Quote Originally Posted by Alan H View Post
... Ted, do you actually have a kilt yet? I thought you threw them all out, because A.) you didn't feel that kilts were part of your tradition and B.) a person needed to be a "manly man" to wear a kilt, and you felt that you were not such a person.

have you changed your mind and made/purchased a kilt again? I know finances are tight for you, how about just downloading the X Kilt manual and making an X-kilt....which is a box pleat with sewn-down edges. It's quite easy to do.

And please...no excuses this time, OK? If you don't have a kilt and money is tight, then bloody well MAKE ONE.
I understand that I annoy you, Alan H. I'm sorry.

I was being told by several members that using the word "kilt" in reference to a non-traditional kilt was not respecting their traditions. I was being told by the moderators that using any word other than kilt in reference to the non-traditional kilt was not acceptable, and also had a thread removed from the open forum for using another term. A term which happened to have been made up by a traditionalist, by the way.

I had no way to defend myself against the charge that I was disrespecting the Scottish traditions; I am not Scottish; I can not show that I have any Scottish ancestors. It took me a long while to look up primary sources of the word "kilt" being applied to garments other than a traditional Scottish kilt, and also pre-dating the form of the kilt that is now considered traditional; I have no direct access to the OED. I started several threads asking questions of the traditionalists and the historians of the forum. I have posted quotes of David Livingstone, a Scot who also had family ties to the Highlands, not that he was happy about it, calling South African garments, "kilts," in the Eighteen-fifties. I have more quotes from Livingstone that I have not posted, and I can produce primary quotes from Robert Burns showing that the word "kilt" was not exclusive to the meaning we commonly attribute to the word today: a verb rather than noun.

I did not already know these facts, and had to look them up, which took a great deal of time. In the meantime, I suspended my wearing of kilts. I take the charge that I am disrespecting someone's traditions very seriously because I have had to give up so many of my own. Now that I can defend my choice, as well as, discuss it on the forum without feeling that I am disrespecting someone's traditions, I have resumed wearing my non-traditional kilt.

I did not throw out any of my kilts, or kilt accessories. The feeling of not culturally owning the kilt I have spent a lot of money on does bother me. I do have an issue with not being a "manly man," being discussed in relation to the kilt. I have a different view point, and usually try to keep it to myself now-a-days because I realize it is very easily misunderstood and leads to off topic discussions that may be against the forum rules. I will not be making an X-kilt because I neither have a sewing machine nor the sewing skills to make a kilt.