"Brigadoonery"? "TCHD"? Who decides?

[Nathan]

You're asking great questions @BadenochWolf, in fact, there was considerable discussion between @CMcG and myself about whether to include the picture of @Panache (EDIT: I should have written @Tobus) in a pith helmet in the THCD thread. Ultimately, it was chosen as an example of a sensible adaptation to a non-Highland climate. We were trying to illustrate that THCD isn't quite as rigid as some think, so long as there's a sensible explanation for deviation from the conventional choice.

In the case of a shoelace-necked pirate shirt, it serves no function that a more traditional button down shirt does not serve. It is no cooler or more comfortable than a modern shirt worn with the neck open. It is likely less cool than the short sleeved variety.Moreover, it is actually featured in the wardrobe of the movie Brigadoon and its popularity followed the popularity of the film and Broadway production. To my mind it is, therefore, perhaps the very definition of Brigadoonery.In answer to the title of your thread, "who decides?" the answer is the Highland Scots. They alone get to decide what is and is not traditional where they live and if most of the kilt wearers among them would look upon a garment or look as nontraditional, it is.

There's not much external logic to it. An idea or garment has been accepted and adopted or it has been rejected. Sometimes it has just been ignored. The members of xmarksthescot.com came up an acronym to help clarify discussions around what is perceived as traditional civilian attire for kilted civilians by kilt wearing Highlanders with a family tradition of doing so who live in the Highlands but the members of this website are not the final arbiters of what is or is not THCD. In short, we are mere scribes studying and explaining a culture and perhaps even influencing it (time will tell) but not directing it.In the case of the pseudo Jacobite shirt, it has been pretty much rejected by traditionalists in the Highlands as a poor idea. It looks historical but isn't. One can be just as comfortable in a shirt of their own era, so why the pageantry? The answer for "why the pith helmet?" goes back to my sensible deviation from convention point. A wool bonnet is a terrible choice in the Arabian or Indian sun. Something lighter with a little shade makes sense. @Panache lives in California where the sun gets pretty hot compared to Badenoch, so he may have chosen a logical garment with a kilted precedent over say a cowboy hat which would serve the same function but be more incongruous due to its iconic Western status.Does that help any?