Observations About Wales:

From Travel To Business & Politics

first published in   June 2000

I enjoy a little peek of masculine thigh. If the Welsh kilt does indeed arrive, we’ll all be getting quite an eyeful. And, guys, don’t for a minute think a kilt does not offer good views, despite its mid-knee modesty. The best kilt is designed to swing fetchingly. Think of the nearly naughty refrain “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” Those words ain’t immortal without good reason.

Now, before you think Wales has its Millennial look all sewn up, here’s the needle: the kilt is coming on strongly as the fashion darling of the moment. Kilts are all over New York and London in fabrics that are traditional, and others that are far out (fake fur). They are in shops, they are in magazines. It has always seemed to me that by the time a magazine shows a fashion, the item’s credibility has already passed. Does this mean the time for Welshmen to show a little leg has also passed? Will the daring Cymro who shows his knees this summer be deemed a fashion victim? Out of step? Worse still, will the Welsh be seen as saying “me too” after their fashion-forward Celtic cousins in Scotland?

I was surprised to find that material among the Welsh on the matter of the Welsh kilt was in short supply. So I had to button hole a Scottish friend, who, it turns out, thinks it’s fitting that the Welsh are connecting with their ancient Celtic roots.

He did tuck in a thought, however, on whether the Welsh kilt could be a result of an English conference on trapping tourists. I assured him this could not be so. When was the last time a Welshman ever did something an Englishman suggested? When was the first time?

Let’s say the new Welsh kilt is actually adopted by men of fashion as well as Harlech. In that case I have one wee suggestion: that each wearer promise to maintain the courageous attitude of a Fusilier, if not necessarily the physique, while wearing his dashing new design.