Kilt
A kilt (Scottish Gaelic: fèileadh [ˈfeːləɣ])[1] is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill-woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern.
Originating in the Scottish Highland dress for men, it is first recorded in the 16th century as the great kilt, a full-length garment whose upper half could be worn as a cloak.
Although the kilt is most often worn by men on formal occasions and at Highland games and other sports events, it has also been adapted as an item of informal male clothing, returning to its roots as an everyday garment.
He felt that the belted plaid was "cumbrous and unwieldy", and his solution was to separate the skirt and convert it into a distinct garment with pleats already sewn, which he himself began making.
[4] The name "kilt" is applied to a range of garments: According to the Dictionary of the Scots Language and Oxford English Dictionary, the noun derives from a verb to kilt, originally meaning "to gird up; to tuck up (the skirts) round the body", which is apparently of Scandinavian origin.
Organisations that sanction and grade the competitions in Highland dancing and piping all have rules governing acceptable attire for the competitors.
[6][7] The Scottish kilt displays uniqueness of design, construction, and convention which differentiate it from other garments fitting the general description.
A kilt pin may be fastened to the front apron on the free corner (but is not passed through the layer below, as its function is to add weight).
[8][9] The Scottish Tartans Authority, however, warns that in some circumstances the practice could be "childish and unhygienic" and flying "in the face of decency".
[10][11][12] The typical kilt as seen at modern Highland games events is made of twill woven worsted wool.
In contrast kilts worn by Irish pipers are made from solid-colour cloth, with saffron or green being the most widely used colours.
It was only in the 19th-century Victorian era that the system of named tartans known today began to be systematically recorded and formalised, mostly by weaving companies for mercantile purposes.
There are also setts for states and provinces; schools and universities; sporting activities; individuals; and commemorative and simple generic patterns that anybody can wear (see History of the kilt for the process by which these associations came about).
The weaver is supposed to reverse the weaving sequence at the pivot point to create a mirror image of the pattern.
"Ancient" or "Old" colours may be characterised by a slightly faded look intended to resemble the vegetable dyes that were once used, although in some cases "Old" simply identifies a tartan that was in use before the current one.
Although many tartans are added every year, most of the registered patterns available today were created in the 19th century onward by commercial weavers who worked with a large variety of colours.
The rise of Highland romanticism and the growing Anglicisation of Scottish culture by the Victorians at the time led to registering tartans with clan names.
Additionally, the length of the kilt when buckled at the waist reaches a point no lower than halfway across the kneecap and no higher than about an inch above it.
The pleat width is selected based on the size of the sett and the amount of fabric to be used in constructing the kilt, and will generally vary from about 1/2" to about 3/4".
Kilts are considered appropriate for ceremonial and less formal parades, office duties, walking out, mess dinners, classroom instruction, and band practice.
[15] Casual use of kilts dressed down with lace-up boots or moccasins, and with T-shirts or golf shirts, is becoming increasingly familiar at Highland games.
The small sgian-dubh knife is sometimes replaced by a wooden or plastic alternative or omitted altogether for security concerns;[16] for example, it typically is not allowed to be worn or carried onto a commercial aircraft.
[18] A garment that has often been mistaken for kilts in early depictions is the Irish léine croich ('saffron shirt'), a long tunic traditionally made from yellow cloth, but also found in other solid colours (e.g. black, green, red, or brown), or striped.
Solid-coloured kilts were first adopted for use by Irish nationalists and thereafter by Irish regiments serving in the British Army, but they could often be seen in late 19th and early 20th century photos in Ireland especially at political and musical gatherings, as the kilt was re-adopted as a symbol of Gaelic nationalism in Ireland during this period.
[31] Others have been recently created for smaller areas in Brittany (Ushent, Bro Vigoudenn and Menez Du "Black Mountain").
Then in 1984, Jean Paul Gaultier made waves in the fashion industry when he reintroduced mini skirts and kilts for men.
[41] They may be designed for formal or casual dress, for use in sports or outdoor recreation, or as white or blue collar workwear.
In 2008, a USPS letter carrier, Dean Peterson, made a formal proposal that the kilt be approved as an acceptable postal uniform—for reasons of comfort.
For example, in the Syfy series Tin Man, side characters are shown wearing kilts as peasant working clothes.
Trends in everyday fashion, especially in the Gothic subculture, have led to a popularisation of the kilt as an alternative to more conventional menswear.
