why did the scottish start wearing kilts, when it seems no other nations did?

Answer 1

Thats not strictly true. The Irish also wore kilts.

Answer 2

From what I know, the progenitor of the Scottish Kilt, was a long tunic belted at the waist, worn almost all over the UK - I think this is based on Roman descriptions of the natives. In Ireland and Scotland it evolved over time and in modern times the Irish have largely lost it as a traditional dress.

However in Scotland it became the "Great Kilt" - that is a 9-yard swathe of wool (tartan came in much later), rucked up and belted around the waist with the remainder above the waist thrown over the shoulder (the plaid). For reivers and herdsmen and cottars who would regularly have to sleep in the open, it doubled up as a blanket and all-weather cover as well as clothes.

In the Jacobean upheaval, it became an identifying mark of the Stuart supporters and clan-tartan started to come in, which is why it, along with bagpipes was banned in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden, and when many Scots were thrown off their land and the clan-system destroyed.

In Victorian times the whole thing was highly romanticised and the kilt & pipes were brought back as part of a revival (along the lines of Celtic revival in Ireland in the last decade), and the modern kilt was born.

So the answer to your question is - out of expediency and because it worked for them - but the reason no other nation has it (apart from Ireland and other GB pockets) is cos it died out elsewhere, not because no-one else thought of it.

Answer 3

Tartan is a common style of patterning across the world, and especially in ancient Celtic societies. Tartan patterns are known from European antiquity from places such as Spain, France, Romania and even Turkey. However, during the ancient (Roman) period, there is no evidence that the inhabitants of what is now Scotland wore tartan.
Other peoples who used tartan include Indo-Europeans living in western China in the 2nd Millenium BC, the Sumerians living in Modern Iraq in the 4th and 3rd millenia BC and the inhabitants of modern Peru and Equedor in the 16th century AD.
Scotish tartans originate in the dark ages. Clans started to use tartan patterns as part of their outward self-identification. This process was given extra impetus by the Irish invasion of Scotland (by a tribe called the Scots, who give the country its modern name) and the Vikings, all of whom formed identity groups that came to use their own tartans. However, no one wore kilts during this period, instead they used the tartan cloth as a cloak, or a wrap reminescent of the Roman toga. Tartan kilts had been used in ancient Spain, but not in medieval Scotland.
The use of tartan in Scotland was banned after the second Jacobite rebelion in the 18th century. This coincided with the begining of the depopulation of the Scotish Highlands by landowners from the lowlands and from England. Queen Victoria was responsible for the reinvention and reinstatement of tartan as part of the Scotish national dress. She ensured that tartan was made legal once again, and encouraged Scots to wear kilts, an essentially new invention which imitated to some extend the toga like dress of Scotish tradition. The kilt was given its modern form by being used as part of the uniform of Scotish regiments, such as the Black Guard. English tourists and landowners in Scotland encouraged the wearing of kilts, and Scotish nationalists were quick to take up the tradition, since it was, after all, based on their own history.
You will notice that the kilt today is only a part of Scotish male 'national dress' that also includes a jacket (usually black) long white socks, a cap, a Sporran (fur pouch which hangs in front of the groin) and a small knife in the sock. This style of dress is based around the uniform of Scotish regiments, devised by English officers during the nineteenth century, although its essential elements are to an extent traditionally scotish.

The modern kilt is as much an English as a Scotish invention, though the patterns and the essential concept is traditionally Scotish and dates from the dark ages and the medieval period.

Answer 4

The Greeks certainly wear kilts of a type.

Answer 5

Usual bloody little englanders on here showing their low IQ's and inability to command the language.
For they are the Nigels.
And we should keep laughing at them.
But the kilt?
It is a derivative of the Highland plaid and is, in essence, part of a British military uniform.
The plaid however is closer to a toga, with no stitching but held in place with a belt and a brooch.

But the usual English stupidity will be encountered here.
They can't help themselves.
Being stupid is part of the culture.

Answer 6

I think you will find that the Geordies first wore the Kilt. And many tribes of Londinum wore a version of the Kilt. Also it was not the scots who invented the pipes, but they're origins were to be found in the folk music of the Northern England and Ireland.

Answer 7

If you check costume history you will see that the Scots had the 'kilt', but other cultures, even some continue into modern time, had skirtlike dress for men, e.g., the Greeks, the Romans,etc.

Answer 8

The kilt is a relatively new invention...Probably about 18th century at the earliest!

Other countries wore wraps, togas or whatever (ancient Greece, Rome, etc). Scotland was no different.

Answer 9

Thats not true at all - I'm Welsh and there is a Welsh kilt or "Cilt" as we spell it as there is no "k" in the Welsh alphabet.

Its recently had a revival with lots of Welsh tartan shops opening up and Welsh men hiring cilts for their weddings.

My BF is English though so I doubt he'd wear one! LOL!

Answer 10

That is not correct, many other nations used that kind of clothing. I found some very interesting web pages on this subject, but they are too big to be posted here. But here are the links:

http://albanach.org/kilt.html
http://albanach.org/kilt.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilt
http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/scottish/