Freedom in Tradition

[Downunder Kilt]

You have got to love Artificer's well thought out reasoning. I think it's spot on in the comparison of saxon and highland "rules of dress" (guidelines) With the myriad of colours for hose, tartan, jackets etc, choice of cut and style of jackets, there is plenty of room for individualism in highland dressing.

[davidlpope]

Indeed! Some photos in would certainly help back up the usual supects authoritarian statements and sycophantic agreement!

See this thread:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...59/#post932831

[Zardoz]

Indeed! Some photos in would certainly help back up the usual supects authoritarian statements and sycophantic agreement!

Is that another way of saying you disagree with Erskine and that THCD is not a free style of dress?

Well, no. I basically agree Erskine's oft quoted statement. I say 'basically' because I do consider how long ago he made it.

I don't think Zardoz is the only one around the forum who seems to feel negatively toward the rules of Highland dress, as expressed by our resident experts. In some ways I'm surprised no-one else has voiced these opinions on this thread...

I know the traditionalists are strong in their opinions, but does anyone want to take a crack at arguing for a different interpretation of Erskine? I'm not trying to incite any flaming and I trust that this would be done while staying within the rules of the forum.

Since I'm being quoted, I will try to be more clear.

The issue I have is not with some old "rules" for Highland dress, but the way our "resident experts" hand down their versions of them.
Without naming names, we have a couple of "resident experts" that pass out insightful and useful advice, and usually back it up with some photos showing they 'walk the walk', not just 'talk the talk'

On the other hand, we have some "resident experts" that are long on talk, but a little short on walk. We have a couple of folks who are fast to point out the errors of your ways, or how "quite correct" someone elses stuff may be, sometimes seemingly based on their social standing, but show us little or nothing in the way of photos to actually back it up.
Sorry, but you can say how long you've been at it, who you know, and how you know as much about Prince Charles as a 12 year old girl knows about the Jonas Brothers, and any other esoteric knowege you claim, but to me it's mostly empty talk with out some photo's to back it up. This is the internet, you could be a troll that's never even worn a kilt!
This doesn't stop a few other members from agreeing with slavish devotion with whatever these folks say, I guess they just take it on faith.

[wildrover]

Hmmm.... Really?

I want Nighthawk's opinion.

If you want, I can page him...bet it'll be similar, but more blunt and less snarky

Sorry, but you can say how long you've been at it, who you know, and how you know as much about Prince Charles as a 12 year old girl knows about the Jonas Brothers

Prince Charles wants you to wear white kilt socks like Obama wants you to refinance your house. I read it on the internet.

This doesn't stop a few other members from agreeing with slavish devotion with whatever these folks say, I guess they just take it on faith.

OMG SO TRUE! I TOTALLY AGREE! Group hug? . Hey, you forgot the part about people posting pictures with less-than-aesthetically-pleasing-turnout, and then everyone saying how fabulously super awesome they look. If anyone is missing the point here...it is that false or thoughtless compliments obscure the goal.

Naw, I don't post a lot of pics...but then I get bored of non-action shot stuff and don't much like taking similar photos of myself.

[Bugbear]

Um, never mind.

[davedove]

It's always good to know the conventions on how things are done. When dressing a certain way, I like to know how everyone else does it.

Of course, there is also that rebellious streak in me, like I imagine is in some of the others, that just wants to say "Nobody is going to tell me how to dress." Although, if that is how you feel most of the time, why are you on the traditional forum?

But, the best way I know how to put it is - if you are going to push the boundaries, you have to know where those boundaries are.

[wildrover]

Well first off, my bad above, nobody got the joke or it was misinterpreted, so never mind. It wasn't intended to be malicious. If anyone wants an explanation, I'm willing to talk about it, but it's not terribly important and I'd rather not trash the thread with a big discussion that's totally unrelated to the topic. Sorry, joke went flat, nobody got the reference, post was edited, end of story. Probably best to edit the quoted text as well, so it's not sitting around confusing people.

Back to the thread...

Of course, there is also that rebellious streak in me, like I imagine is in some of the others, that just wants to say "Nobody is going to tell me how to dress." Although, if that is how you feel most of the time, why are you on the traditional forum?

I think it's the distinction between "nobody is going to tell me I have to wear tweed" and "nobody is going to tell me I have to wear a jacket". Individualism within traditional guidelines is the first, the second is the modern forum.

if you are going to push the boundaries, you have to know where those boundaries are.

That, and good taste, plus personal taste.

For example, I don't think every tartan will look good as a kilt/vest combo...not just the classic Loud MacLeod look, either.

It's also easy to either start matching everything, or avoid matching anything. Balancing what you're wearing takes a lot more thought, when it's a kilt, socks, flashes, shoes, shirt, vest, tie, jacket, pocket square, and maybe even a flower in your lapel.

Here's an example I like...this is a tartan vest done right. The whole thing is done right...there isn't any one item that particularly stands out. It's balanced. Also, the tartan is bold, but doesn't (to my eye) require adjusting one's optical gain the way some examples do. Incidentally, one of Matt's photos in the TCHD example thread shows something similar, in red


Another tartan vest done right...it's bright, but it's well-balanced, and the extras break up the dominant red background. In my opinion, putting together a kit like this is risky...it'll either look great, or painful, since there's so much of such a dominant color. I'm guessing a lot of thought went in to this, because it looks awesome.


Here's another example. I don't know if that tartan would look good as a vest. To my eye, it wouldn't. The kit is balanced around the kilt, and note what doesn't match, but works perfectly well. Also note that the cut and style of vest and jacket are available, but not common.


What's the most common type of shirt worn with a kilt jacket and/or vest? I'm going to guess white or blue, button up, long sleeve. Second might go to windowpane. How about white collar, or collar and cuffs, with a solid color body? This could just be camera angle and flash, or some visual trick of the lanyard he's wearing, but whether it is or not, I see it working out.