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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 Gifts Highlandwear Kilt Hire

Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed!

Nowadays the internet allows us to buy almost anything from anywhere in the world. With that much choice it’s hard to know where to go or even, where to start! Many people now look to customer reviews to highlight which companies are the most reliable and sell the best quality products.

As a retailer customer satisfaction is paramount, nothing means more to us than seeing a happy customer! Sometimes words on a screen just aren’t enough to convince you of a company’s quality. At Houston’s we can assure you our products are authentic and made in Scotland. We use only the best quality and have the greatest wealth of knowledge to help guide you. We have helpful and friendly staff working in our family run business which has been flourishing now for over 100 years… but like I said, sometimes words on a screen aren’t enough. That is why we are including photos!

Our customers often send photos of themselves in their highland wear from Houston’s so we thought we would share these with you. If your considering buying or hiring highland wear from Houston’s we are certain you will have a positive experience with us! See the smile’s on our customers faces if you don’t believe us!

Houston's Modern Bute Heather Tartan

 

Above is Antonio Vezza in a Houston’s Own Modern Bute Heather Tartan. Antonio took part in the 2013 Hampden Kilt Walk! Hundreds of participants took part in the 26 mile trek from Hampden to Loch Lomond to raise money for a range of Scottish Children’s Charities! Antonio remembered only at the very last minute he had forgotten to hire a kilt for the event! Not to worry Houston’s were on hand to help with a last minute hire!

 

Isn’t this a great photo of our customer Steve Baird and his wife? They donned their highland wear for a cultural diversity day at the school they work at in Houston, Texas!

 

Our customer Albert Davy from Austria purchased kilt packs for himself and his sons from Houston’s and sent on photos taken on 25th December at a photographic studio in his village and on 31st December at the New Year’s Eve Ball in The Vienna Imperial Castle. Some guests there believed Albert to be the Scottish Ambassador as his outfit was worn to perfection! Albert said “We had so much fun an received a lot of honours when I said “I’m a semi-Scotsman” telling the story of my ancients in Dumbarton”.

So don’t take our word for it, take our customers, word for it! After ‘the customer is always right’, right?

Categories
Highlandwear Kilt Hire

Tartan… The Celebrities Favourite!

Houston Kiltmaker’s is the only shop where you can physically see every tartan available. You might not be too impressed by that but; what if we told you there are around 14,000 tartans? Ahhh… now we have your attention! What can we say we love tartan, of course we are biased being a traditional Scottish Highland outfitter! However; it seems we aren’t the only ones who love tartan.

Tartan is an ongoing celebrity trend and it’s not just men rocking kilts, ladies have also bought into the tartan trend. 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. Moschino is one of the latest high profile designers to introduce tartan to their line. 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 recently been worn by The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton which has given the tartan trend a regal accreditation. As well as British royalty, Pop royalty have now bought into the tartan trend! Going all out, Jermaine Jackson recently donned a full highland outfit whilst he toured in Glasgow with his brothers Jackie, Tito and Marlon.

Image available: http://www.heraldscotland.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/400xY/2013/3/20385823.JPG

This celebrity trend has widened the tartan appeal around the globe to a much larger and more diverse audience. So much so that global star Susan Boyle has now decided to create her own tartan! The first person to wear the tartan is none other than SuBo’s childhood heartthrob Donny Osmond! Susan performed with Donny and sister Marie at their concert in Glasgow’s SECC. She asked Donny to come on stage and presented him with a range of Scottish gifts including a tie woven in her own Boyle tartan.

image available: http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01672/SNA1327TAR_1672268a.jpg

We reckon Susan’s tartan will be a massive seller worldwide and will be a must have item for her millions of followers.

So will you be after a SuBo tartan scarf? Are you a fan of the tartan trend?

Let us know, comment below!

(Information gathered from the Scottish Tartans Authority, Tartan Herald)

Categories
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