Scottish National Clothing for Men

In Europe, men do not usually wear skirts. But the Scottish national clothing for men is a kind of skirt. It is called a kilt. The Scottish like to be different. They are also proud of their country and its history, and they feel that the kilt is part of that history. That's why the men still wear kilts at traditional dances and on national holidays. They believe they are wearing the same clothes that Scottish men always used to wear.

That's what they believe. However, kilts are not really so old. Before 1703, Scottish men wore a long shirt and blanket around their shoulders. These clothes got in the way when the men started to work in factories. So, in 1730 a factory owner changed the blanket into a skirt: the kilt. That's how the first kilt was made.

Then, in the late 1700's Scottish soldiers in the British Army began to wear kilts. One reason for this was national sentiment (feelings): The Scottish soldiers wanted to be different from the English soldiers. The British Army probably had a different reason: A Scottish soldier in a kilt was always easy to find! The Scottish soldiers fought very hard and became famous. The kilt was part of the fame, and in the early 1800's men all around Scotland began to wear kilts.

These kilts had colorful stripes going up and down and across. In the 1700's and early 1800's, the color of the stripes had no special meaning. Men sometimes owned kilts in several different colors. But later the colors became important to the Scottish families. By about 1850, most families had special colors for their kilts. For example, men from the Campbell family had kilts with green, yellow and blue stripes. Scottish people often believe that the colors of the kilts are part of their family history. In fact, each family just chose the color they liked best.

This is not the story you will hear today if you are in Scotland. Most Scottish people still believe that kilts are as old as Scotland and that the colors are as old as the Scottish families. Sometimes feelings are stronger than facts!