Sooooo, why don't more Scots wear kilts?

[David Dalglish]

The Scots do wear polywool kilts if you co anywhere near Celtic park or Ibrox ( Celtic & Rangers) you will see many kilts of all Shapes & sizes, & when Scotland are playing there is a kiltfest

[Frank]

I grew up in Glasgow back in the seventies. My recollection is that kilt wearing was very much in the province of either the comic seaside entertainer with songs about about 'Donald' and his missing 'troosers' or the affluent middle classes - you know the kind of guys who's parents have given them a surname for a first name - Cambell, Crawford or Fraser etc.
Working class type males in Glasgow (when I was a kid) seemed to be taught the importance of never getting above their station in life, (having more than two syllables in your name was frowned upon) and being individual in the area of dress such as kilts would definitely count as a a delusion of grandeur...however self expression through blind worship of football was seen as the sign of a good chap.
It's no surprise then that even though times have moved on and the standard of life has generally risen, sporting occasions are those most likely to be popular kiltfests. Hopefully, the current upsurge in kilt wearing of the will permeate through to other areas of daily life. Perhaps the catalytic effect of a few fashionable star football players sporting the kilt now and again might be what's needed.....


P.S. - I'm not kidding about the name situation. In most of my school classes, a good 80% of the boys would be called Jim, John, or James (although the latter were clearly more likely to be upwardly mobile). I always felt a bit of an outsider, not having a 'J' in my name....

[Moosehead]

Now, how would you classify a name such as Spoorvart?

[Frank]

Tricky question. On the one hand Spoorvart has the kudos of sounding vaguely Scandinavian and therfore its owner may be relatively sophisticated. On the other hand, the alternate version (Glasgow) rule may apply if he's just an ordinary chap. Alternate versions are either shortened versions or have 'ie' added to the end of the name. Thus Thomas becomes 'Tam', David would be Davy, Alistair would be 'Ali' and 'Hugh' translates to 'Shug' or 'Shuggie'(?). Generally, the shorter the name, the more down to earth and less pretentitious the owner is perceived as being - and consequently the more likely he is to know his place in the scheme of things.

As far as surnames go, ownership of a double barrelled or hyphenated name would usually only by admitted to by the very foolish or the very drunk. Or those employed in Government at Westminster. Usually all three...

Returning to the original question, I was always keen on the idea of wearing the kilt but I never got round to it until a few years ago. By this time I'd moved to England - so perhaps I shouldn't be trying to answer the question...

[Rob]

Returning to the original question, I was always keen on the idea of wearing the kilt but I never got round to it until a few years ago. By this time I'd moved to England - so perhaps I shouldn't be trying to answer the question...

Frank,

Are you implying that it is easier to wear a kilt in England than it is in Glasgow?

Rob

[starbkjrus]

CRAP! [snip] Belly dancing Scots the world over would LOVE IT (picture a drunk portly man with a mug of beer doing the hoola-dance).

...my eyes, my eyes.....

[Frank]

NO Rob, I wasn't implying that it was more accepted here in England than in Scotland. I've not yet had occasion to wear the kilt north of the border, but oddly enough I think I'd feel a bit more self-conscious about doing so..
Isn't that odd ??

[Mattg]

This is a great topic. I've wondered about that. My friend who was born and raised in Scotland says that he doesn't remember hardly any kilts there...sad

[Colin]

I toured around Scotland a few years ago, and actually saw a fair numbe rof kilt wearers. In fact I saw more kilts in Scotland that I have ever seen Cowboy hats in the US. The first casual day to day kilt wearer I ever met was in Glasgow in 1999.

Most Scots don't see their kilts as a day to day thing. They do wear it for formal events (this has been on an increase in the past few years as well) and they have more of a respect and pride in their kilts to just think of them as just another garment.

We also have to remember that countries like Scotland go through periods where they want to be seen as a modern country and not stuck in the past. This can be said for the majority of our ancestors that settled in Canada or the US. They gave up alot of their cultural identity to try and fit into the mold of the new world. Only now are some of us re-embrassing the traditions of our forefathers.

So while we think of Scotland as a romantic locale which should be covered in kilts, they are trying to compete as in the new millenium just like every ohter country. The Natives in Canada don't wear eagle feathers to go to the store, I highly doubt the Japense are wearing traditional garb to the office everyday, etc....so why would the Scots wear their traditional clothing everyday.

[LuxMundi]

I am offering these for sale, the coconut bra to match will only have one tassle, per cup!

Sgian Dubh will feature a rounded point for properly holing a coconut.