Quote Originally Posted by OC Richard View Post
Maybe this name-based approach couldn't work, but to apply it to Highland Dress would mean that unless it's made in Scotland it can't use the word kilt in its title. I would think that this could apply to sporran as well, and perhaps also to Highland and Scottish.

I suppose then the Indian subcontinent stuff would be called "man skirts" and "man skirt purses" etc etc and they would continue to sell it all the same, which is why I favour a ban on the actual items being imported for resale.
That is just one reason why the above scheme would not work. Another is that it would needlessly punish good, quality expert kilt makers. Think about Barb Tewksbury in NY, or Kathy Lare in NM, or any other good North American kiltmaker.

I am a kilt maker myself, and even I had Barb T. make a kilt for me, because I was so impressed with the quality of her work (among other reasons). I can honestly say it is just as good as, if not better than, the bulk of Scottish-made kilts I have seen.

To suggest that a Barb Tewksbury kilt be called a "man skirt" because of what amounts to an accident of goegraphy is laughable.

You could say the same thing about sporrans. Does anyone honestly think that businesses such as L&M (in Nova Scotia), or crafters such as Ferguson Britt (In GA), would deign to call their products "man purses"?

I know your suggestion was meant somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but there are those who seriously advocate for a geography-based criteria on what is and is not a kilt. I sympathize with their reasons for wanting some form of protection, but I don't think geography could ever be a defining factor. Not without throwing the baby out with the bath water.

I do think a requirement that all garments be labelled with their country of origin is a good idea. That way the consumer has the choice as to buy a kilt, sporran, jacket, etc., made in Scotland, or Canada, USA, Pakistan or India. There would be no attempt to defraud anyone by suggestion that an item was "genuinely Scottish" when it is anything but -- which is, I believe, one of the major issues of concern.