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| Wearing underwear under a kilt. |
For ages the consensus was that you are not a “real Scot” unless you are bare under your kilt. However recently the Scottish Tartans Authority, an organization dedicated to keeping the integrity of the traditional Scottish garb, has decreed that refusing to wear underwear beneath your kilt is “childish and unhygienic” and that this flies in the face of decency. The organizations director Brian Wilton said kilt wearers should have the common sense to wear underwear beneath their countries national dress. And he went on to say that just because highlanders wore nothing in the days before wide0spread underwear usage was available doesn’t mean that we in the 21st century should do the same. Underwear is important for two main reasons the first is decency the second is hygiene. The first is the obvious complaint that without underwear in certain situations you are at risk of revealing yourself. And although some, including myself, find this an appealing feature of the kilt others feel it is disrespectful of the traditional and almost sacred significance of the tartan or kilt and I can understand that. The second is a dirty fact that we usually try not to think about, that our underwear is a sanitary protection that protects the cleanliness of our garments. Apparently there have been problem with kilts becoming so dirty they practically were declared a biohazard. Sounds crazy but a kilt maker named Slanj who has provided traditional kilts for Billy Connolly and Ewan McGregor insists his clients wear underwear because he has had some returned in such a messy state that he called them too unhygienic for his staff to handle. A high quality traditional Tartan is very expensive and not as easy to clean as a pair of briefs so this is a valid concern.
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| No underwear under kilt. |
Yet not everyone agrees. Formula One Racing driver David Coulthard said “Kilts are from the past and so is the tradition of not wearing any underwear. I'm proud to be a true Scotsman. It's a tradition that should be left alone. I've been wearing kilts since I was a little boy and will continue to wear my kilts in the time-honored fashion. There is nothing childish or unhygienic about it.” And many kilt wearers have this same opinion.
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| Matching underwear under kilt. |
This is a subject I am torn on because on the one hand I love the idea of a naked man under a kilt yet on the other I also like the image of a nice pair of underwear hiding beneath that manly cloak. But this is an underwear blog so I am going to go address this from a different angle. This case really emphasizes the magnitude of the impact underwear has had on us. At one time the Scottish Military were required not to wear anything under their kilts for ease of movement and today the authority on this rich and distinctive culture has ruled it necessary for underwear to be worn in order to preserve the dignity of this tradition. Often we get so caught up in the look and visual attractiveness of underwear we forget that they serve an important role in our lives. They support, protect our modesty and keep us hygienic and clean which promotes good health. So whichever side of this kilt debate you are on, you have to give underwear credit for the impact it has made. Thank you underwear.
