A Lifetime With My Kilt

These are times in a man's life when anything other than a kilt could look out of place!

With its wonderful culture Scotland has such a rich history that can be remembered in the baptism of its children. Every Clan has a crest, and indeed a tartan and these can be incorporated in this lovely ceremony

With parents proud of their Scottish heritage and keen to share this with their children, young boys may get their first kilt at a very young age, indeed sizes start from 0 -1 years. These tiny kilts are really cute and much admired. It's lovely to see a wee one in the same tartan as older brothers and adults in a wedding party.

Wearing a kilt at events such as a first communion or even school prize giving day add to the sense of ceremony. At School dances a kilt is the formal wear of choice, usually matched with a formal jacket and tie, as the evening proceeds the look can be relaxed by removing the waistcoat without the jacket.

Another big occasion is graduation from college or university when Scottish national dress on display at a proud moment for the individual and family members. And as a student balls and graduation celebrations also call for a kilt.

The Black Watch is one of the regimental dress of the Scottish Army and used for parades rather then on the front line. They are worn with a regimental cap badge, Glengarry headdress - distinctively coloured hackles are also worn by each separate battalion on the headwear in order to maintain their individual identity and the pipes and drums of each battalion continue to wear the dress uniform and tartans of their former regiments.

Whether you are a Scot living in Edinburgh or someone with Scottish ancestory a kilt will never go out of fashion and always be admired.

In a controversial move in 2005 Cambridge University decided to ban students from wearing their kilts at graduations ceremonies. The kilt ban was sparked after university proctors -complained about the variety of flamboyant clothing being worn to graduations. Alongside the kilt other national dress such as kimonos, sari's and even military dress were prohibited. The issue was met with disbelief in Scotland and was even raised at Parliament.

For patriotic scots wearing their national dress is a chance to show of their sense of Scottishness. While other nations love to see a display of tartan and take an interest in the symbolism and history of different parts of the outfit such as the Skean Dhub or sporran.

Weddings and kilt are a natural fit whether you are the groom, best man or page boy. As the groom this is the change to take centre stage, many opt to go for a fly plaid, or to have accessories that set them apart from others wearing Highlandwear to mark their special day.

Best men have a number of options, they can all decided to wear the same tartan as the groom or each go with their family tartan. When only the groom is of Scottish descent it's still common for other men in the wedding to join in by wearing a kilt in the grooms tartan. As these will only be occasional kilt wearers hiring the outfit is the way to go. While the choice of hire tartans is limited to around twenty tartans there usually something that will work for each wedding party.

Highland Games offer another chance to wear a kilt, and on this occasion it can be worn more casually - Ghillie shirts and leather day sporrans are popular choices. Rugby and football matches see a great number of kilts on display - often worn with football tops and t-shirts.

Given the number of occasions that a kilt is called for it's not unusual to go through quite a number as measurements change, those who want to acquire a country tartan, a sporting tartan or even a commemorative tartan. People also have kilts in different weights

A kilt sees you through the different stages of your life as well as acting as a potent connection with Scottish history and culture.