Knowing what we all know now ...

[cessna152towser]

In reply to Auld Argonian, I think further north the kilt tends to be worn as everyday wear - I've seen plenty of casual kilts being worn around Inverness and Perth for example. I'd say Edinburgh is more a place where the kilt is worn for the benefit of the tourist as most of the kilts in evidence there seem to be worn as part of the full dress outfit rather than with a casual top. I'm probably as guilty as the rest though; when I go to Edinburgh on business I tend to go fully kitted out with the Argyle Jacket, flashes, sgian dhu, matching tie etc; I drive to a park and ride in the outskirts then take a train into Edinburgh Waverley, and walk along Princes Street in the full outfit to my business meetings. Whereas in my home town here I tend to team my kilts with a tee shirt, polo top or fleece according to the weather and normally wear plain garters with no flashes and no sgian dhu.

[Kilted Barbarian]

I wore my kilt a few times at school but i'm a stuborn SOB so people didn't get to me...I also hung out with stoners and gamers...

[angerli]

Derek, that is a very thought provoking post. I started wearing kilts at age 58. Darrell

What IS this business about 58...? I started this year, too...at 58!!!!!!

Sandy

[Whiteraven]

I probably would not have worn a Kilt to high school. Although going against the system I was a Shrub ( pre-grundge ) in a school full of prepies and Rugby players. I never would have attempted a Kilt, although I caried a large chip on my shoulder, I'm sure a hospital stay would have soon fallowed.


Whiteraven

[Colin]

When I was in high school, being independent was cool as long as you followed all the other people's ideas about independence. Much like today, kids are expressing their individuality but dressing and acting just like everyone else. I love the fact that they all think they are charting new ground

Having said that, I would have worn a kilt to my Highschool graduation for sure!!!!

[Freedomlover]

I went to high school in the early/mid sixties. Conformity was not just suggested it was absolutely required. HOWEVER, outside of high school I frequently wore a kilt because it was a completely normal thing to do. I don't recall a time when there wasn't at least a couple of them in my wardrobe. Thank heavens for a Scottish mother.

By the time I got to University times had changed. My kilts sometimes got comments, but nothing really nasty. But the kid who wore lederhosen all the time got ragged something awful. But to his credit he didn't change.

Someone here says in his signature, "kilts are garments, not costumes". Amen to that, and it is just jolly well too bad who doesn't like it.

[GlassMan]

By the time I got to University times had changed. My kilts sometimes got comments, but nothing really nasty. But the kid who wore lederhosen all the time got ragged something awful. But to his credit he didn't change.

Someone wore lederhosen all the time in college?!?!?!

[Freedomlover]

Someone wore lederhosen all the time in college?!?!?!

No kidding. Complete with crosspiece suspenders. I don't remember ever seeing him in anything else.

[UmAnOnion]

Someone wore lederhosen all the time in college?!?!?!

Hey, what about the naked guy at one of the colleges a few years back who refused to wear anything more than shoes for the majority of the year...

Compared to that lederhosen is a walk in the park - and a kilt would be considered far too overdressed!

[Jerry]

Well, I went to high school back in the middle sixties and it would have been an incredibly tough thing to do...it was a boys' high school and the really cutting insults were those that dealt directly with one's sexual orientation...in retrospect this is sort of funny because I've subsequentally found out that not a few of my classmates were, in fact, gay.

But the problem was that it was high school, we were all in our teen years and insecure and the times were different. You wore a sweater that was "too pretty" and you got called every derrogatory name for a homosexual you could think of...so you could only imagine what would happen if you wore a kilt. It was not at all fair but what do you expect from a bunch of puppies fighting for position in the pack order?

I knew a couple of guys who were active in Irish step dancing back in grammar school...they had kilts as part of their outfits...they got out of it right quickly by the time they got to high school. The funny thing is that now my own son knows a kid in his high school that has attained a bit of notariety because of his Irish step dancing...I bet that this kid thanks Michael Flatley every day of his life for Riverdancing in pants instead of the kilt. I would have never had the nerve to wear the kilt in high school...all credit to the guys who do it now..they have thicker skin than I had back then.

Best

AA

I was in high school in the late 50s to early 60s. Kilts would have definitely been asking for trouble back then, Heck, the girls didn't even wear pants then. No one wore jeans and all of the girls wore skirts or dresses. In some ways, I think it was better.