I did not wear my kilt today

**Andrewson** · 14th July 06, 04:20 PM

I did not wear my kilt today because I was dancing on the radio.

Maybe that's obvious, but perhaps I should explain.

I was invited to our local radio station to help publicise a day of dance throughout England on 22 July that will involve all kinds of dances. The idea was to teach the presenter several new forms of dance during the three hour show. We were invited to do the Scottish Country Dance section.

Naturally I considered going along in the kilt. After all I ALWAYS wear my kilt to dance, even to practice classes. And I have absolutely no qualms about wearing a kilt in public, I do that regularly. Even more so lately because it has been so hot here in England.

The problem was that the day of dance is supposed to encourage more people to take up dancing as a healthy hobby. We will be contributing a one hour slot to this, doing a few demos to show what it is about, then inviting people in the audience to join in. We obviously want to maximise the audience participation both because that is the aim of the day and because we'd like to recruit new dancers to our clubs.

I knew very well that if I had worn the kilt, the whole focus of the interview and our section of the programme would turn on that and the impression would be created that you could only do Scottish Country Dancing if you had a kilt and were prepared to wear it. This is certainly not true, even if it is much more fun to dance in a kilt than in tr****rs. You might not believe this but the thought that you HAD to wear a kilt would put some people off. So I felt I had to make the sacrifice and go bifurcated.

I hope you will forgive this, especially as I am a newcomer to this community, though not to kilt wearing.

I will, of course, wear one of my four kilts – probably the 13oz 8 yard Modern Forsyth (see atavar) that has just been delivered from Geoffrey (Tailor) – for the actual day of dance. Flashing the tartan on those occasions gets the crowd's attention and, we hope, interest.

I wonder how many others have been put into the kind of situation where you might almost say it is expected that you will be in the kilt, where nobody would be surprised if you did wear it, yet you think you had better not?

Or maybe you think I made the wrong choice today?

**ronstew** · 14th July 06, 05:50 PM

Welcome aboard. Excellent first post, and I like the tartan in your avatar.

You thought it through and did what you thought best. What's to do disagree with?

**pdcorlis** · 14th July 06, 06:14 PM

Welcome to this fine little rabble of kilts - sounds to me like you'll fit right in!

Now a story - I had been teaching kilted all semester long but when it came time for graduation day at our commuity college, I thought "I'd better wear pants to keep the attention off of me and on the graduating students". BIG mistake... what did I hear all day long? You guessed it - "Why no kilt Phil?" Seems I spent all day explaining and apologizing for NOT wearing a kilt. I won't make that mistake again!

Anywhoo... Welcome from the hills and streams of northern Idaho.

**Blu (Ontario)** · 14th July 06, 06:26 PM

Wearing a kilt sometimes involves making intelligent, logical choices to suit circumstances. You made one. No need to apologize to anyone.

.

**SB996** · 14th July 06, 06:30 PM

No need to fret. I believe you made the wrong choice but that is only after I have made the same decision. I chose not to wear a kilt to a wedding reception fearing attention would be pulled from the bride and groom. All day I was asked why I had not and ribbed by one of my friends in his kilt for not wearing it. Live and learn. I now wear my kilt whenever I want and don't worry so much about others reactions or beliefs. Welcome to the fold.

**Panache** · 14th July 06, 06:34 PM

Andrewson,

Welcome to X-marks the Scot from Sunny California! Sounds like you did the right thing. As much as we encourage kilt wearing here, you were promoting dance (which to get men to dance is a huge task in itself without even considering the whole kilt issue). My wife and I took a course in Scottish Country dance many years ago and are looking forward to starting a new class after Labor Day here in San Jose. Great exercise, great music, and great fun. There has been little mention of Scottish dancing here (at least since I have been a member). I look forward to hearing more about your experiences.

Cheers

**Southern Breeze** · 14th July 06, 06:35 PM

Welcome aboard. You did what YOU thought was right,so theres no need to apologize to anyone.

**Scott Gilmore** · 14th July 06, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by Andrewson

Or maybe you think I made the wrong choice today?

Not at all. Sounds to me like you made the prudent choice.

Oh, and by the way, not a bad first post. Not bad at all.

Regards,
Scott Gilmore

**KiltedCodeWarrior** · 14th July 06, 07:22 PM

Welcome from the Windy City! And as others have indicated, we are not rabid about kilt wearing (well, actually we are, but we leave it up to the individual), and you need determine for yourself what is appropriate, and when. Hope the demonstraton went well. Let us know how the broadcast goes.

**Kilted KT** · 14th July 06, 07:26 PM

welcome to the rabble!!

excellent first post. you did what you wanted to do. No right or wrong about it. You were confident in your decision and carried it through. No one here is going to hold you at fault for that.

again....welcome!