Though the Scottish kilt is most often worn mainly on formal occasions or at Highland Games and sports events, it has also been adapted as an item of fashionable informal, and formal, male clothing in recent years.

Forms of the kilt

The name 'kilt' is applied to a range of garments:

• the traditional Scottish garment, either in its historical form, or in the modern adaptation now usual in Scotland (cf. History of the kilt), usually in a tartan pattern
• the Irish kilt, based on the Scottish garment but traditionally made in a single (solid) colour
• variants of the Scottish kilt adopted in other Celtic nations, such as the Welsh cilt and the Cornish cilt
• other skirt-like garments designed for men, but more or less different in structure from the Scottish kilt, including "Contemporary kilts]]"
• certain types of pleated wrapover skirt worn as school uniform by girls.

According to the OED, the noun derives from a verb to kilt, originally meaning "to gird up; to tuck up (the skirts) round the body", itself of Scandinavian origin.

The Scottish kilt

[[image:kilt311.jpg The Scottish kilt displays uniqueness of design, construction, and convention which differentiate it from other garments fitting the general description. It is a tailored garment that is wrapped around the wearer's body at the natural waist (between the lowest rib and the hip) starting from one side (usually the wearer's left), around the front and back and across the front again to the opposite side. The fastenings consist of straps and buckles on both ends, the strap on the inside end usually passing through a slit in the waistband to be buckled on the outside; alternatively it may remain inside the waistband and be buckled inside.

A kilt covers the body from the waist down to just above the knees. The overlapping layers in front are called "aprons" and are flat; the single layer of fabric around the sides and back is pleated. A kilt pin is fastened to the front apron on the free corner (but is not passed through the layer below). Underwear may or may not be worn, as the wearer prefers but in some circumstances underwear is prohibited by military regulations. Tradition has it that a "true Scotsman" should wear nothing under his kilt. Organizations that sanction and grade the competitions in Highland dancing and bagpiping all have rules governing acceptable attire for the competitors. These rules specify that kilts are to be worn (except that in the national dances, the female competitors will be wearing the Aboyne dress).

The kilt first appeared as the great kilt, a full length garment whose upper half could be worn as a cloak draped over the shoulder, or brought up over head as a cloak. The small kilt or walking kilt (similar to the 'modern' kilt) did not develop until the late 17th or early 18th century, and is essentially the bottom half of the great kilt.