kilt well and it is appreciated. Sadly though, they then usually make the fundamental mistake of wearing more than one clan tartan, during their stay . Of course no one is any the wiser if the visitor moves on every day, but should the visitor be staying a few days in the same place this important detail is glaringly obvious. Hope this helps.

**BBNC** · 5th May 13, 03:37 AM

Jock, thanks for the insight. I believe if folks are going to wear the dress of a country not their own, especially when in that country, they should at least learn to do it correctly.

What you said about wearing more than one clan tartan during a given stay...suppose a given clan has more than one tartan, such as modern, ancient, hunting, etc., or the wearer is closely connected to more than one clan? For example, I might wear a muted tartan for day wear, and change to the brighter modern version for evening wear.

**Jock Scot** · 5th May 13, 04:53 AM

Originally Posted by BBNC

Jock, thanks for the insight. I believe if folks are going to wear the dress of a country not their own, especially when in that country, they should at least learn to do it correctly.

What you said about wearing more than one clan tartan during a given stay...suppose a given clan has more than one tartan, such as modern, ancient, hunting, etc., or the wearer is closely connected to more than one clan? For example, I might wear a muted tartan for day wear, and change to the brighter modern version for evening wear.

Yes! A good question, well done! Yes you could quite legitimately do that, as might a person who was a member of clan Chattan and wore that tartan, for example, might wear a Davidson tartan too, but-------- BUT------

Two things to remember. The Scots really are not that knowledgeable about tartans------they are rarely interested in the finest of fine detail that we are on this website----- and so would probably not know about the fine distinctions, unless you happen to be within the bounds of Clan Chattan country, for example, so you are damned anyway. Secondly, there is a danger that owning and wearing more than one kilt is either showing that you are lucky enough to have inherited them, they would have to know you really well for many years to know that, so, they would assume----perhaps unfairly------ that you have more money than sense and outward signs of wealth are not considered to be a laudable trait in the Highlands. Whilst Low profile is the method of thinking up here in the Highlands, I am not sure that necessarily holds true in some parts of Scotland, but erring on the side of caution is always a wise move when visiting another country in my book.

**JonathanB** · 5th May 13, 06:17 AM

Originally Posted by Grizzly

Edinburgh you may get away with it as there are so many tourist tat shops selling cheap kilts and souvenirs. There are a few quality shops which are worth a browse though.

As a matter of interest, which ones are they? Nicholsons? Hector Russell?

When I’m better than I am at present, I’d like to take a trip to Edinburgh. Since I’d be going by train, packing the stuff would be no problem.

**BBNC** · 5th May 13, 07:09 AM

Jock, you make an interesting point.

Based on my experiences traveling about in the US Navy, whether one wore a uniform or not, it always seemed that the locals could spot tourists a mile away, so trying to blend in was usually futile. However, the other side of the coin was that the locals seemed to appreciate when an effort was made to learn their language and customs, especially away from the typical tourist hangouts.

One experience I had was when an English acquaintance came here on vacation, when a friend and I took him fly fishing. He was dressed as the quintessential English gentleman in the outdoors...tweed jacket and trousers, checked shirt, tie, and wool hat. Things being what they were, it was hot and muggy, and we eventually got him stripped down to the essentials. We bought him a tee shirt and a cooler hat as he was obviously uncomfortable by afternoon.