A single thought
As a writer, I often hear things that I question, things that most people would shrug off as inconsequential. I thought of one of those things while walking with Raphael to his place from the Highland Games.
I was once told that I shouldn't wear my denim jacket with my kilt because it reflected badly on other kilt wearers, whom I was representing.
At the time, I probably said something like, "I'm not representing anyone but myself!"
I was telling Raphael this story as we walked and I thought of the answer I wish I'd had back then.
"I'm not trying to tarnish the reputation of kilt wearers. I'm trying to raise the reputation of denim jacket wearers!"
There have been swings in the kilted communities. At first kilts were a 'movement'. Wearing a kilt made you part of the movement for men's fashion freedom.
My response was, "When I have a movement, I don't want a bunch of guys around. Just some paper."
The trend lately has been to wear kilts according to a newer set of rules that tell you how to accessorize properly for each occasion.
I follow my own guidelines for kilted wear and they change with the function I will be attending. I did much the same before I started wearing kilts.
My motto from the start has been, "Kilts are garments, not costumes!" While there are certainly times where 'proper' kilt etiquette must be observed, that same etiquette doesn't apply in everyday wear. I've seen guys in Prince Charlie jackets and bow ties show up to the pub for Kilts Night. Sometimes they've been to a formal function. Other times they just felt that a kilt should be worn formally, or not at all.
To each his own.
I often wonder why people think they can tell another how poorly they're dressed while kilted, when those people are inevitably wearing brown shoes with a black suit, or the dreaded socks and sandals. (Socks and sandals are fine with me. I don't understand the fuss!)
Kilts started out as everyday wear for the Scottish Highlanders. After too much history to list here, kilts have become overly romanticised to the point where you can get into trouble just for wearing one. I know a fair bit about the history of kilts and the Scots and Irish, including some of the widely believed myths that some are willing to fight about.
Kilts are popular in the movies at the moment. Mel Gibson, Liam Neeson, Ewan MacGregor, Sean Connery, and Samual Jackson have all somewhat recently been in kilts in movies orin the public eye.
For whatever social reasons, people think a thing is suitable to wear if a celebrity wears it first. Many fashion fads have started with celebrities. (Remember all those bras without shirts in the pubs? Thank you Madonna!)
Kilts are not widespread enough to be called a fad but interest is slowly and steadily growing. People of all cultures and races are starting to wear kilts, because they are comfortable and a lot of women like men in kilts. Personally, I think a lot of guys would wear spiked underwear inside out if so many women thought it was sexy, but I'll stick with the comfort of kilts.
So here I am, representing myself, an creative, odd man in a kilt, pushing fifty, making kilts, telling sometimes unpopular truths, with a humourously skewed way of looking at the world, wearing what I please, (and doing as I please.)
Is it any wonder I am amazed to find myself single?
I was once told that I shouldn't wear my denim jacket with my kilt because it reflected badly on other kilt wearers, whom I was representing.
At the time, I probably said something like, "I'm not representing anyone but myself!"
I was telling Raphael this story as we walked and I thought of the answer I wish I'd had back then.
"I'm not trying to tarnish the reputation of kilt wearers. I'm trying to raise the reputation of denim jacket wearers!"
There have been swings in the kilted communities. At first kilts were a 'movement'. Wearing a kilt made you part of the movement for men's fashion freedom.
My response was, "When I have a movement, I don't want a bunch of guys around. Just some paper."
The trend lately has been to wear kilts according to a newer set of rules that tell you how to accessorize properly for each occasion.
I follow my own guidelines for kilted wear and they change with the function I will be attending. I did much the same before I started wearing kilts.
My motto from the start has been, "Kilts are garments, not costumes!" While there are certainly times where 'proper' kilt etiquette must be observed, that same etiquette doesn't apply in everyday wear. I've seen guys in Prince Charlie jackets and bow ties show up to the pub for Kilts Night. Sometimes they've been to a formal function. Other times they just felt that a kilt should be worn formally, or not at all.
To each his own.
I often wonder why people think they can tell another how poorly they're dressed while kilted, when those people are inevitably wearing brown shoes with a black suit, or the dreaded socks and sandals. (Socks and sandals are fine with me. I don't understand the fuss!)
Kilts started out as everyday wear for the Scottish Highlanders. After too much history to list here, kilts have become overly romanticised to the point where you can get into trouble just for wearing one. I know a fair bit about the history of kilts and the Scots and Irish, including some of the widely believed myths that some are willing to fight about.
Kilts are popular in the movies at the moment. Mel Gibson, Liam Neeson, Ewan MacGregor, Sean Connery, and Samual Jackson have all somewhat recently been in kilts in movies orin the public eye.
For whatever social reasons, people think a thing is suitable to wear if a celebrity wears it first. Many fashion fads have started with celebrities. (Remember all those bras without shirts in the pubs? Thank you Madonna!)
Kilts are not widespread enough to be called a fad but interest is slowly and steadily growing. People of all cultures and races are starting to wear kilts, because they are comfortable and a lot of women like men in kilts. Personally, I think a lot of guys would wear spiked underwear inside out if so many women thought it was sexy, but I'll stick with the comfort of kilts.
So here I am, representing myself, an creative, odd man in a kilt, pushing fifty, making kilts, telling sometimes unpopular truths, with a humourously skewed way of looking at the world, wearing what I please, (and doing as I please.)
Is it any wonder I am amazed to find myself single?