It isn’t a skirt it is a kilt

[Detroitpete]

I suppose there are some advantages of living a long time------few---but there are some. I was born at the very end of "Victorianism"----I am not talking about the Victorian era---- in Scotland (1940). From then, I have seen the popularity of the kilt in Scotland wane during the 1950's and '60's to the popular re-emergence of the kilt in Scotland today. Not only in Scotland, but also interest from around the world is growing too. Styles come and go, dress conventions are more relaxed, but the kilt does seem remarkably resilient and yes there is , I hope, some kind education to be offered along the way by those whose ancestors have been at it a while, starting with the heading of:- "THE KILT IS NOT A SKIRT"

Now you chaps in the New World are only experiencing what we in Scotland(as part of the Old World) have experienced ourselves------except you are doing in a shorter time span aided(?) by modern communications and on a huge scale by comparison. We in Scotland have taken thousands of years to get where we are now and we are still evolving and we are still welcoming new cultures into our midst.

You chaps in the USA of today are only just at the beginning of a huge social experiment------not that anyone knew that in 1492 or any significant date since. So it is not surprising that you have many cultures that are jostling with each other and some have abandoned their past and some are clinging on to the past in one way or other ----------who knows where it will end and one thing is for sure it will never end whilst humans exist on this planet.

As to what tartans you chaps could wear, well there are dozens, hundreds even, that celebrate things that are non Scottish and I did pose a few thoughts on this in an old thread that I started: "Ponderings of an ancient Scot": the replies were really interesting and some of you might find it worthwhile taking the trouble in reading the quite large number of the posts.

Who knows, in a thousand years from now "Chuck" could well be telling "Jock" :

"Well that may be how you guys wear the kilt in Scotland, but we in the USA wear "our" tartan kilts like this..........................".

I am not altogether sure that that time has arrived just yet, though!

Tipping a glass to you now, sir

[tundramanq]

Tis a Highland Park (12yr) night - while I think about getting New Mexico green chili peppers into a tartan.
Cheers

P.S. At least the single malt whiskies will still be around and only made in Scotland !
Question - the plural of whisky is, whiskies is it not?

Finest of both worlds IMHO a marrage made in heaven:

Both are unpretentious, understated and well balanced.

[jfraser]

So, we all agree then: "THE KILT IS NOT A SKIRT" ?

[Jock Scot]

On thinking about this, I wonder if it might be better to just say plainly and simply, "its a kilt"?

Ask any nautical man about ships and boats and whilst they all are supposed to float(even submarines) they are very different beasts. For those that don't know the saying; " You can put boats on ships, but you can't put ships on boats. Unless we are talking about submarines which are boats."

The same goes with kilts---except that they don't float to any degree. Kilts and skirts are very different beasts to those that know and those that don't know need educating gently.

[Bill aka Mole]

A kilt is a kilt, regardless of whom is wearing it. My missus has a kilted skirt: it looks similar to a kilt but is tailored to fit a woman's build. And she still has a good build at her age! I'm 53 and I married an older woman.

And for all that are having a bit of trouble with reading the body language of the sender of the previous posts, kindly remember me for the next three months or so: I'm enrolled in an on-line course of Human Relations for my psychology requirement in college. Part of our course is to post a message onto a message board and then reply to others posts. Sort of like here with the exception that I am getting graded on it.

As I step off of the soapbox, I leave a last thought: Why shouldn't kilts, sarongs and lava-lava's take over the world of men's fashion? My humble opinion is that they should because they don't bind and are infintely more comfortable. Cheers!

[Jock Scot]

That will be an interesting course Bill, will you I wonder, be covering the various international terminology and turn of phrase aspects that seems to inadvertently, cause such problems on occasion?

[McElmurry]

I live is a small town in south central Pennsylvania about a hour south southwest of Gettysburg. I know that there are a number of kilt wearers in the area, but, I am more likely to meet a hiker from the Application Trail then one of the local kilt wearers. Imagine my surprise when I started in to one of the local restaurants and find a man in a kilt. He was facing away and as I came close to him I said in my normal irreverent manner “I love a man in a skirt.” He whirled around and said “it’s a kilt not a skirt.”

The denotation of the word skirt is a conical garment which hangs from the waist and covers a portion of the legs. In the western world the connotation of the word skirt includes a sense of femininity. When addressing a stranger from behind, where he can't see your facial expressions, body language, or kilt, your intention to playfully convey a sense of kilted comradery may be misunderstood if you call his kilt a skirt.

[Taillear dubh]

Kilt = man-skirt. Romans (and others) wore them, Scots & proud celts & adopted lads wear them. If it's the proper garment (trad/ modern) worn aright by a man, it's a kilt. I'm not sure how this dove-tails in with man-purses (aside from sporrans)... anyone?

[O'Callaghan]

It's a laugh, though. Like hearing someone shout "Oi, get a haircut!" and turning around to see another long-haired man. That has happened to me several times, and they always have a wide grin.

[Bill aka Mole]

Jock, I do not believe that we will be covering international terminology and differences in phrases between the various English speaking countries in the Psychology course. However, an interesting part was this, Netiquette Quiz, an Internet Etiquette Quiz.

On the subject of communication, my English course, Technical Writing, may have parts of international terminology in it. That will have to wait to be seen as this is a no-textbook course.

After being here for the short time that I have, I find myself blessed by my parents choice of a Scot/English couple as best friends. Many of the phrases that were explained to me as I grew up I see here from time to time. And in seeing them, the old memory stirs about and gradually wakens. After the fourth reading (or second Scotch), the thought generally comes in focus and I can understand what was meant by the words that were written.

Of course, one of the first things I learned at my Moms knee was: 'Tis better to be thought of as a fool, rather than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Another thing I learned was: Words spoken in anger can not be removed from the memory of either party. I always took this to mean that if I felt myself becoming upset with what another was saying to me, that I should hold my tongue until I formulated a proper reply, just in case I misunderstood what the other person meant. These two things were probably the greatest help to me in my travels thus far.

Cheers!