Menswear Mondays : The Scottish Kilt

I took a road trip to Scotland last weekend with my siblings for my brother's marathon run in Inverness. We went SO far up North, we were literally in the clouds you see halo-ing the mountains! This is a bit of a quirky post as not many men will nod at the appeal of donning a kilt, but I LOVED spotting the bag-pipers hooting away, briskly strolling across the fields in different coloured kilts. Its near impossible to visit Scotland & not  get wrapped up in its culture, so for the purposes of this post, the kilt symbolises a man's embrace of his cultural roots.

Turban (actually a pashmina/scarf) : Market (Manchester?) | Shirt : Blanco (Gran Canaria) | Kilt (actually a Skirt) : Thrifted | Brogues : New Look

Having a lot of guy friends from different parts of the world, I've learned that the most fascinating conversations (...debates....arguments....ok, sometimes it turns into a full-on verbal brawl) are held by those whose roots are deeply embedded in their culture. The wealth of knowledge that's bred with such native awareness is entrancing to most women. Speaking to a few older ladies of late, it seems that we are members of a lost generation. As fortunate as some may view migrants from a 3rd world to a western country, the disadvantage of this is the wash that comes with it. Like the natural springs we spotted along the motorway to Scotland, it seems the purest remains at the source.

However, the dumb few have interpreted having a rich cultural background as being equivalent to thumping one's chest and dismissing the woman to the kitchen *hmph*. Men seem to have forgotten chivalry, courting and all that richness that also trails with having a strong cultural background. Yes, a woman may be impressed when a man chimes out his native culinary dish, but taking it that step further and expecting her to jump at the chance at preparing it, JUST to please a man, is somewhat archaic (in my perspective). Having witnessed one too many tales of female heartbreaks at the clumsiness of 'cultured' men, I am forced to question its appeal. Yes, who isn't attracted to a man with a diverse 'interest' list on his social CV, stretching beyond "jamming to grime in my yard" and whatnot? Its highly comical watching chics who still crawl around waste-men, or entertain sleazy pavement movements...but the contrast to that is somewhat daunting.

My culture's equivalent of a kilt is a wrapper, and its touching visiting the village and spotting elders sporting them. Sadly, Igbo men in the UK are far removed from that, and barely don such attires to big events, talk less of on a casual outing. Unlike other cultures, Igbo is thought to be on the list of Top 10 languages to go extinct in the next 10 years....heartbreaking. As heart-wrenching as the thought of a loss of cultural identity is, I'm somewhat pleased that flushed with it goes the Igbo-man's misogynist perspective. What would be great would be a marriage of the two. Quite like the kilt is paired with contemporary shirts on the top-half, I'd love to see more men with a mix of Igbo cultural heritage and an embrace of modern Western life.

Onyxsta says...BLEURGH!! Disregard of cultural heritage is plagued by guilt, so time to embrace your roots with your equivalent of a kilt. Xisses