Kilted inheritance? How true is it really?

[CMcG]

<snip>
Regardless of its origins, Western wear is uniquely (North) American and, unlike a t-shirt and jeans, can run the gamut from very informal to very formal, just like the kilt. I would venture a guess (I admit I'm not well traveled enough to know for sure) that the rest of the world (except perhaps for Canadians and Mexicans) sees these things as American, too.

Probably correct. As a Canadian, I see Western wear as being North American and not specifically from the USA.

[Jock Scot]

It is interesting that on the occasional visit to an agricultural show in the UK that I have attended I have seen various people dressed in a ten gallon hat, jeans, tooled boots, "cowboy " shirt and a "bowlicker" tie, or sometimes a knotted neckerchief around the neck. Yes alright, I may have the technical clothing terms wrong and no doubt you experts may have the odd comment on how they are wearing their attire too!

Anyway, I can't help but smile to myself when I hear the owner of the said attire talk with a Cockney/Birmingham/ Newcastle/Cornish/Scots accent and I feel really disappointed. However if the owner of said outfit speaks with an American accent (OK it may be a Canadian accent, sorry!)and even if the accent is from New York! The whole effect seems right to me and they have my silent nod of respect.

Yes,it is funny how national attires in the wrong context seem to be acceptable if the accent is right!Is it just me who has noticed this?

[Mike_Oettle]

On the other hand, Jock, when you see a person wearing a white karate suit, do you expect him (her) to speak fluent Japanese, Korean or Chinese?
Regards,
Mike

[Jock Scot]

On the other hand, Jock, when you see a person wearing a white karate suit, do you expect him (her) to speak fluent Japanese, Korean or Chinese?
Regards,
Mike

I am not altogether sure that I regard a karate suit as national attire of any country, perhaps I am wrong to think this? To my mind, a karate suit is worn by people partaking in karate.

[Cowher]

It's interesting that you should bring up beadwork. Beadwork is also a quintessential form of decoration in Native American clothing and artifacts and the styles vary (in some cases widely) from tribe to tribe. Yet, the beads are all imported from Europe, so these "traditional" items only date from the beginnings of colonization.

Actually to are partially correct. Native Americans have been making complex and beautiful beadwork far before even the Vikings landed on this continent. Glass beads were traded from Europe to the natives but before that Native Americans were carving beads out of shells, coral, bone, teeth and even stones and metal.

@Artificer
Regardless of its origins, Western wear is uniquely (North) American and, unlike a t-shirt and jeans, can run the gamut from very informal to very formal, just like the kilt. I would venture a guess (I admit I'm not well traveled enough to know for sure) that the rest of the world (except perhaps for Canadians and Mexicans) sees these things as American, too.

These are gauchos in Argentina. They (amongst others) would disagree that the style of dress you previously posted and "cowboy culture" is purely North American.

Jock: I agree with your observation but I think it's strange to see a UK lad in American attire (north, central, and south) because it's not there heritage. It's like me a Boston born white boy wearing a dashiki.
Edit: unless that person had family who helped build America in it's early days but later generations decided to move back to the UK then it would still feel odd but they would have a background story to go with their cowboy style

[Mike_Oettle]

Jock wrote: “To my mind, a karate suit is worn by people partaking in karate.”

Nonetheless, they are practising an Oriental martial art. It’s not as if they are wearing rugby jerseys or soccer shirts.
Regards,
Mike

[Jock Scot]

Jock wrote: “To my mind, a karate suit is worn by people partaking in karate.”

Nonetheless, they are practising an Oriental martial art. It’s not as if they are wearing rugby jerseys or soccer shirts.
Regards,
Mike

I have to confess to only a very flimsy knowledge of karate and its attire, but Bruce Lee did not seem to worry too much about his attire!

[SlackerDrummer]

Actually to are partially correct. Native Americans have been making complex and beautiful beadwork far before even the Vikings landed on this continent. Glass beads were traded from Europe to the natives but before that Native Americans were carving beads out of shells, coral, bone, teeth and even stones and metal.

I think we're getting too far off topic, but there is really no comparison of the earlier beadwork to that done later with glass beads and which today classically exemplifies the various traditions of the native inhabitants of this continent.

These are gauchos in Argentina. They (amongst others) would disagree that the style of dress you previously posted and "cowboy culture" is purely North American.

And yet the differences between the gauchos of Argentina and American cowboys are distinct to the discerning eye.

[tripleblessed]

The term "native culture" has come up a couple of times in this thread, and is often used in this context. Personal opinion/observation only, but it seems to be an academic or politically correct term which has no meaning in the real world. All of us are from somewhere else, we brought elements with us, we share with the neighbors, and we all go exploring. People don't change that much as time passes and scenery changes.

The people who built wickiups and hogans and gifted us with polatch and Clovis points also put Roman coins in wampum belts and traded copper to the Egyptians, and at least some still carry DNA handed down from Neanderthals long thought completely gone. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed mummies found in Siberia near China and in caves in the central US, 6,000 years old in Siberia, at least 3,000 years old in the US may well appear to be out of context, but maybe we just don't fully understand the context. Tartan cloth did not originate in Scotland, nor did kilted garments. Cowboy culture grew out of herding habits established in Siberia. In South Africa, I did ceremony in the working circle of of a Shongaan sangorma, a Lion Priestess, and one who has experience with medicine wheels here would not notice any difference in the structure. A sweatlodge in Siberia is no further from a Lakota lodge than is a Cherokee lodge. Jazz is firmly rooted in European music, and musical improvisation did not suddenly pop up in New Orleans any more than any here have pure anything blood. We're all mutts, we're all cousins, and before the next question arises, Lucy, she of the Olduvai Gorge and Eve references, turned out (by analyzing mitochondrial DNA) to be descended from people who had lived at least 10,000 years in Asia.

According to William Tiller, Stanford professor (now emeritus) and researcher, the human body processes act as a transceiver, sharing information between us and the world around us, allowing it to influence us and us to influence it. This may explain similar elements in seemingly disparate cultures. English Bloke said your culture heritage stems from where you find affinity, and perhaps our affinities are sometimes affected by reception of distant programming.

I could be wrong (and most likely for the very first time ever ), but I think all human endeavor is a shared effort, and belongs to all, and our choices are made for reasons sometimes unknown to us and inexplicable by normal standards. I am no doubt an American but the blood of the Isles thunders in my ears, and the rolling country of the Borders warms my heart. So, too, the hills of Wales and Ireland feel just as much like home as the swampy pine forests of my youth.

[Bugbear]

I think we're getting too far off topic, but there is really no comparison of the earlier beadwork to that done later with glass beads and which today classically exemplifies the various traditions of the native inhabitants of this continent.


And yet the differences between the gauchos of Argentina and American cowboys are distinct to the discerning eye.

I'm not sure traditions respect national lines on maps all the time...

The traditions evolved from the bead work of the First Peoples and the European settlers and traders; a symbiosis of sorts in traditions.

But most traditions evolve... the result is part of my American Southwest culture.


A Highland example would be, of course, the belted plaid replacing the brat as a form of over clothing, like a kind of overcoat, and now the kilt is what it is today,, quite a bit different.