The Kilted Life?

[lochinvar]

On a serious note though, a real kilt is a large investment. Cheaper, lighter kilt will look bad, they will cling in areas you don't want, and the ones made of PV will sweat you more than the wool ones.....but they are $4-700 less.

If you do want one, you need to get a reputable kiltmaker and you will have to be measured properly. The kilt sits at your true waist, give take right over the navel, not on the hips like pants. It's a process with many different components, but it's fun and you can go as overboard as you wish.
Try looking at Kinloch Anderson, Houston Kiltmakers, Burnetts and Struth and Bonnie Heather Green Kilt's, they are great makers and give good ideas on their sites. You can look up Locharron Strome fabric to see what your clan tartan would look like.

 

[irishearl]

That's what I figured about the Irish and kilts, lochinvar, though wasn't aware that some started wearing it in the early parts of the 20th century as sort of a "political" statement. As to the Scots, as I understand it there are literary references to kilted garments as early as the 1500's. As I suspect I'm of lowland Scots heritage as opposed to highlands, I doubt any of my ancestors had ever worn it, though cannot say where in Scotland my family had actually called home.

 

[aldecaker]

What is PV?

 

[lochinvar]

irishearl- Perhaps not, but it's fun either way and pretty much every family from Scotland now has a clan association and tartan, so you may as well jump in with us.
aldecaker- PV is polyviscose, or Poly Rayon, a mix of extruded fibers of both woven into cloth. It breathes like cement.

 

[btp79]

I wore a utilikilt to the deer lease for a summer work weekend once. ONCE. True it was much cooler, but I cut the $h!t out of my legs on the various vines and brambles.

 

[bnichols23]

Clan Gordon here, with a stronng Scots streak, but I don't do the kilt. Just never really got into it.

 

[scloyd]

I've always been interested in the kilt due to my Irish and Scottish roots. Did a DNA test and found out only 7% British & Irish, 19% German & French, 47% Polish and 27% mixed bag of a little of this and a little of that.
So I don't see a kilt in my future...maybe some traditional Polish folk costume though.

 

[mso489]

scloyd, great lineage. Hybrid vigor!

 

[irishearl]

Scott, so you're like another version of that guy in the Ancestry commercial dancing around in liederhosen who discovered he wasn't German after all and was going to invest in a kilt after he got his DNA results. :D As to that old scrap of tartan discovered in N. Ireland from the 17th century, I misspoke by saying it's known as the Antrim tartan. Rather, it is known as the Ulster tartan. Of course back in the 1990's they started developing tartans for each county in N. Ireland. Sometimes I've been tempted to do 1 of those kits but I figure it wouldn't tell me a lot more than I already know, given that I know my paternal side got off the boat in Canada in 1840 from N. Ireland while my maternal side, the gt-grandparents got off the boat from Norway in the 1880's

 

[lifesizehobbit]

lochvinar
Thank you for the insight on kilt making; very interesting. I visited the Houston Kiltmaker site and ran my name in their search engine for a tartan. While it wasn't an exact match, they have something called "septs" which indicate a relationship to a valid clan. I matched to Macmillen and after some additional surname history searches, I've discovered that it's very possible my lineage is from the Scottish Highlands (which if true would be wicked cool).
For the record, those kilts are well made; no different than a finely tailored suit.
Kilt or no, this has been a very fascinating week for me digging around in something my own immediate family has never discussed (topic wise). I don't think my Dad really put a lot of stock in heritage/family links; he's very practical and if it doesn't apply to today, well there you go.
Pretty interesting thread; thanks to all for contributing.

 

[irishearl]

lifesize, you never know when the heritage bug will bite. I'd never been interested until I stumbled on a family tree some unknown individual had done which was archived online going back to an ancestor born in 1775. It told me so much more than anyone in the family knew including where in N. Ireland they lived and when they immigrated. Then I took it from there and merely via online research took it back to an ancestor born 1690. Yeah, septs are families who came under the protection of clans while clansmen surnames related to actual branches of the clan. I've had great fun and spent many an hour researching anything and everything related to this part of my heritage.

 

[checotah]

Clans Stewart and Mackay, here. Wear me kilt on special Celtic occasions only. Drink me whisky when the mood suits.
Definition of kilt: what happened to the last fool who called it a "skirt".

 

[mikethompson]

0% Scot here, so I would never wear a kilt for cultural reasons, but if you are, go for it. Your heritage is part of what makes you you. I have a very nice Loden jacket that I wear every so often. I'd wear it anywhere if the mood struck me.
My only experiences with kilts relate to my high school years at a uniformed high school, but those are stories for a different time. :wink:

 

[glaswegian]

100% Scot here and I wear kilt for any festivity. But mainly in Scotland. Now I´m living in Germany. But 1 week to go and I´m home for holiday....Let the bells ring! :rofl:

 

[anantaandroscoggin]

When investigating the wearing of kilts, I discovered that there are official plaids for many other existences than just Clans. There is, for instance, a State of Maine plaid.

 

[bigpond]

You wanna wear a kilt? What the hell...go for it. Ladies wear stockings as pants....at least a kilt will obscure your bits.

 

[lifesizehobbit]

....at least a kilt will obscure your bits.

Bigpond... now maybe it will, and maybe it won't. :rofl:

 

[irishearl]

I'm so into the heritage thing I've been pecking away at learning the Ulster Scot language for a few years.

 

[smittyd]

There is a guy in my town that where's the utility kilt everyday. He actually makes them himself. I thought it was odd when i first met him, but after i got to know him it just became normal to see him dress that way. However, he is also a Scout master so it does look a little strange when he has the uniform on with a green kilt bottom made to match the uniform top.

 

[groovediggerdan]

Reminds me of the old joke where someone asks a Scot, "Is anything worn under the kilt?"
The Scot replies, "Nae laddie, it's all in perfect working order".

Along those lines: Bryan Bowers - The Scotsman