|
So You're Going to Wear
the Kilt: Revised 3rd Edition Paperback – January 1, 1982 by J. Charles
Thompson (Author)
J. Charles "Scotty" Thompson
https://archive.org/details/soyouregoingtowe0000thom_x5s4/page/n6/mode/1up
This is the only guide
book I know of (and believe me, I've looked) that goes into every facet
of the correct way to wear a kilt (and what to wear with it, for what
occasion, and how). EVERYTHING is covered, from length of the kilt, to
black and white tie affairs, stylish non-formal options (and even how to
get usual business- casual jackets tailored properly for kilt-wearing),
how to do period-appropriate more costumed looks like great kilts with
ascots, what sort of footwear to have, for what ensemble, and much else.
Even has advice on proper forms of address when meeting or writing to
clan chiefs. Get this, no matter what it takes, or you will probably
look like a complete dork to any real Scotsman.
(And yes, the author is VERY "proper" and a stickler for tradition. But
even if you're a combat-booted punk guy with a UtiliKilt you should
still get this - learn the rules before you break them, so you can break
them with style.
PS: This is a review of the 2nd (I think) edition with a different cover
and possibly from a different publisher. I lost it, so am ordering this
one now. There's also a "revised" ed., with a colourful cover, but it is
posthumous and may have been significantly altered. AVOID the Iain Grey
"edited" version from Lang Syne Press; it is really a compression of
Thompson's work to about 1/10 of its original material.
Update: Yes, this 3rd ed. is the complete book, not the digest version.
Highly recommended.
J. Charles “Scotty” Thompson, F.S.T.S. has been “acknowledged as the
foremost expert on tartans in North America by the Scottish Tartans
Society. He has written widely on tartans, and a series on that subject
in the HIGHLANDER was followed by two on highland dress in 1973. The
ensuing discussions and correspondence led to this book. He is the
coauthor with D.C. Stewart, “the father of modern tartan research,” of
Scotland's Forged Tartans, an expos£ of the Vestiarium Scoticum,
published in Edinburgh, 1980. At many Highland Games his “Tartan
Information” booth is always a center of interest and activity.
FOREWORD
This readable and handy
booklet on Scottish attire provides a compact guide not only for those
starting to wear Scottish dress, but also for those who may have been
wearing the kilt for some time.
The author has provided an authoritative guide for all Americans—and
indeed for many Scots in Scotland. This booklet contains much valuable
information and useful comment, and I can recommend it to anyone
possessing or considering the acquisition of the kilt.
Indeed, there is so much tradition and controversy associated with
Highland dress that it is no wonder that many people are confused and
anxious to seek advice on the subject. Everything you will be required
to know will be found in the following pages.
The kilt is the finest national dress in the world and should be
preserved as such. It should be worn correctly. If you follow the
information provided in this guide, you will not go wrong.
Andrew MacThomas of Finegand
19th Hereditary Chief of Clan MacThomas Edinburgh
October 1978
PREFACE
I do not claim to be an
expert on Scottish attire in my own right. However I have worn the kilt
about as much as anyone else I know in the United States and I have read
everything I can find on the subject. I have also made a serious study
of tartans and can claim to know a reasonable amount about that subject.
Consequently after I wrote a series of articles on the tartan for the
Highlander magazine, I was asked to do a couple of articles on Scottish
attire. These were well received past all expectation or deserving, and
people started writing and even phoning me long distance with questions
about Scottish attire.
The end result has been this booklet. It is a mixture of data cribbed
from other sources, facts that are, or should be, common knowledge, and
my own personal opinions. I have made no real attempt to be objective,
but I have tried rigorously to label my own opinions as such wherever I
have let them into the final text. I have said in the text, and I say
again: do not take any of my opinions as authoritative, but feel free to
disagree with any or all of them! If, however, you are just starting to
wear the kilt, it is much better to be guided by common practice, the
experience of those who have worn the kilt for a reasonable time, or
even the opinion of purists. I am not a purist in matters of Scottish
dress, but I have been careful to include the opinion of those who tend
to that extreme. Again I have tried to label it as the purist viewpoint,
if only to preserve a balanced view of the subject.
As the title indicates, this booklet is directed to the beginner in
Scottish attire. At the same time, it strives to be a fairly complete
discussion of the subject. If some parts of it seem to tell you more
than you need to know at the very beginning, just concentrate on what
you do want to know now. The rest may prove useful to you later.
I am indebted to a great many people for help and advice in the
preparation of this book, so many that I could hardly list them all.
However I must mention Capt. T. Stuart Davidson, F.S.A.Scot., founder
and Vice President of the Scottish Tartans Society, who read the whole
first draft of the manuscript and made numerous, most valuable
corrections and suggestions.
THE THIRD EDITION
We have another edition
instead of just another printing, since there are a minor correction or
two, a few substitutions and additions, and a minor change or two in the
illustrations.
We have gone more fully into the subject of wearing campaign ribbons,
giving the rules of the Scottish-American Military Society.
We have expanded the section on “Accessories” and changed the name to
“Weapons,” since that is what it is all about now.
And we have added a note, quoting the remarks of Sir Crispin Agnew,
Rothesay Herald, in The Highlander on the use of the clan crest badge on
notepaper.
It remains to thank the loyal supporters of the earlier editions and the
readers who look into this one.
If you would like to discuss anything in the book, drop me a line in
care of the publisher, or call me at (703) 241-7077. If I’m not home,
though, you’ll get a recording, but if you can’t get me at all, it will
likely mean I have taken my final departure for Tir nan Og.
SO YOU’RE GOING TO WEAR
THE KILT
Congratulations!
The first consideration is a state of mind—your state of mind the first
time you wear a kilt. I don’t mean to a meeting of your St. Andrew’s
Society or some other occasion where everyone is in the kilt; I mean the
first time you wear it downtown by yourself in daylight. You will be as
nervous as a cat in a meeting of the American Kennel Club. There is no
reason to be, for with experience you will find that everyone likes to
see a man in a kilt. But every time you hear someone laugh, or whistle,
or honk his horn, or say, “Hey!”, you will be sure it is meant for you.
Of course, it isn’t. Next time you are on the street—in trousers, I
mean—make a point of noticing how many laughs, whistles, horns, and
shouts you hear every day and ignore completely! Then when you blossom
forth in your kilt, ignore them just as completely! They will not have
anything to do with you except in your heated imagination.
People will look at you in a kilt; in fact almost everyone you see will
say hello. If you want to get used to this (to a somewhat lesser degree)
start by wearing a Balmoral bonnet with badge instead of your usual hat!
You will be amazed at the number of strangers who will smile and greet
you as you pass. This has to do with a fact of our culture known as “eye
contact.” It is rude to make eye contact with a stranger. If you happen
to be looking at a stranger when he looks up at you, you must look aside
immediately—“break eye contact.” There are only two alternatives: to
stare at him rudely, or not to treat him as a stranger, that is to smile
and greet him. When you are wearing a bonnet, even more so a kilt and
bonnet, strangers may look at you pretty fixedly. When you catch their
eye, they are not prepared to look away immediately, they say hello to
keep from appearing rude. So in a kilt, all the world is your friend.
Remember that in the kilt you are not wearing a costume. Where other
forms of national dress are called costumes, ours is always Scottish
“attire.” The late Duke of Windsor did not enhance his image with the
Scots when he wore Highland evening dress to a costume ball. Just as
Scottish attire is not a costume, Scottish costumes are not generally
appropriate at Scottish games or other gatherings. Some of the older
styles such as the breacan feile and peitean (both discussed later) are
being revived, and one sees shirts in the colonial style worn with the
kilt. Purists object to all three of these, though I do not necessarily
agree, but what I am talking about is an outfit reminiscent of a Maclan
print, complete with targe and an assortment of weapons.
To me these look
ludicrous, and the implication that I, too, am in costume because I am
wearing the kilt shows a complete lack of understanding of Scottish
attire. The kilt is perfectly normal dress for a man of Scottish
ancestry or connections, and anyone who feels differently is simply
displaying his ignorance. At a Saint Andrew’s lunch, one member said he
could not wear his kilt to the office, because of the way the fellows
would make fun of him. Another man rejoined, “Nobody ever made fun of me
wearing a kilt. A lot of people have tried, but no one ever succeeded.”
That is the spirit to develop.
This is the reason for the old saying, “If you can imagine any
circumstances under which you would be embarrassed to wear the kilt,
then you should not wear the kilt under any circumstances.” This is not
to advise against wearing the kilt. It just means you should develop the
attitude where you would never feel embarrassed to wear it. |
