Why do scots wear kilts?..
Men in Scotland, and not only Scots by birth, will frequently wear kilts to formal occasions, especially weddings, graduations and moves or ceilidhs. They at times additionally wear them less officially, for instance with a jumper and climbing boots to rugby matches and outside occasions. It’s a practically a definite fire method of getting a lift in case you’re catching a ride abroad.
Men look and feel fantastic in kilts. You see them stand differently and develop a swagger. It’s amazingly appealing! My child as of late went to a college hit the dance floor with Polish and Iranian companions. All wore kilts, and they looked wonderful.
The Kilt For Men has been worn since at least the 16th Century. Before that, Medieval men wore longer tunics with a heavy woolen cloak. When wool became more available this outfit mutated into recognizable Scottish garb. The tunic step by step got more limited, at last into a long free cloth shirt (the cutty sark). Interim, the fleece shroud expanded and was utilized as a ‘multi-useful wrap.
Two electrical discharges were sewn together longwise. The wearer arranged these into pleats and belted it around the waist. The lower bolt of cloth hung down to the knee. The upper half could be wrapped around the body as a warm and almost windproof covering. This is how the “great kilt” – the feileadh Mòr came into being.
At night, the kilt was taken off and became a large blanket or make-shift shelter. They were extraordinarily reasonable, and would have been somewhat capable the Highlanders’ endurance in a variable and regularly brutal atmosphere.
A description from 1746 states:
The garb is certainly very loose, and fits men inured to it to go through great fatigues, to make very quick marches, to bear out against the inclemency of the weather, to wade through rivers, and shelter in huts, woods, and rocks upon occasion; which men dressed in the low country garb could not possibly endure. [See Ref]
Around the late 17th – early 18th Century, a less cumbersome version of the kilt, the fèileadh beag, was developed. Essentially, this was made from one bolt of cloth, omitting the the over-shoulder plaid. The pleats were permanently stitched into place, so the cloth could no longer be opened into a blanket. It is this form of the kilt which survives to the present day.
I get enthusiastic on this subject and could all too easily write more. If anyone wants further details about the history of kilts, including how they were banned following the Jacobite uprising of 1745, send me an A2A. I will close now before this becomes a dissertation.
Forbes, Lord Culloden, Duncan (1815), Culloden Papers, London: T Cadell & W Davies, p. 289
