Is Kilting a Hobby?

[RCAnderson]

I don't know your sizes, but I think an intervention may be in order. Send me half of your kilts and related items. I'm here to help!

Haha, I may have to do something soon.

[Riverkilt]

A hobby for sure... and perhaps an addiction of sorts....I've purchased 80 kilts....but I like to churn them. If I find closet queens I've been able to pass them on to others in my size range and use the proceeds to buy yet another kilt.... Think my current kilts on hand is down to 36. lets not talk about the money piled into accessories...YIKES!! Scary.....

[OC Richard]

A hobby for sure... and perhaps an addiction of sorts....I've purchased 80 kilts... Think my current kilts on hand is down to 36.

Wow I have four, but I wear my IOS nearly exclusively, and I can't justify getting any more, no matter how beautiful they are.

[Nathan]

I have four but I've still only had one made especially for me. I got three of those four since 2013 and was content to have one for many years. In those years, I wouldn't have considered kilting a hobby. Since joining xmarks, I've become interested in the study of tartanology and the history and customs of traditional kilt wearing. I think the study of kilt related topics has probably graduated to hobby status as has the related act of collecting unique or custom items of Highland attire.

[OC Richard]

There are tartans I just love and have always wanted a kilt in.

A couple years ago a Stirling and Bannockburn kilt in exactly my size came up on Ebay and I just couldn't pull the trigger. I've admired that tartan since I first started doing the pipe band thing in the 1970s because a local pipe band wore it. I regret not getting that kilt now.

Likewise a Royal Regiment Of Scotland kilt in my size came up on Ebay, quite inexpensive, and once again I hesitated too long. (At 6 foot 4 inches and 17 stone, kilts in my size don't come around very often.)

It's the things I let slip away like that that I regret later.

Just now a hire shop is selling ex-hire Spirit Of Scotland kilts on Ebay and I'm inquiring about one. They're under $200 for an 8-yard wool kilt so it's hard to pass up! I love that tartan, so forget what I said about not needing any more kilts

[Thekiltedmohawk]

I think what is most important to me is that we all share our loves for the kilt(s), the tartan(s) we choose and admire, the culture behind the tartan(s) as well as the kilt(s), and etc. Regardless of how many kilt(s) you own, how do you wear it even with the pleats in front by some, and etc. It's the joy of wearing a kilt with pride. To show the world you have cojones to do so. Kilt on!

[Reiver]

I think what is most important to me is that we all share our loves for the kilt(s), the tartan(s) we choose and admire, the culture behind the tartan(s) as well as the kilt(s), and etc. Regardless of how many kilt(s) you own, how do you wear it even with the pleads in front by some, and etc. It's the joy of wearing a kilt with pride. To show the world you have cojones to do so. Kilt on!

Yes, but I've learned to seat myself properly so I do not show my cojones...my wife is glad of that.

[Thirteenthcor]

I suppose it can be a hobby, but I honestly am just sick of pants. I'm fortunate enough to live in the south where shorts can be worn almost year round... I always knew "of" kilts but never paid it much attention until I was gifted one and I realized how much more I like them than pants.

People at work have gotten pretty used to seeing me walking around in kilts.

However, I like wearing them at the natural waist, and since I'm tall I don't have the luxury of just ordering anything I like, I have to get custom lengths.

[Just Hugh]

Interesting question. Now that I've taken up Scottish Snare drumming, I can say that the music is my hobby. However, it is really a thin front for my interest in the traditions and the clothing. The drumming (and my participation in this site) has allowed me to have some credibility and knowledge to wear the kilt outside of parades and band competitions. I wear one for Hogmanny (and I started calling New Years Eve Hogmanny!)

Whenever I decline an invitation because of a band event and have to explain what type of band I'm in, the next question is, "Oooh, do you wear a kilt? Do you have one of those knives?" People generally are more interested in the kit than they are in the Massed Band riff I'm working on.

So, I think the musical hobby includes kilts or vice versa for me. My good friends and my wife know the drumming is just an excuse because I like to dress up. Plus, I do the band with my son, and so it's a hobby we share, although I'm pretty sure it's not about the outfit for him.

I guess the short answer is that in the U.S. celebrating Scottish Heritage can be a hobby. I'm generally fussy about clothes in non-kilt day-to-day wear, but I don't consider that a hobby. It's just my style/quirk.

[OC Richard]

I can say that the music is my hobby. However, it is really a thin front for my interest in the traditions and the clothing.

Me too. I know plenty of pipers who are purely interested in the music. They don't know anything about, or care anything about, the history and traditions surrounding Highland piping, the context or milieu of the instrument.

I wasn't like that at all. At the time that I started playing the pipes, as a teenager, I was also doing a load of reading about military history including every book I could find about the Scottish regiments. Soon this evolved into an interest in Highland Dress and Gaelic culture, and in college I was utterly involved in the local Scottish community playing in a Strathspey & Reel Society, going to Scottish Country Dance classes three nights a week, playing in a Pipe Band, and studying Scottish Gaelic. I sometimes take all this stuff for granted, until I'm talking to a piper who doesn't know a thing beyond the pipes themselves, to whom taking up the pipes is the same as taking up the piano.