Kilts in Scotland.

[Graham]

Here's a thread you might find interesting. Unfortunately it got political, but there is some good stuff upfront.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...kilts+scotland

I must have missed this thread, what an excellent discussion and what a terrible shame that it's rather hard to find.
These are the kind of threads I learn most from.

[Moose McLennan]

I must have missed this thread, what an excellent discussion and what a terrible shame that it's rather hard to find.
These are the kind of threads I learn most from.

That was my excuse to myself for years about not getting a kilt: 'If I were still in Scotland I would get some use out of it.", i.e. weddings, dos/functions, christenings, funerals and the like.
With a few exceptions, highland dress is IMHO the equivalent of the lounge suit for private affairs (as opposed to business) for most Scots. So it might be akin to going to say, Milan, and wondering why everyone you see at the supermarket, at the petrol station or wherever is not wearing a snappy Italian suit.

M.

[cessna152towser]

I agree with P1M. P1M and myself are among the small minority who wear a kilt for casual wear. Though you often see plenty of kilts on the streets where the wearers are either on their way to or from special events, more so at weekends - on my drive home from the airport last Saturday evening I spotted 3 kilted gents in Longtown (which is just over the Border into England) ; about a dozen kilts out and about in Langholm (just inside Scotland) where a rideout event had been held earlier in the day, then there was a guy in a black kilt standing in a pub doorway here in Hawick.

[beloitpiper]

So kilts are uncommon, but not rare. What about bagpipes?

[Scott Gilmore]

So kilts are uncommon, but not rare. What about bagpipes?

Yes, bagpipers are uncommon, but not rare.

OK, so enough with the smirky quips.

The rest of this post will be pure "one man's opinion." Please accept it as such with the commensurate grain o' salt.

OK ... [START RANT]

Here in southern California, and for that matter in most of the world this summer what with global-broiling and all, I can see how what I'm about to espouse might not quite work. So in recognition of and within context that the world is burning up and we kilt wearers have an affinity for wool garments, this is what's up IMHO.

It is my contention that kilts, worn correctly, could be everyday wear anywhere in the world - including Scotland, and most certainly elsewhere - as long as the climate cooperated. Bear with me now. That's just the start.

I know that many of you are dyed-in-the-wool (no pun intended) non-wool (e.g. non-traditional) kilt wearers. For all I know, those canvas sporty-utility-kilts are as comfortable as you claim they are. But then again, so is going about butt nekkid.

The point is that, while anyone can wear non-traditional kilts, such garments - whether you like it or not - may not pass as "correct" in many parts of the world, while a "traditional" wool tartan kilt would be recognized by at least a segment of the more enlightened population for what it is - a traditional garment.

Bearing all that in mind, even a traditional garment would require careful consideration, a flair shall we say, in order to be worn in casual, business casual, and business formal settings appropriately. But I think it can be done.

The problems that arise really are attributable with the attrophy of western society's ability to dress well regardless of circumstances. I work for an outfit that employs seventeen thousand people in this area. Incredibly, a significant percentage of workers have NO clue how to dress for work. People seem to think it is perfectly appropriate to dress for work the same way they do for gardening! Wrinkled, unkempt clothes, poorly matched, unbuttoned and untucked in clashing colors and patterns are far too common.

Look. Work isn't an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog. Don't wear sandals, ratty-assed jeans, a wife beater and an unbuttoned garrish "dress" shirt and think you're dressed for work. A sporty-utility-kilt isn't appropriate for a professional environment. Sorry. It just doesn't work.

If you want to see a GOOD adaptation of appropriate wear for dress or dress-casual garb that clearly and successfully defies accepted conventions for business formal OR business casual wear as well as pure dress casual wear (of course), look no further than the Bahamas. Bahama shorts with a matching jacket, Brooks Brothers shirt and tie, high hose and a nice pair of lace up dress shoes looks damn good. Drop the tie and jacket, slip on some casual leather shoes and you have fine business casual wear. Lose the dress shirt and don a nice polo shirt and leather sandals with no socks and you have perfectly acceptable dress casual wear. The common garment: Bahama shorts.

Take the same approach to wearing a kilt and it works in a business environment, as casual business wear and, for dress casual. For regular casual, wear whatever the heck you please (that's why they call it "casual").

The caveat in what I'm saying is that Bahama shorts-based wear works in warmer climate because, well, it gets HOT AS HELL in the Bahamas. Much like it has been in Scotland this summer, right?

But if the weather cools - say to 65° F as the daily high - then a kilt, a real traditional wool kilt could be worn for virtually any kind of wear.

P1M has posted numerous pictures of how to wear a kilt as pure casual wear perfectly - some formal and some as dress casual garb. Hamish and pdcorlis spring to mind as being particularly adept at what I would call business casual, or dress casual wear. They are perfect examples of how one need not look sloppy when dressing casually. Sadly, many of my co-workers dress sloppily and think they are dressed in "business casual" when in fact they are dressed as "taking-out-the-trash-at-midnight-when-you-hope-nobody-can-see-your-sorry-a$$."

... [END RANT] ... ahhhhhhhh.

Thanks for listening. I feel much better now.

PS - OK, I gotta cut back on the coffe.

Regards,
Scott Gilmore

[Mithral]

Short Answer: Not really, no.

Long Answer: You'll see it worn for weddings, Burns Suppers and the like, not so much for business.

[macwilkin]

If you want to see a GOOD adaptation of appropriate wear for dress or dress-casual garb that clearly and successfully defies accepted conventions for business formal OR business casual wear as well as pure dress casual wear (of course), look no further than the Bahamas. Bahama shorts with a matching jacket, Brooks Brothers shirt and tie, high hose and a nice pair of lace up dress shoes looks damn good. Drop the tie and jacket, slip on some casual leather shoes and you have fine business casual wear. Lose the dress shirt and don a nice polo shirt and leather sandals with no socks and you have perfectly acceptable dress casual wear. The common garment: Bahama shorts.

I think you mean Bermuda shorts:

http://bermuda-online.org/shorts.htm

Notice the reference to kilts in the article. Someday I hope to have a pair of authentic Bermudas.

Cheers,

Todd

[Scott Gilmore]

I think you mean Bermuda shorts:

http://bermuda-online.org/shorts.htm

Notice the reference to kilts in the article. Someday I hope to have a pair of authentic Bermudas.

Cheers,

Todd

DOH! I do indeed. Thanks for the check.

Regards,
Scott Gilmore

[arrogcow]

Gotta dissagree

A sporty-utility-kilt isn't appropriate for a professional environment. Sorry. It just doesn't work.

UK's, FK's AK's etc can be just as dressy as bermuda shorts.

Don't quite know what this has to do with kilt wearing in Scotland in general though.

Adam

[Monkey@Arms]

Since the orginal question has been answered, I won't feel too guilty about adding to the the Bermuda Shorts drift. I read an article not too long ago that said, (much like the kilt in its native land) the Bermuda Short has fallen out of favor in Bermuda. The Bermuda Short was a substitute for a suit and tie, and the new generation prefers to dress more casually. Most of the major sellers have gone out of business, and most wearers in Bermuda are in the hospitality trade. All part of globalization I guess.

Best regards,

Jake