My friend Brandy has had a long love affair with Scotland. When she heard about T.S.W. yesterday she emailed me the following. It is posted with her kind permission.

I would argue that an all-purpose suit (of some form) already does exist – the kilt! So many functions: it acted as a family crest, an identifying uniform, a blanket to keep you warm, a makeshift shelter in bad weather, a shield to protect you in attack (it was sometimes made out of leather or canvas). You could wear it for a formal occasion, a ramble through the wild, or in combat (the Black Watch regiment were nicknamed The Ladies from Hell!). And it let you trample through boggy moors & wade through rivers without impediment. Of course I’m talking about the olden day kilt here – the gigantic swath of fabric that they expertly wrapped around themselves, not the pre-cut ‘skirt’ form.

And there’s lots of political intrigue with the kilt too…it was such a powerful symbol that the English banned its wear after the Jacobite uprisings as part of their effort to crush the Scots. And then King George IV had the nerve to show up in Scotland wearing one! The drama of it all…

Image credit: kiltmakers