RE: Kilts and Trewsers: Sense and Seasonality

From: (nil)
Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2005 11:39:25 -0000


John:
> In other words, perhaps we should drop these arguments from
> authority and source text fundamentalism and concentrate on
> the perspective of the people who wear them. Or don't :)

Yes, quite...

> 6. What people really wear is determined by what's available,
> what's clean,
> what's more comfortable when it gets wet, what has the least
> holes and who
> they want to impress as much as any other consideration.

Yes!!!

And that sort of consideration doesn't change much with time. We've all tried this stuff, haven't we? (Well, maybe some of the blokes haven't tried long skirts - do. Just not for very long.)

We wear shorts in summer and trousers in winter, because that makes sense. If you want to run around a lot, you wear trousers, not skirts, because it's more effective. Leaving legs bare is the lowest possible risk of getting clothes caught on brambles and so on, but it does leave you open to scratches and getting cold.

Long skirts keep your legs warm, but get in the way of just about anything. And take a lot more fabric than trousers. The only advantage to them I know of is to do with ease of using toilet facilities in primitive conditions (I won't go into details, but think about it). Never mind fighting, if you're working near a fire, you're always in danger of trailing skirts going in it.

And skirts of any length *over* trousers are an extreme case of keeping warm while rendering yourself immobile. The longer, the more extreme, of course. Yes, I have once worn wool trousers and a full petticoat and wool dress, because the castle I was in was ** freezing, but you couldn't do anything much like that.


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