Full Formal Attire, with the Kilt BACKWARDS!!

[beloitpiper]

I would've told him...discreetly, of course. Wouldn't want to embarass him in front of fellow Scots.

[gilmore]

Well, there were a LOT of black PCs being worn in the afternoon at the games. Seems to me folks were there to show the traditional dress rather than worry about the time of day or "rules."

Could there have been a wedding there that day?

[Riverkilt]

No Wedding, just Highland Games in the 6th largest metro area in the U.S. of A.

http://www.arizonascots.com/games.html

There were thousands of people there. Parking was down the street and the venue was a community college where they're used to having lots of parking for commuting students.

I think people wore their PCs because in a kick back informal place like the Sonoran Desert there's little chance to wear them otherwise....or to show others what traditional dress looks like.

My lady remarked that there seemed to be a lot more kilts this year and a lot more kilt jackets. I think she was correct.

Ron

[Retro Red]

My lady remarked that there seemed to be a lot more kilts this year and a lot more kilt jackets. I think she was correct.

I was thinking the same thing - that there more men in kilts than the last few years & more kilt jackets, too, though I wonder if the increased prevelance of jackets was due to it being cooler at this year's Games than the last couple of years. Anyway, it's a good trend & one that I hope continues & carries over into the community & not just at the Games.
.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Traditional dress doesn't neccessarily mean formal dress. One could make an argument that traditional dress for a Highland Games is anything but formal.

I always instruct people to dress for the occasion. Highland Games are outdoor events, day-long, held usually in a field somewhere, where you go to watch athletic competitions, hear live music, and do a bit of shopping.

Would you wear a tuxedo to such an occasion? No. And the Prince Charlie is the Highland Dress equivalent of a tuxedo.

I usually tell people who plan on wearing their kilts mostly at Highland Games and other outdoor festivals to wear a simple leather sporran, sensible shoes (you'll be on your feet most of the day), and a nice looking casual shirt. If you wanted to dress is up a bit, you can wear a tie with a tweed jacket and/or vest. But it shouldn't really need to be any more formal than that, unless (as Gilmore suggested) you are also attending a wedding at the Games or a similar function.

It is not that the Prince Charlie outfits don't look nice. They are just not the outfit for the occasion.

But I think Ron is on to something. People wear them to the Highland Games, in my opinion, likely because they spent all this money on a really nice looking Scottish outfit, so by-golley they are going to wear it to the Scottish Games!

As to the guy with his kilt on backwards -- maybe a rental?

[David Thornton]

Cuz, you counsel people for a living man, and clearly you have no communication problems. Pull the man aside, compliment his taste & gently correct him. That way he stays in the fold. Someone with less tact gets a hold of him & he may be so embarrassed he just quits wearing kilts all together.

David

[RockyR]

What I love even more than people wearing kilts backwards...

When you try to politely inform someone that they're wearing the kilt backwards and they tell you YOU'RE wrong and have no idea what YOU'RE talking about.

When that happens, just smile and say "You got me. You're wearing it properly. Can't get anything past YOU!"

[Riverkilt]

Wish I could have...

When I saw him striding purposely toward the games we were leaving I was so caught up in his kilt "apron's" swing I didn't notice it was on backwards until he was nearly abreast of me. We were both in crowds moving in opposite directions...like a stadium emptying. There just wasn't the opportunity to turn, leave my lady, and run after him.

Some better situation I would have told him. I figure with all the kilted folks there it probably wasn't long before someone gave him the head's up. Just hope they were polite about it.

And, he could be one of them fashion radicals wanting the comfort of a smooth surface to sit on....folks that put kilts on backwards out of lack of knowledge seem to me proof that's the common sense way to wear them.

Ron

[gilmore]

Traditional dress doesn't neccessarily mean formal dress. One could make an argument that traditional dress for a Highland Games is anything but formal.

I always instruct people to dress for the occasion.

I agree. Dressing for the ocassion, and knowing how far out of the mainstream to go, if at all, says something about oneself, or is how one expresses oneself by way of what one wears. Some are more articulate than others.

I recently came across some photos of Tartan Army fans online. Tartan Army is the collective name of Scots (and others, I guess) who follow Scotland's football (what in the US is called soccer) team, sometimes literally. They go to games all over Europe, even in the Americas, and many of them wear kilts. In fact, I would think that you are much more likely to encounter a Scot in a kilt at a Tartan Army event than a wedding, Burns night, or anywhere else.

Take a look at the kilts in some of these photos:
http://www.tartanarmyonline.com/Tartan-Army-Photos.html

and especially these:

http://steeltownsphotos.fotopic.net/c1013336.html

http://rae-finlayson.fotopic.net/c1014698_13.html

You will see lots of fur sporrans worn in the middle of the day, some hanging almost to the knees, many cheaply made Pakistani kilts, hose worn in all sorts of ways, kilt belts and no kilt belts, glengarries sporting more feathers than Queen Elizabeth would wear in hers, all in glorious disregard for much of anything other than having a good time.

So, at highland games in the US one should wear an argyl jacket rather than a PC, while if one is back in Scotland one should dress otherwise?

[Skweres]

I love it that men are coming to their senses and wearing kilts with pride.


Kilted...proudly....and basackwards....ya gotta love it.

Ron

Yeah, some friends and i are trying to get more people to wear them around my school, so far there are only two of us with 3 or so on the way, it doesnt help that we're all poor and end up broke after we get them, but they're worth every penny. the authentic ones the one that killed my bank account i just got my Formal Kilt suit and all for prom and it killed my bank account