Why the Automatic Kilt/Scot Association?

[Zorba]

I've been asked if I was Scots when I was wearing a floor length Macabi skirt, and even a Greek Foustanella!

[binx]

At least everywhere I've travelled here someone's asked. I take it kilts are more popular here. Two new ones heard today as I was wearing my Edinburgh Sportkilt were: "I like your kilt! Are you from Scotland? My teacher wore kilts all the time" (Wow! Bet you don't hear that in Scotland) and "Are you a drummer in a pipe band?" (must have been because I was in a music store, usually it's 'do you play bagpipes?'). Well they must be selling casual kilts to somebody over there...Every online kiltmaker in Scotland is offering them. The email I got today from scottishkilts.net said "With St Patrick's day fast approaching, make sure you have all your accessories and attire for the big day!" Fat chance of getting any handmade saffron kilt here by St Patrick's day!

binx

[skirttron]

I do actually own a Welsh kilt - supplied from a Welsh website, anyway. I actually am Scots by ancestry and lived there for quite a while, but my point is that kilts and skirts are a choice for everyone and should not require the excuse of being one nationality or another to wear.

[Departed Member]

.... but my point is that kilts and skirts are a choice for everyone and should not require the excuse of being one nationality or another to wear.

Too right, matey, too right!

[binx]

I do actually own a Welsh kilt - supplied from a Welsh website, anyway. I actually am Scots by ancestry and lived there for quite a while, but my point is that kilts and skirts are a choice for everyone and should not require the excuse of being one nationality or another to wear.

So what if someone sees you walking down the street in your Welsh kilt, stop and ask if you're Scottish, what are ya gonna do about it?

binx

[iain]

Blond is male, Blonde is female!

[skirttron]

So what if someone sees you walking down the street in your Welsh kilt, stop and ask if you're Scottish, what are ya gonna do about it?

binx

Come to think about it - it is mainly people even older than I who make the kilt/Scot association so I would smile indulgently. Younger people, unless they are Chavs (low-rent UK rednecks), usually make positive comments.

[binx]

Sounds great that the younger people make positive comments, how about the older ones? No one has made the Welsh connection?

binx

[Departed Member]

Sounds great that the younger people make positive comments, how about the older ones? No one has made the Welsh connection? binx

Forty years ago, there was no such thing as a Welsh tartan, let alone a Welsh Kilt! I've been a frequent visitor to/through Wales (wife's family hails from Swansea) and have yet to see a Welsh person wearing a kilt (whether one of the brand new 'Welsh' tartans, or no!). Apparently some folk there believed there was a 'celtic' connection worth exploiting (Wales has the lowest 'celtic' proportion of the UK population), and chose a kilt as a way of expressing their take on their 'nationality'. They appear to be selling well, but who is buying them and where are they wearing them, is anyone's guess! I don't care! It's really great that the last part of the UK to consider Kilts as an 'option', is making such great strides to 'catch up'! :cheer:

[cessna152towser]

I was shopping in the fresh meats aisle of our local supermarket today when a young couple approached me and asked my opinion as to which brand of haggis they should buy. I wasn't even wearing one of my Scottish kilts, just a black polycotton goth kilt. Amazing how wearing a kilt suggests you are an expert on all things Scottish - still its nice when the kilt draws people into making conversation.

[RichardA]

still its nice when the kilt draws people into making conversation.

this happens a lot to me and I live in Southampton UK and most of the time people only see a Kilt at Weddings, but I do like the attention I get:)

[matman]

Yesterday my wife was giving me a hard time for my skirt wearing. I told her that my Mountain Hardwear garment is a Kilt, rather than a skirt. She insisted that it was a skirt since it was not plaid and did not accompany bagpipes!

[binx]

Yesterday my wife was giving me a hard time for my skirt wearing.

It is a skirt IMO, as it has no pleats. Like a knee-length Macabi.

binx

[mugman]

Unless you are determined, for some reason, to find out more about kilts, I guess most will know as much about them as I do about fishing. Zilch. So the obvious association will always be the basics picked up in early education. Kilt = Scotsman. Sealskin coat with furry collar = Eskimo, etc.
There does seem to be some hope though, as I tend to be asked if I come from Scotland far more than the even greater assumption of where I come from in Scotland.
I was in the local convenience store waiting in a queue to pay for something, and behind me a man with a noticeable Scottish accent quietly drew the attention of his wife/partner who was still shopping...'Mary, Mary - look, a Scotsman.' he hushed.
As I wasn't meant to hear this remark, I thought it rude to intervene in their conversation, so left it at that. I was a bit surprised that he didn't approach me more directly as a fellow countryman, being many hundreds of miles, as we were, from Scotland.

[JRMILLER]

Isn't it true that the kilt originated with the Celts. Since the Celts were all over western Europe, then anyone in western Europe could legitimately wear a kilt as part of their Celtic identity. Most of us in the US also have Celtic roots too.