The Kilt IS arguably both "cool" and "hip"...by definition?

[James Hood]

'Ran across this in John Leland's tome, Hip: The History (2004, Harper Perennial), and a quote has been mentally percolating, as there is currently much discussion on, "What is traditional and what is Contemporary in kilting?"

"Robert Farris Thompson, the Yale Art Historian, traces the idea of cool back to a fifteenth century Benin king who was awarded the name Ewuare, meaning, 'it is cool,' because he brought peace to his people.

"Cool in the African sense refers to composure in an individual or stability in a society. So cool is a behavior or a mask.

"'Hip' on the other hand, refers to an awareness or enlightenment; it's the intelligence behind the mask."

Personally, 'do not like the word, "mask," but it's in the quote, so....

Ergo, is a modern interest in kilting simultaneously both "cool" and "hip"?

[Lodrorigdzin]

'Ran across this in John Leland's tome, Hip: The History (2004, Harper Perennial), and a quote has been mentally percolating, as there is currently much discussion on, "What is traditional and what is Contemporary in kilting?"

"Robert Farris Thompson, the Yale Art Historian, traces the idea of cool back to a fifteenth century Benin king who was awarded the name Ewuare, meaning, 'it is cool,' because he brought peace to his people.

"Cool in the African sense refers to composure in an individual or stability in a society. So cool is a behavior or a mask.

"'Hip' on the other hand, refers to an awareness or enlightenment; it's the intelligence behind the mask."

Personally, 'do not like the word, "mask," but it's in the quote, so....

Ergo, is a modern interest in kilting simultaneously both "cool" and "hip"?

depends on the person.