There are many myths concerning the kilt and it's origin, and the end result is that it is an article of clothing, namely a skirt, recognised around the world as Scottish.

In ancient Greece, Italy, Turkey, the Bazatine empire and through the eastern European area the soldiers almost always wore short skirts as it allowed them to move freely and fast, to wade through streams or rivers without having wet heavy garments to slow them down afterwards, and often they would discard these skirts and fight in only the upper tunics allowing even more agilty.

There is no recorded historical evidence of the kilts as we know them today in Scotland before the late 1600s. Prior to that there was the garment they called the "feilidh-mahor" which was an extraodinary garment. It was made of two lengths of wool of variyng lengths between 8-10 yards which, being rather narrow (about 26") were sewn together to make a "blanket of plaid- or plain cloth usually wool" which doubled as a sleeping bag, carryall with pockets, and protection from the weather. At first these were loosely thrown around the body in anyway the wearer wanted to feel comfortable and tucked back in on themselves to fasten them on.

The next step in the evolution process was the adding of a belt to make the lower section more secure, and easier to adjust the length. It also allowed knives, swords etc to be carried on the belt. This meant that when the wearer went to sleep he would be lying in or on his plaid with his belt under the plaid wrap so when he arose in the morning it was simple to get to his feet after he had done up the belt and throw the top around him as necessary. What an easy way to get dressed !

At this time "tartan was a loose term applied to any cloth that had a stripe or shaded colour interlocking in a cross pattern. The name probably came from the French word "tiretaine" which was used to describe a woolen - linen mix material which could be dyed. Remember that in those days the Scottish and French were loosely united against the English so there was a certain exchange of culture. There are early examples of tiretaine one of which is estimated to be from 325 AD and in a recent excavation in Mongolia there were examples of Caucasians wearing tiretaine patterned clothing from 5,000 years ago.

The first known kilt with sewn in pleats is currently on display at the Scottish Tartans Museum of Franklin, NC and dates back to 1792. It is thought that the reason for making the plaid shorter was purely practical, and indeed there was an Englishman who owned a mill in Scotland and he realised that the workers were getting far too hot in their plaid wraps so he made the shorter kilts....they were not the first however as there were writings a short time earlier by some Irish who had hired some Highlanders and they had already altered their plaids into the shorter versions.

The concept that the old clans had their own tartans from ancient times is not true - logic would dictate that only in modern times could any number of tartan plaid wraps be made with identical patterns for the family, clan or army. Indeed what tartans were choosen by the wealthy were dictated by the dyes available and the cost. Usually dress plaid wraps were colourful and the fighting/hunting wraps were darker colours to blend with the braken and heather. The first commercial/industrial tartans were made by William Wilson & Sons of Bannockburn, who had mechanical looms and could standardise the patterns. Origionally these were identified by number but soon became named after those who purchased them and then laid claim to that colour pattern. Even back then there were slick salesmen who realised that the identification of clans could only do them good and it sort of snowballed into the concept that these tartans had been in the families since ancient times. A valid tartan can be 200 years old or 2 years old.

The end result of all this is that today's  kilt is a beautiful garment that can be worn anywhere and be perfectly acceptable. It is the dress uniform of numerous regiments within the Commonwealth including Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Today it is as fashionable for men to be married wearing a kilt as it is  to wear a kilt with a tee shirt or sweater, as we do, in a totally casual way.

(Above information gathered from Wikipedia and the writings of Matthew.A.C.Newsome, and paraphrased by Uni-kilt.com)

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