Blog: Skirting the issue

Leonie Barrie | 3 August 2004

The eight yards of cloth that make up a traditional Scottish tartan kilt have long been the subject of endless debate. How should the kilt be worn, by whom and with what underneath? With the number of registered tartans running into the thousands, tartan and kilts are part of a multimillion pound industry. Businesses who want to raise their Scottish profile are having their own tartan designed and now, it seems, fashion entrepreneurs have hit on the garment as ripe for a shake-up. A Scottish company has launched a new designer kilt brand called Kilt2 with the aim of “showing the world what a funky and practical garment the kilt can be, freeing men forever from the fashion tyranny of trousers.” Its tartan2 collection retails at over £1000 and features designs including screen prints, dark blue denim, lettering and heat-foam plasticated applique.

The all-important question of what to wear under your kilt is also coming in for scrutiny. One of Scotland's oldest kilt-hire companies is demanding that its customers wear pants under their Highland dress as it’s having to spend so much time and money cleaning dirty kilts. I wonder how they’ll enforce that rule?