The (Not So) Naked Truth: What do Scotsmen Wear Under Their Kilts?

While images of Mel Gibson-led Scottish soldiers lifting their kilts to wave their bare backsides at the opposing English army in the 1995 film "Braveheart" led many around the world to fear the Scottish kilt in more ways than one, a new YouGov poll has found that almost two-thirds of Scottish kilt wearers actually wear something underneath their garment, with less than 40 percent going "commando."

Of the Scottish kilt wearers surveyed, 62 percent said they usually wear either underwear or shorts when wearing a kilt, with 38 percent saying they didn't wear anything underneath to cover up their crown jewels.

​While still a healthy number of Scotsmen brave the weather and reject undergarments, the poll also seemed to dispel a few myths that the majority Scots go commando when in their traditional dress.

Independence or Underwear: Yes or No?

Reading further into the findings, a few interesting trends were revealed by kilt-wearing Scots.

While kilt wearing (and the debate over whether to wear underwear or not) has in the past been tied to Scottish national identity and the concept of the "true Scotsman," it seems pro-independence Scots were much more likely to wear nothing underneath.

​The poll found that 45 percent of those who voted "Yes" in the 2014 Scottish referendum, preferred to go commando, compared to only 32 percent of "No" voters, while the survey also found that young and older Scots were less likely to risk a wardrobe malfunction and wear a kilt solo compared to those aged between 25-64.

​Regardless of what goes on underneath, it seems the wearing of kilts is overwhelmingly popular in Scotland, with the survey showing that 9 in 10 Scottish women thought it was an attractive look.

Ninety percent of respondents also agreed that kilts were an important part of Scottish heritage, with many saying they wore kilts during special occasions such as weddings.