Styles of kilt wear

Kilt worn with the Argyll jacket, and belt.

Today most Scotsmen regard the kilt as formal dress or ceremonial national dress. Although there are still a few people who wear the kilt daily, it is generally owned or hired to be worn at weddings or other formal occasions, much the same way as top hat and tails are in England or tuxedos in America, and may be worn by anyone regardless of nationality or descent. For formal wear, the kilt is usually worn with a Prince Charlie or an Argyll jacket. (Commercial suppliers have now produced equivalent jackets with Irish and Welsh themed styling.)

The kilt is also used for parades by groups such as the Scouts, and in many places the kilt is seen in force at Highland games and pipe band championships as well as being worn at Scottish country dances and ceilidhs.

Certain regiments/units of the British Army and armies of other Commonwealth nations (including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) still continue to wear the kilt as part of dress or duty uniform, though they have not been used in combat since 1940. Uniforms in which the kilt is worn include Ceremonial Dress, Service Dress, and Barracks Dress. The kilt is considered appropriate for ceremonial parades, office duties, less formal parades, walking out, mess dinners, and classroom instruction/band practice. Ceremonial kilts have also been developed for the U.S. Marine Corps, and the pipe and drum bands of the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Air Force.

In recent years, the kilt has also become increasingly common in Scotland and around the world for casual wear, for example with the Jacobite shirt. It is not uncommon to see the kilt worn at Irish pubs in the US, and it is becoming somewhat less rare to see them in the workplace.[4] Casual use of the kilt dressed down with lace-up boots or moccasins, and with tee shirts or golf shirts, is becoming increasingly more familiar at Highland Games. The kilt is associated with a sense of Scottish national pride and will often be seen being worn, along with a football top, when members of the Tartan Army are watching a football or rugby match. The small ornamental Sgian Dubh dagger is often omitted where security concerns are paramount (for example, they are not allowed on commercial aircraft). For the same reasons, the traditional Sgian Dubh is sometimes substituted by a wooden or plastic alternative, as its use is now largely ornamental (with only the hilt showing over the top of the hose).