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kilt (k lt) n.

  1. A knee-length skirt with deep pleats, usually of a tartan wool, worn as part of the dress for men in the Scottish Highlands.

  2. A similar skirt worn by women, girls, and boys.

        tr.v. kilt·ed, kilt·ing, kilts

        To tuck up (something) around the body [From kilt, to tuck up, from Middle English kilten, of Scandinavian origin .]

"DEVILS IN SKIRTS - The Sexual Allure of the Kilt" by Howard Watson

"WHAT'S THE BLEEDING TIME?" by Howard Watson

BE SURE YOUR KILT IS PLAID TO PERFECTION

JOANNA VALLELY (jvallely@edinburghnews.com)

from Living.Scotsman.com

THE kilt is a notoriously difficult garment to carry off with aplomb. Wearers have been accused of sporting it too long, bunched up, or even - in the case of Virgin boss Richard Branson - back to front.

Scots actor Ewan McGregor has been praised for donning the Highland dress with success. But others like former First Minister Jack McConnell, who wore a "modern" kilt without a sporran at a Tartan Day fashion show in New York, will forever be reminded of their indignity.

When the Evening News published a picture earlier this year of Hearts goalie Steve Banks in a kilt with his pleats to the front instead of the back, it provoked an uproar among readers who rushed to decry the Englishman's glaring error. Highland dress experts complained he also had his laces tied incorrectly, his socks pulled too high and questioned the fact he was wearing a plaid.

With traditionalists all too ready to mete out criticism to those who get their Highland outfit wrong, it's enough to make all but the bravest Scotsman turn to trousers. Fortunately, help is at hand in the form of a handbook which claims to offer the advice needed for anyone to wear the national dress with pride. Kilts and Tartan Made Easy aims to equip men with the knowledge to don a kilt with confidence.

Author Dr Nick Fiddes is governor of the Scottish Tartans Authority and managing director of Edinburgh-based company Scotweb, an online retailer of kilts, tartans and Scottish heritage products. He says: "I think sometimes in Scotland we assume everyone knows how to choose a kilt and how to wear one, but it really is a bit of a minefield.

"We deal with so many enquiries, with questions from novices to real experts in kilt-wearing. I couldn't find an up-to-date guide and felt it was time to work people through the basics in modern and concise language."

The most common query Nick deals with is from people asking which tartan to wear. "People don't realise it is just as legitimate to wear the tartan of their mother's maiden name. Increasingly, there are also business tartans, tartans created for special events and there are tartans for every state in the US. There is no reason or tradition to say that kilts can only be worn by Scots."

He is often asked which sort of Highland dress should be worn to a wedding. Nick advises the classic formal Highland dress outfit of the Prince Charlie pure wool barathea jacket, worn with a waistcoat, a fancy sporran and an eight yard kilt minus the belt. Traditionally the "PC" jacket was seen as evening wear - the equivalent of a tuxedo. But nowadays Nick says it has also been adopted in common wedding or formal usage in daytime, as an alternative to Braemar or Argyll jackets. The Jacobite shirt is best reserved for casual dress with a daywear sporran.

The bottom hem of the kilt can fall anywhere from the middle of the kneecap to an inch or so above the knee. "A third of the way down the kneecap is about ideal. Do not cover the knee entirely. That looks a little daft," he says.

"The key thing," adds Nick, "is that all pieces of an outfit should be of about the same degree of formality. If you follow that one simple rule - formal with formal, casual with casual - you won't go far wrong."

As for the ex-First Minister's infamous kilt debacle, he remarks: "Jack McConnell was a disaster because the items didn't look good together and the quality was cheap rubbish."

At family business Geoffrey (Tailor) Kiltmakers on the High Street, sales and marketing director Howie Nicholsby says they go through outfits top-to-toe with customers before a purchase. "People can be criticised for not wearing a kilt right. But it's often just because they have never been shown."

Howie, who also runs his own contemporary range, 21st Century Kilts, boasts he has worn a kilt daily for the last eight years. The snazzy dresser, today clad in a denim pinstripe kilt and matching jacket, is proud of his modern take on the traditional item.

"I'm bringing the kilt back to its original use in everyday clothing. I wore a hemp kilt on my wedding day," he adds.

Both Howie and Nick advise against white socks, which are popular with the kilt hire trade. Howie can't abide them, though Nick is a little more forgiving. "Cream or white hose still offend some traditionalists. But it is possibly time to accept that white is now more orthodox," he concedes.

The most common mistake Howie sees is people wearing their socks too high. "It hides the leg and makes the guy look like he has stockings on. You need to show a bit of leg." Ideally socks should be worn two to three fingers below the knee. In fact, fingers are key to much of the traditional dress, with the perfect space between the bottom of the waistcoat and the top of the sporran also three fingers and two to three fingers - or the handle - being the optimum amount of sgian dubh to show above the sock.

Logic dictates that the sgian dubh should be worn on the right leg for the right-handed and on the left for those who are left-handed. Its metal should also match that of the buttons of the jacket and kilt pin.

A sporran should always be worn and matched up to the central line of the kilt, hanging down the middle, not too low, but to directly cover the crotch. Shirts should not show under the line of the jacket and shirt cuffs should only be slightly evident.

A mistake which makes Howie despair is seeing the kilt pin badly attached or not on the right. "The worst thing you can do with a kilt pin is put it right through the kilt. It can rip right through it and you end up with the kilt looking all gathered."

Despite the plethora of pointers, our experts both claim to favour a relaxed approach to kilt-wearing. So how would Nick encourage those who have provoked an outcry with their kilt-wearing on previous occasions to give it another go? "The kilt can be spectacular whatever you wear it with," he advises, "from a sloppy T-shirt to hobnail boots. The important thing is freedom of expression and however you wear the kilt, wear it with pride."

TIE

The formal Prince Charlie jacket should only be worn with a bow tie. A plain or tartan tie should be worn with the Argyll or Braemar jacket.

KILT

Pleats give the kilt its swing and should always go to the back. The kilt should rest around the middle of the kneecap.

BELT AND BUCKLES

A belt and buckle is a traditional part of semi-formal outfits like the Argyll, and is optional with casual outfits too. But they should never be worn with a Prince Charlie jacket and waistcoat.

SPORRAN

The sporran has two functions - to act as a purse, as the kilt has no pockets, and to protect the man's modesty. It is often seen hanging too low, but should hang centrally and cover the crotch.

SOCKS

Kilt socks should be coloured to tone with the kilt. Off-white socks have been favoured by the kilt hire trade because they are cheaper and simpler to supply in one colour. However they have never been worn traditionally. Flashes on the socks should be worn to the sides.

BROGUES

Experts are divided over whether the ghillie brogue laces should be tied at the front or at the side. And while there are historical justifications for both, the common consensus is that they should be crossed and pulled tight, twisted three times and then pulled tight again to produce a vertical thong an inch long. They should then be passed around behind the ankle and tied at the front, with the remaining lace and toggle left to dangle.

SCOTTISH-WEAR ENTHUSIASTS SAY KILT TILT PUZZLING

Eighth-grader Miles Johnson shows his Scottish pride by wearing a kilt to Christmas and Thanksgiving events - even to his father's wedding.

But Duval County school officials have drawn the line at prom.

Johnson, a 13-year-old student at J.E.B. Stuart Middle School, said he wears a kilt when he wants to look dressed-up. That's part of the reason he donned it with a dress shirt and blazer for his middle school prom.

Where he was turned away because school administrators decided his kilt was inappropriate attire.

He eventually got inside, but only after he had to call his family and have them take a pair of pants to Ramona Pavilion on Saturday night.

"One of the things they teach us at school is tolerance, but they won't let me wear this? ... I don't see what the problem is," Johnson said. "It's Scottish, so I'm going to wear what I am."

Principal Jeanne Ballentine said a teacher had previously told Johnson, who helped prepare for the prom, that the kilt wasn't acceptable for the dance. The dance dress code was formal or semi-formal.

She said Johnson was being defiant by wearing it anyway, although the teen said he thought the teacher had relented prior to the dance. The principal said she would have probably turned him away even without the earlier warning.

"I didn't see it as acceptable," Ballentine said. She likened it to a student turned away last year for wearing a tuxedo jacket with shorts and tennis shoes.

She said young people know what acceptable garb is.

Johnson wore a Black Watch tartan kilt, a pattern worn by a storied Highland Scottish military regiment. He had shorts on underneath.

Kilt enthusiasts say they're worn at some of society's most formal and solemn moments, by people ranging from military bagpipers to England's Prince Charles.

"It's internationally accepted as formal wear," said David Wooten, a Charleston, S.C., businessman who launched the Web site realmenwearkilts.net. Wooten said he wears a kilt annually at the National Debutante Cotillion in Washington, an elite charity fundraiser.

Schools from Texas to Minnesota have rejected kilt-wearing youths at proms, and later faced criticism by kilt supporters and Scottish heritage advocates.

Duval County's school dress code doesn't mention prom attire, said Mary Anne Christensen, a school system spokeswoman. She said the school district leaves decisions on clothing to principals.

15 May 2007

KILT COMPLEX

By PHILIP HOWARD

December 26, 2006; Page A12

LONDON -- There is a Highland (Scottish) saying: "Ye canna tak the breeks off a Hielan' man" (natch, because he is wearing the kilt). To wit, you cannot bamboozle the kilted rascal. The British Army has confounded this proverb by creating a shortage of kilts for its Highland Regiment. It has ordered only 320 ceremonial kilts for 5,000 Jocks, so they are having to share, which is not a comfortable business for the buttock-swinging, elite warriors.

The kilt is no longer fighting uniform for the slaughter fields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But it has great symbolic significance. The girls admire it. It is the most convenient dress yet devised for certain bodily functions. It is unmilitary and illegal to wear knickers underneath it, except for the purposes of Highland dancing. It has led the charge of the Brits in blood and battles for three centuries. On the Somme the Germans christened the kilted killers of the Black Watch, "the Ladies from Hell."

At Balaclava the kilts repelled the Russian heavy cavalry, and in the Times (of London) William Howard Russell (the first war correspondent) called them, "the thin red line." He actually wrote "the thin red streak tipped with steel," but the copy-editors improved him. From Ticonderoga to Basra, the kilt has ruled the battlefield.

This dire deficiency of the kilt has arisen because last August the British Army, in its infinite wisdom, decided to amalgamate its remaining Scottish regiments. No doubt there were sound strategic and logistic reasons for this, on the ground that bigger is cheaper to administer. But it destroyed the ancient traditions and symbols of tribal families.

The Black Watch was formed to police the insurgents in the Highlands after the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. "Black" because of the subfusc colours of its Campbell tartan, "Watch" because that is what it did in support of the English redcoats. It acquired its famous red hackle (feather) from "Red Indians" in the American wars.

The Royal Scots were the First of Foot and Right of the Line. They claim to be the oldest regiment in the British Army, nicknamed Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard. The legend goes that Pilate's Roman legionary dad married a Highland lass from Fortingal in Perthshire. The Royal Scots wore trews (tight tartan breeks) rather than the kilt, because they were a Lowland Regiment. When they were in French service as "Le Régiment de Douglas", a dispute arose with the "Régiment de Picardie" as to which was the senior. The French Colonel claimed that his regiment was on duty on the night of the Crucifixion. To which the Colonel of the Royal Scots replied: "Had it been our shift that night, we wouldna hae slept at our post."

Centuries of tradition have been amalgamated. These days, the Jocks of the Black Watch tend to be chunky little warriors from the rough streets of Glasgow and Dundee, no longer sons of clan chiefs licensed to wear the kilt and carry arms. They are used to being mucked around by their Masters. They will hang on to their red hackle with luck. They will share kilts, since the Army seems as hopeless at procuring kilts as armored cars. But when the bombs fly, and the going gets tough, and cowards quail, you would still want the Jocks on your side, with or without kilts.

Mr. Howard, formerly of the Black Watch, is a columnist at the Times of London.

STUDENT ASKED TO CHANGE OUT OF KILT SEEKS DRESS CODE CHANGE

Thursday, December 22, 2005; Posted: 10:51 a.m. EST (15:51 GMT)

JACKSON, Missouri (AP) -- Nathan Warmack wanted to honor his heritage by wearing a Scottish kilt to his high school dance. Then a principal told him to change into a pair of pants.

What began with a few yards of tartan has sparked an international debate about freedom, symbols and cultural dress. More than 1,600 people have signed an Internet petition seeking an apology for the high school senior.

Scots in the United States are assembling a traditional ensemble they hope the student will wear to the prom, and his family is trying to change the school's dress code policy.

"It's a kilt. It's going to turn heads, but I never believed it would have become what it is," Warmack said.

Other schools around the country also have wrestled with the issue. A principal in Victoria, Texas, ordered two boys into "more appropriate" attire when they wore kilts to school in 1992, saying: "I know kilts. Those weren't kilts and the boys aren't Scots."

In 1993, a student in Fayette County, Georgia, was not allowed to enter his prom at McIntosh High School because he showed up in a kilt and refused to change clothes.

And while they weren't trying to dress in kilts, a few boys were allowed to wear skirts to class at Franklin Community High School in Indiana in 1997, when a superintendent said different people express themselves in different ways.

Warmack, a defensive lineman on the football team, lives in Jackson, a growing, largely middle-class city of about 14,000 people about 110 miles from St. Louis.

He got interested in his family's Scottish ties after seeing Mel Gibson's 1995 movie "Braveheart," about William Wallace's battle to overthrow English rule in 13th century Scotland. Warmack reads books about Scotland and visits Web sites to learn more about his family's genealogy.

He bought a kilt off the Internet to wear to hisschool's formal "Silver Arrow" dance in November. Warmack said he showed it to a vice principal before the dance, who joked he'd better wear something underneath it, and Warmack assured him he would.

Warmack's parents, Terry and Paula, helped him piece together the rest of his outfit, a white shirt and black tie with white socks and black boots.

"We knew it wasn't the formal regalia," his father said. "We wanted it to be acceptable for the occasion."

After Nathan Warmack and his date posed for pictures, principal Rick McClard, who had not previously seen the kilt, told the student he had to go change. Warmack refused a few times and said the outfit was recognizing his heritage.

Warmack alleges McClard told him: "Well, this is my dance, and I'm not going to have students coming into it looking like clowns." McClard later said he had no recollection of saying that, Warmack's dad said. The principal did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The school district's superintendent, Ron Anderson, said McClard has the authority under the district's dress code policy to judge appropriate dress for extracurricular activities, including dances.

"It's mainly to protect from the possibility of a disruption or something that could be viewed as a disruption," Anderson said.

Several Scottish heritage organizations are angry, saying the kilt is a symbol of Scottish pride and considered formal dress.

"To say the traditional Scottish dress makes you look like a clown is a direct insult to people of Scottish heritage and those who live in Scotland," said Tom Wilson, a Texas commissioner for the Clan Gunn Society of North American, a Scottish heritage organization.

Another Clan Gunn member, Beth Gardner, started an online petition seeking an apology for Warmack. It questions in part the notion that the kilt was a distraction.

"From what? From the intense concentration it takes to dance?"

Scottish groups are hoping they can help him to establish a formal Scottish ensemble that more fully reflects his heritage, including pieces that are being handmade for Warmack in Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida.

Warmack said he's concerned that school officials are just waiting for the situation to blow over, and that the policy won't be changed.

"This has picked up a lot of steam," he said, "but it hasn't really gotten anywhere."

Scot whips off his kilt to save a man's life (UK News, 21 May 97)

A Scotsman saved the life of a stranded hillwalker on a remote mountainside by taking off his kilt and wrapping it round the shivering man. Bare-bottomed Andy Young, 43, braved the elements as he stripped down and used his kilt and thick cotton shirt to keep the hypothermic man warm. Mr Young cuddled close to Tom Mitchell, 41, and sang him traditional Scottish songs while they waited two hours on chilly Sron Ghorm, near the Aultguish Inn, Wester Ross, for a helicopter. Mr Mitchell, of Collynie, Methlick, near Aberdeen, went for a lone hill walk on Monday but did not return to the inn. Friends were particularly concerned because he is an epileptic. Mr Young said: "It was all I could think of because he was shivering so much. I cuddled in close beside him and I think our body heat kept us alive. I sang songs to him to keep his spirits up. I sang MacPherson's Rant, the Skye Boat Song and Pittenweem Joe over and over again. "When the helicopter arrived, I took my kilt and shirt back and looked on as he was winched into the helicopter. I did not want to have to walk into the inn naked."

Monster Kilt

The people of Keith did a Highland Fling with a difference recently after creating what is thought to be the biggest kilt ever made. And there was a very unusual wearer of Scotland's national dress - an 8ft wooden man made from whisky barrels. The mega Gordon Highlanders kilt measures 10yds long and 54 inches from top to bottom, and has a two metre waistline. It can fit round three people together. The record breaking kilt took just two weeks to make thanks to students at Scotland's only kilt making school. The finishing touches were given the royal seal of approval from Arlene Archibald, best known for making a kilt for Prince Charles. "Everything on this massive kilt is exactly as it should be on an ordinary one. The only problem is that it weighs so much and is difficult to work with," said Arlene. But locals realised that to show the tartan off to its best effect they'd need a large model. The coopers at the nearby Speyside Cooperage in Craigellachie thought they had the perfect solution matching the mammoth task of making the kilt with a sturdy giant made from old whisky barrels. Community group United Keith say it is the perfect way to demonstrate their town is the tartan capital of the world. Chairwoman Linda Gorn said: "We got the idea after trying to think of something original to launch our annual Tartan Day. We believe this is a world first." Visitors will be able to see the kilt and barrel man at Keith's Tartan Museum over the summer before he takes up his winter residence at the Speyside Cooperage.

Safer in the Kilt

A new (British) safety report confirms what every real Scot knows. Donning the kilt instead of trousers is good for your health. Department of Trade and Industry determined that putting on trousers poses a serious risk of injury because people lose their balance and topple over hurting themselves. The critical and most dangerous part is pulling up the second leg when the first is still at half mast. The yearly home accident report by the DTI estimates there were 4400 trouser victims last year. Another 400 injured themselves putting on their underwear. Kiltmaker Gordon Nicholson of McCalls of Edinburgh seized on the report as evidence of what he has been preaching for years. He said: "If people would only wear traditional costume, all this pain and injury would be prevented. "I have never heard of anyone injuring themselves putting on a kilt. "I've heard of people injuring themselves once they've got it on," he added. "I would think if there were any injuries linked to kilts then they would be from dancing or drinking."

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• Authentic History of the Kilt - by Lady Nancy A. MacCorkill
• Breeze between Your Knees - An article in Seattle Weekly.com about the first anniversary of Utilikilts.
• Built, in Kilts, To Last - An article in the Denver Post about "Karpenters in Kilts," a Colorado construction crew that wears tartan kilts on the job.
• Celebs and Their Kilts - Illustrated report in Hello magazine about male celebrities wearing kilts.
• Celtic Kate's Men in Kilts - Impressive photo gallery compiled by a gal who loves to see men in kilts.
• Chicago Daily Herald articles on kilts and Utilikilts, by Joel Reese: Don't call it a 'skirt'"; "Things to know before you wear the kilt"; and "Will the men-in-skirts idea ever catch on?"
• Dressed to the Kilt - A news article in the New York Times about men's kilt fashion. (This may require a free registration for access.)
• The Early History of the Kilt by Matthew A. C. Newsome
• Electronic Telegraph, May 21, 1997 : Scot whips off his kilt to save a man's life
• Electronic Telegraph, May 5th, 1999 : Hip ways to wear a kilt
• Evolution of the Kilt - An illustrated series of articles tracing the history of the kilt from ancient to modern times.
• Fashion Freedom Support Network - Another personal website promoting kilts and skirts for men.
• Fashion Freedom - A website devoted to kilts and skirts for men, with many pictures and links.
• Free Kilt Making Instructions
• Gathering of the Clans - Clan Finder - Extensive searchable database of clans and their history, websites, etc.
• Highlander Web Magazine
• His fashion - A short article in the Guardian Unlimited Observer about kilts, Utilikilts, and men's skirts from Midas Clothing.
• Historical Boys Clothing - An expansive, illustrated study of boys' clothing through history, showing many examples of the dresses, skirts, and kilts that boys customarily wore up through the early 20th century - includes articles and photographs on Scottish, Irish, and Greek kilts.
• How to Wear the Great Plaid - (This kilt is also known as the great plaid or belted plaid, the breacan feile, the feileadh mhor or philamore). A series of pages on pleating and wrapping the Great Kilt
• International Men's Fashion Freedom Network - This website aimed at those men who see the comfort/style that exists outside of trousers and shorts and want some of it for themselves. We need more blokes to break the rules so if you're curious then come and take a look!
• Kilt Making by R.E. Glover
• Kiltmen.com - Bravehearts in Kilts Against Trouser Tyranny - Why men should be free to wear kilts and kilt-like clothing
• Kilting With Confidence - An article in the Scotsman about the proper attitude in kilt-wearing, as discovered by new kilt convert, Samuel L. Jackson.
• Making a Kilt
• Map Showing the Districts of the Highland Clans of Scotland - The image to our knowledge is not copyrighted and  may be distributed freely. File size approximately 1.7 MB. This is a large file and may take a few minutes to download depending on your browser and modem speed.   To save the image click the thumbnail to open the file, then right click on the image with your mouse and select "save picture as." Determine the file name you wish to save the file to and hit ok. You now have a large map of the clans of Scotland.
• Men in Kilts - Nice site with links to a variety of Scottish, Renaissance and kilt resources.
• Men In Skirts - Kilts are probably the most versatile garment a man can wear. The same kilt that he mows his lawn in, while wearing a sleeveless tee, short socks and sneakers, can be dressed up for a night out, complete with dress shirt, tie and jacket (and knee-length socks). So trial and error, mix-n-match, blend or contrast, grunge, all work with kilts. Experiment!
• Men in Kilts
• Men in Skirts - A Personal View - A personal website containing a gallery showing men's skirt-like garments through history and around the world.
• Men in Skirts? - A personal web page by another enthusiast for men's kilts and skirts, Utilikilts, and other alternatives to trousers.
• Michael Sattler's web pages  - Personal web pages promoting kilts and Utilikilts for men.
• Proof Against the Existence of an Irish Kilt - by Kass McGann, who points out that Joyce's (flawed) analysis of ancient Irish dress is based upon the work of Eugene O'Curry, noted antiquarian and Professor of Irish History and Archeology at the Catholic University of Ireland, whose On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish printed in 1873 translated the word leine ( leinidh, lene, etc.) alternately as 'shirt' and 'kilt.' The leine is always identified by modern scholars as a shirt or tunic.
• Real Men Wear Skirts - An article in the Financial Times about the increasing popularity of kilts among male celebrities, plus new developments in men's kilt fashion.
• Reviewed Index of Scottish Clothing Websites - There are many pages on the World Wide Web having to do with Scottish clothing, especially historic dress.  If the many myths and misconceptions about kilts and Highland Dress were great before, the wide spread use of the Internet has only made it worse.  Fortunately, the Internet has also allowed those who have researched accurate information about Highland clothing to publicize their work to a much wider audience.  For the average person just beginning to research Highland clothing or the curious web surfer, it is hard to tell the difference.
• Schuh Magazine - An article about 21st Century Kilts.
• Scottish Historical Clothing Research - Several essays on the development of the kilt
• Search For Heritage Ends With Man In Skirt - Humorous piece by a columnist for TheSanDiegoChannel.com about building confidence to wear a Utilikilt.
• Seattle Weekly Features - An article about Utilikilts.
• Seattle Weekly, Sep 21, 2000 : A Magnolia designer converts men to kilts
• Tartans of Scotland - The definitive guide to tartans on the web.
• Wearing Highland Attire
• Wrapping the Kilt - A member of the SCA tells how to wrap a kilt

Real Men Wear Kilts is not responsible for any information contained on the articles/links presented hereabove, and they are only presented here as a reference for interested researchers. If you would like to suggest additional kiltwear-related websites to be listed here, or if you encounter any errors when attempting to contact the above links, please advise us at david@realmenwearkilts.net .

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