Quote Originally Posted by Nervous Jock View Post
I think people should just wear what they want to wear. I genuinely believe the vast majority of folk in Edinburgh see wearing the Kilt as something for a special occassion not everyday particularly as general acceptance of non tartan kilts is some way off. For example looking at the Utility kilts described on this forum I can't think of ever seeing one of these worn in Scotland. Certainly at Rugby internationals, when you would think this is the ideal opportunity to wear something like this.

While I wear a kilt regularly I would never consider wearing it to work unless it was a specific event where it had been requested.


As such I'm not sure the term "Room for improvement" applies here.
Well, Rugby Internationals are certainly one of those exceptions and the "Tartan Army" are precisely that - wearers of tartan kilts.

It's the "special occasion" mentality which needs to be improved. Of course people should be allowed to wear what they want, and of course during the week many will be prevented from wearing what they would really like to wear because of work considerations.

But not everyone you see on the streets on a weekday is necessarily working and these have an opportunity to choose what they wear. Giving their kilts at least an occasional outing outside of special occasions would really help to raise the profile of kilts as well as the numbers.

Tourists have had their expectations raised by all the travel literature of kilts galore. They want to go home with photos of guys in kilts to show their friends and relatives who will of course ask why there are no such photos.

To illustrate - I have been to Canada twice and have been asked where the photos of the Mounties are on my return. I had to confess it's because I didn't see any. Well I did but in ordinary police uniforms which means that the colour and symbol was absent.

Clearly you can't expect ordinary Canadian citizens to make up for this shortfall by donning the Mountie uniform themselves. But I would contend that a little more kilt wearing in Edinburgh would help to make up the shortfall that you find. It's a sad reflection that when you do see someone wearing a kilt in weekaday Edinburgh it's likely to be a visitor.

And as I said before it's not just Edinburgh, the special occasions mentality is nationwide. It just seems more acute in Edinburgh because of its status as the capital city and biggest tourist destination in Scotland.