Scotland: Land of kilts

Yes, it's true. Scotsmen really do wear kilts. And hot damn, they look great in them, too. When I told people here that one of my main goals in Scotland was to see boys in kilts, I got a lot of eye rolling and comments that they don't really wear kilts in Scotland. Pish tosh, say I! They do. Granted, it's not the everyday streetwear a la blue jeans, but we actually saw lots of bekilted males in a variety of situations.

Other than the street corner buskers in full regalia, pipes a-blowing and some random people on the streets, we saw kilts in three main circumstances.

The first: apparently kilts and rugby shirts are a very common fan outfit for (what else) rugby games. Anne's apartment is near the rugby stadium and we saw a huge number of sports fans making their way to the game all dressed up kilts, team shirts and occasionally team scarves. They usually had the long socks, too, but it was pretty cold - they were going to have nippy knees in any case.

The second: another sports scenario. We saw a curling club at the airport whose dress outfit for guys included kilts. Very swanky. I really wouldn't want to wipe out on the curling sheet in a kilt, though. Particularly if worn, ahem, authentically commando.

And finally: at the ceilidh! (Which I will rave about at length later.) Males from teenagers to men in their 60's or 70's were all sporting kilts, and I have to say, it's a great look on most people. The socks really make your calves look nice, and the shape of the kilt is pretty forgiving for spare tires.

So my goal was fulfilled. Men in kilts! Hurrah! I loved Scotland.

Just FYI: We were in Scotland from Feb 24 to March 1. I'll write more about other parts of the trip later. Rem's also covering the excursion at www.remkes.ca, of course. Oh, and that's where the pictures are going.