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Highlandwear

Real Men Wear Kilts!

Its prom season in Scotland! High school and University student are finishing their exams, completing their final submissions and counting down to party time! We are rushed off our feet with numerous prom and graduation Highland wear bookings. The majority of young men wear a kilt to the prom or grad ball. Well lets face it, a guy wearing a kilt in Scotland is hardly out of the ordinary! We were however STUNNED to hear that a young man was banned by his school board from wearing a kilt to his prom!

In an article posted online by Huffington Post, it was reported that a senior high school student in southwestern Illinois had his request to wear a traditional Scottish kilt to prom denied after the Principle supposedly said men should ‘dress like men at their senior prom’. A comment the principle later denied making.

The pupil had bought a kilt in his family clan tartan and hope to wear the outfit in honour of his Scottish and Irish roots. The student made his initial request to the principle which was denied. He then took his case forward to the school board who stated that the kilt did not comply with the district dress code.

First of all, we find it bizarre that a pupil needed to ask permission to wear a traditional form of dress, especially when that outfit consists of smart shoes, jacket, waistcoat shirt and either a tie or bow tie. The only issue appears to be with the kilt which is made of very expensive fabric. Highland wear is by no means informal. Tartan itself has consistently stayed in the height of fashion for centuries! Highland wear is of the highest quality garments in both its worth and its aesthetic value, why else would all the Scots be wearing it to weddings?!

This article was posted last year however; we wondered if this school still felt the same way. The story comes as a surprise, particularly as there are many Scottish and Irish families residing in the United States and thousands more who descend from the Scots!

All we know is we wear our kilts with pride an would urge others to do the same! If you are of Scottish descent you should count yourself lucky to have descended from such a smashing bunch of people! Some people may not like kilts and so, each to their own. However; we love our national dress and don’t agree with the idea that when requesting to wear a kilt the young man was told he must ‘dress like a man’ at his prom!

REAL MEN WEAR KILTS!

Article sourced from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/w earing-a-kilt-to-prom-il_n_1389612.html

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Burn's Night Highlandwear Kilt Hire

How to dress like a true Scotsman!

Autumn Bute Tartan

 

Highland wear can be a tricky business, especially if you are wearing a kilt for the first time! It’s a whole new experience and we have comprised some top tips to make sure you get everything just right and are dressed to perfection! Houston Kiltmakers want to assist you any way we can, so have a look below at our quick fire guide to dressing like a true Scotsman!

1. Put your socks on first; make sure ribs on socks are running vertical and not twisted. Top of socks should be parallel and same length. Put the garter flashes on socks to the outside of your leg, making sure there is a three to four inch gap between the top of the socks and bottom of the kilt. About one inch below the knee is an ideal resting point for the top of your socks.

Kilt socks and sgian dubh

2. Put your sgian dubh down the right leg of your sock. If you are left handed it can be worn down your left leg.

3. Put your ghillie brogue shoes on, twist the laces three to four times and take round back of the calf. Return them to the front of your shin about 2/3 of the way up and tie in a normal bow quite firmly and show to the front or side as preferred. If you find the laces are constantly slipping down and becoming loose then wrap them lower down your leg or round your ankle a couple of times.

4. Put on your shirt making sure any creases are ironed out, and put your cufflinks on.

 5. Make sure the kilt pin is on the front apron only, on the fringed side of your kilt about two inches from the bottom and side of the fringe.

6. Put your kilt on making sure it is a good fit and it sits well up (about one and a half inches above the hip bone). Then look at the front apron and make sure the centre line is down the middle of the kilt so it is well balanced with pleats to the back. When looking in the mirror the kilt should be in an A shape with the sides well balanced.

7. Clip the chain strap onto the sporran, then put the chain strap through the kilt belt loops and fasten your sporran at the back of the kilt. Make sure the sporran is centred to front apron as shown by the arrow positioned in the image (below), positioned about four to five inches below the top of the kilt. You can rest the chain strap on top of the kilt buckles if you wish. This will secure the sporran a bit better.

Kilt centre

8. Then put the belt and buckle on covering the chain strap. We recommend jacket wearing a belt as if you remove your jacket and waistcoat during an event the outfit will look bare, so we include a belt with all our hires. Check that the belt buckle is about one to two inches above the sporran.

9. Put on your waistcoat, then jacket. Make sure the jacket is fitting square on, with the waistcoat buttons, tie, sporran, buckle and kilt centre line all straight up and down. If driving to a venue, we advise that you hang the jacket up in the back and put it on when you get out the car. Try not to drive with your jacket on as it may crease.

 

Prince Charlie Jacket

10. If you are wearing a shoulder plaid, fasten under your left hand jacket lapel and fasten with plaid brooch onto jacket only.
 

11. Finally put on your tie, bow, ruche or standard tie.

Wing collar shirt and bow tie 

12. For further information on tartans as well as advice on what to wear and how to wear it please view our helpful video clips at www.kiltmakers.com/tv/

13. To download our brochures and view our buy range please visit www.kiltmakers.comto view our hire range go to www.kiltsforhire.com for any further information or help feel free to contact us by phone +44 141 889 4879

 

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Highlandwear

Tartan Takeover!

Houston’s had previously written on a blog about celebrity men in kilts after US rapper P Diddy rocked out Glasgow’s Fruitmarket in his grey kilt whilst flying the Saltire. This led us to think… with all the many celebrities including actors, musicians and TV stars that have donned the kilt on both stage and screen, who deserves to make the Top 10? There was much debate here at Houston HQ but the results were inconclusive, no one could agree!

Our top 10 included

PDiddy
Biffy Clyro
Gerard Butler
Ed Westwick
Ewan McGregor
Sting
Dougray Scott
Sammuel L Jackson
Mel Gibson
Rod Stewart
Mike Myers
Ashton Kutcher

However, since this list has been created we quickly began to notice, it’s not just men that are rocking the the kilt. Ladies have also bought into the tartan trend and so began the tartan takeover!
Although kilts and tartan are a traditional form of dress adaptations of these such as tartan shirts, skirts and dresses can be found in high street fashion stores. Modern fashion designers such as Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood have introduced tartan to the catwalks of the most high profile fashion shows giving highland wear a modern edge. Tartan has become a noticeable celebrity trend with various styles been worn by stars such as Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Noth, Billy Connolly, Sean Connery, Rihanna, Katherine Jenkins, Taylor Swift, Victoria Beckham, Kylie Minogue and Emma Watson to name only a few. Furthermore, tartan has most recently been worn by The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton which has given the tartan trend a regal accreditation. This celebrity trend has widened the tartan appeal around the globe to a much larger and more diverse audience.
Scotland has set the precedence for New Year and Hogmanay celebrations with millions of people round the world wearing Kilts, trews and other tartan clothing to honour their Scottish decent whilst singing to our very own Rabbie Burns’ beautiful ballad Auld Lang Syne. Whilst many believe the term ‘traditional dress’ to reflect ideas of old or outdated wear, kilts and tartan have never been more fashionable or versatile. Available in thousands of variations of tartan, with a diversity of shirts, ties and accessories no two outfits need ever be the same!

On that note Houston’s want to create the definitive Top Ten Tartan Trendsetters! Please leave a comment with the male or female celebrity you would like to nominate and we’ll be back soon with the results!

PDiddy in Scottish Tartan Kilt @ Glasgow Fruitmarket
PDiddy in Scottish Tartan Kilt @ Glasgow Fruitmarket