THE ORIGIN OF THE KILT

There appears to be a recent fashion trend among modern day rappers of wearing kilts. The look has become quite popular & has been sported by the likes of Kanye West, Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa to name a few.

According to Wikepedia The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands. Since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic (and more specifically Gaelic) heritage even more broadly. It is most often made of woollen cloth in a tartan pattern.

Some say the use of kilts dates as far back as 1879. Tribes would lose battles because its warriors thought kilted Scots leading a British army were women & held their fire until realizing their mistake too late. This brought me back to a conversation that I had a few months ago, where I was shown a picture of the South African people of Pedi. It was of a group of dancers, where the men wore what appeared to be what we know as 'kilts'! This was a major surprise to me & I took it upon myself to do a bit of research. I came across an article from the LA Times which talks about BROEDERSTROOM, traditional South African dancers who dance to drums and whistles. It has been argued that kilts were adopted under British colonial rule however could the Pedi people be the originators of the kilt?

by Gwendoline. M