I suppose there was a time when you would always assume a bearded man in a skirt was a Scotsman of some sort. Now, however hirsute the chap may be, your first thought could be: It's a guy who thinks he's a girl. That just seems to be the going idea these days.
Looking way back, however, history had lots of men in skirt or "skort" outfits or the like. For example:
Ancient Egypt: Everyone wore the shendyt, a skirt-like wraparound loincloth. Couldn't tell the girls from the guys by the clothes. I guess you could look at their chests.
Ancient Rome: Lots of long tunics, belted or not, or the toga virilis, a very manly, masculine sort of working toga, not a dress at all. Still no pants on the horizon.
Greece, 6th century BC: First pants spotted. That is, not that they were decorated with spots; they emerged for use by horsemen around this time, as reported by Greeks. Eventually pants would become a land-office business.
Scotsmen, 1700s: Started back up with the skirts early in the century. Theory has emerged that they just were waiting for someone to make a remark so they could kick some ass.
Then we move into the modern era. Men in skirts included:
1950s: Scotsmen, Milton Berle
1960s: Scotsmen, normal men turned into Scotsmen by aliens
1970s: Scotsmen, Benny Hill
1980s: Scotsmen, New Wave bands, professional transvestites
2020s: Scotsmen, TikTok influencers, many others
I'm going to stick with pants, personally. No skirts for me. I look bad enough in shorts as it is. And considering what a hash I made of learning to play the recorder in grammar school, there is no way I can ever play the bagpipes. It would take an invasion by alien blancmanges to make that happen.
1 comment:
Matronly tourist to Scots Guard: "Hee hee, is anything worn under that kilt?"
Scots Guard: "No ma'am, it's all in perfect working order."
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