The Kilt
Whenever people from Scotland live in foreign countries, they are always asked: “Is Scotland that place where men wear skirts?” The short answer is yes, but there is more about the myths of Scottish “skirts.”
The “skirt” that Scotsmen (苏格兰男子) sometimes wear is called a kilt. It is part of the traditional dress of Scotland. The kilt is clearly very famous across the world. It seems that everybody has heard of it, and that most people have seen a picture of a man wearing one.
People’s knowledge and ideas about Scotsmen wearing these funny kilts come from films and television. Every time people from other countries ask about the kilt, they mention Mel Gibson’s film, Braveheart. In many countries, there are television programmes about Scotland. These programmes always include information or images of men in kilts.
Of course, in Scotland, you will often see the kilt. The reality is, though, that you will most commonly see it in tourist areas. The main streets and tourist areas of Scotland always have a Scotsman wearing a kilt and all tourist shops in the country sell kilts in different colours.
But kilts are not something that Scottish people see every day. Kilts are for special occasions, such as weddings, funerals and other big and important events. Scotsmen do not put on their kilt just to buy a bottle of milk and a loaf of bread at the local supermarket.
The reason for this may be that kilts are very expensive. When a man wears a kilt, he normally wears it with a special shirt, jacket, socks and shoes. This is obviously not cheap. In fact, an average kilt outfit(全套服装) costs around £500.