Wearing A Kilt On Halloween

[DanRatcliffe]

As far as I am concerned, it is not any different than jeans and a cowboy hat. Like all costumes, some will like it, some won't. Do what you want, some people will give you compliments, some will not or speak against you.

I should have added I were my kilt relatively often. I do get asked what is happening, a wedding, a parade, etc.? Many times I just reply, it is Friday, or Monday, or,or, or.

[WalesLax]

Going back to BlueThunder's original question, I will relay this about myself. I don't regularly wear a kilt, but do wear one every time I pipe, some of the time when I practice, always to highland games, generally for black-tie/formal functions, and occasionally other times.

The first time I wore a kilt in public was St. Patrick's Day. I had wanted a kilt but really didn't know a ton about them, so I did some poor research and bought one off eBay. I didn't know how people would react to seeing me in it, so I figured St. Patrick's Day would be a great time to try wearing it, see what people said and see how I felt. I did the same that year on Halloween.

To OP BlueThunder's point, I wore it those days because id people were @-holes to me, I could pass it off as "well, I'm just in the spirit of the day." Contrary to what I had expected, I got mostly very positive reactions, which is what led to me researching kilts more in depth, finding this site, buying better ones and wearing them more often.

I have since passed that original kilt on to someone who had a similar thought, tried it, liked it, bought a nicer one, and passed the original on to someone who had a similar thought. At this point, that "Halloween Kilt" has influenced and converted at least three people, possibly others who saw me wearing it.

I have worn kilts on Halloween since then, but I think it's always been as part of a costume - rugby fan, David Livingstone, John Jameson (blows people's mind that he was Scottish, not Irish), etc. Again, I've always worn it nicely/appropriately.

To that end, I say that if you are looking for a day to try it out and see how you feel, Halloween or St. Patrick's Day give you a good opportunity to do so with a safety net.

RR

[PatrickHughes123]

Going back to BlueThunder's original question, I will relay this about myself. I don't regularly wear a kilt, but do wear one every time I pipe, some of the time when I practice, always to highland games, generally for black-tie/formal functions, and occasionally other times.

The first time I wore a kilt in public was St. Patrick's Day. I had wanted a kilt but really didn't know a ton about them, so I did some poor research and bought one off eBay. I didn't know how people would react to seeing me in it, so I figured St. Patrick's Day would be a great time to try wearing it, see what people said and see how I felt. I did the same that year on Halloween.

To OP BlueThunder's point, I wore it those days because id people were @-holes to me, I could pass it off as "well, I'm just in the spirit of the day." Contrary to what I had expected, I got mostly very positive reactions, which is what led to me researching kilts more in depth, finding this site, buying better ones and wearing them more often.

I have since passed that original kilt on to someone who had a similar thought, tried it, liked it, bought a nicer one, and passed the original on to someone who had a similar thought. At this point, that "Halloween Kilt" has influenced and converted at least three people, possibly others who saw me wearing it.

I have worn kilts on Halloween since then, but I think it's always been as part of a costume - rugby fan, David Livingstone, John Jameson (blows people's mind that he was Scottish, not Irish), etc. Again, I've always worn it nicely/appropriately.

To that end, I say that if you are looking for a day to try it out and see how you feel, Halloween or St. Patrick's Day give you a good opportunity to do so with a safety net.

RR

I agree with St. Patrick's Day but not Halloween. If you want a safety net that is free of controversy, you might consider Burns Night and St. Andrews Day. Or if you wanted to wear it more often with safety nets, consider birthdays/death days of Scottish kings and queens, battle anniversaries, etc. You can always, if asked, say "Oh! It's the day that..." or "On this date... This battle took place at...".

[WalesLax]

I agree with St. Patrick's Day but not Halloween. If you want a safety net that is free of controversy, you might consider Burns Night and St. Andrews Day. Or if you wanted to wear it more often with safety nets, consider birthdays/death days of Scottish kings and queens, battle anniversaries, etc. You can always, if asked, say "Oh! It's the day that..." or "On this date... This battle took place at...".

Do you think Americans are going to know when or what Burns Night or St. Andrews Day, much less the birth/death days of Scottish kings and queens and/or battle anniversaries?

I think BlueThunder (I love that screen name, by the way), it looking for an opportunity to wear a kilt in public when he won't be looked upon by others as being strange/different/etc. and I can empathize with that. Wearing a kilt on those days you mentioned isn't really going to help because Americans don't know those days, so they will still see him and think "why is that strange man wearing a kilt?"

That said, this week might be a FANTASTIC time to try wearing a kilt in public as many Irish bars/restaurants are having their "Half Way to St. Patrick's Day" parties. I tried looking in Hawai'i, but I don't know what area/island you (BlueThunder90) live on, so that limits my effectiveness. If there are Irish bars in the area, I would reach out and see who is having a party/celebration/excuse to drink, as wearing a kilt to a "Halfway" event gives you the opportunity to wear it in public and see how you feel without having to deal with "why are you wearing that" questions.

RR

[Tarheel]

I'll like to post the particulars Bluethunder set for the Halloween party he is considering. Here is his previous post.



All the other discussions have been great, but this was a particular case and should be considered.
Thanks to all for the points of view.

[Tobinn]

Well, my department, as it does every year around this time, decided on a Halloween theme (we do it up right including a big pot luck).

This year's theme is Harry Potter.

Well, I don't think it took more than a couple shakes of a magic wand before a co-worker send me a picture of Mad-Eye Moody in a kilt (well, apparently it was another wizard (a bad wizard) impersonating him, anyway). There was another pic of Dumbledor's brother (?) in a kilt so....

I picked up a brown leather vest, will pair my Brown Watch kilt with light brown hose and grab a couple of items from my Revolutionary War reenactment uniform (note I did not use the word "costume") including my basic white shirt, black neck stock and oil skin cloak (although I'm toying with the idea of substituting an oil skin duster which still looks great despite many hard years of use when I was in the landscape installation line of work - probably stick with the cloak - more Potter-y) topped with my cocked round felt hat (my God! Over 25 years old, now!!). I've already absconded with my son's Potter wand with the LED tip (heck I bought it in the first place - still works, just had to replace the batteries) and am trying to figure out how to attach a raven from Michael's (half off for $7) to my shoulder.

Every article of clothing is a genuine piece or clothing - no costumey bits here. I may actually wear it out when I take my son out trick-or-treating.

The irony is that, for a change, I'll be wearing unbifurcated clothing made for a man. In years past I've dressed as Marcia Brady with a broken nose (Oh! My nose!), a pregnant Jenny B. complete with bubba teeth and Dorothy dress (Denny B's wife/sister - I live in Florida, you know), zombie Dorothy (two wears!) and the female part of bad/redneck prom couple (special thanks to my buddy Matt A. who is a bonafide FLA redneck who put the dress together for me. A true Renaissance man of many talents; can kill a wild boar while half in the bag (he not the boar) with an ash-handle roofing hammer or put together a trashy prom dress in just my size!)

I may or may not have a problem...:

[Panache]

I got the invite recently to the amazing themed Halloween party my friends throw each year.

The theme this year is "All Things Disney"

I googled images for the Mad Hatter and got some from the fairly recent live action "Alice" from Disney with Johnny Depp...


Sword and kilt? I think I have this covered!




;)




Cheers

Jamie

[rmcglew3]

[QUOTE=Jumpmonkey;1362405]Somewhat disregarding the general question of wearing the kilt on Halloween, may I suggest the following...

...If you plan on wearing the kilt as a garment, I don't believe that introducing it, and yourself in it, on Halloween is a good idea, if you hope to be taken seriously wearing it on another day. In addition to your normal adjustment to wearing the kilt as a garment, you'll have to deal with some "why are you still wearing your Halloween costume?" mentality, because you introduced it as a Halloween costume.

If you're trying to build up the courage to wear it publicly, I'll suggest what worked for me.
1) Wear your kilt around the house for a day (or more if you need) just get used to wearing it.
2) Wear it out in public, some place like the park or mall. Wear it out of your house, in the presence of strangers.
3) Wear it in the presence of friends and family.
4) Just plain wear it wherever.

Just be ready for a lot of attention from the lasses!

[Ivor]

Coming from a Scottish tradition I find it difficult to understand why anyone would want to dress up in a kilt for Halloween. I may be misunderstanding the significance that different nations place upon Halloween but it is not an occasion that a Scottish person would consider appropriate for a kilt to be worn. I know many Scots, myself included, do not own a kilt or wear one regularly but, when we do, it is for a special occasion such as a wedding and not a trivial party such as Halloween. I am hoping to get a kilt eventually and, when I do it will be worn with pride and respect not as some kind of fancy dress costume.

[Chris Hills]

Look, first and obvious point... you live in america and can wear whatever you want. Especially as you (like me) have served your country. That said though, your question isn't can I but should I...

I wear my family's tartan and our clan crest proudly in respect to our family history and heritage. many other people wear a kilt that have no clan history or heritage and I don't find that disrespectful as long as they are not doing so in a manner that makes Scots look bad.

I also happen to have a "belted plaid" (so called great kilt) in my family tartan. I intend to wear it this year to an event for kids (in lieu of halloween trick or treating). I intend to wear it with accessories more typical of highland dress in the 17th century so you can say it is a costume. I am not insulting my heritage and have no issue with the concept. My son will be there and he (also a soldier) has chosen to wear the black watch kilt in lieu of our family tartan.

Long and short, it is about respect for the culture. If you want to do so than do it in a manner respectful to your fellow Scots.