Belted Evening Plaid

[David Thorpe]

I am very much interested in learning the proper construction and wearing of a belted evening plaid. The late Scotty Thompson included some material in an Appendix to So You're Going to Wear the Kilt, but I was unable to completely understand parts of his rather sparse instructions.

I am confident that I can do the belted end and fringe the sides. It is the tab/fringe knot end which has me confused, in both the sewing and wearing aspects.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Mr.Charles Anthony]

Mr.Thorpe;
The Thompson book is- to be candid- out of date & made for a time long gone. I think it safe to say, ignore the book.
As to the little I know of the subject, the Evening Plaide can be worn just 'as is', the fringe & frippries are NOT Required. After all the Evening Plaide is just a reminder & remmant of the top half of the old Great Kilt. Check over to the Matt Newsome website, via the Scottish Tartans Museum, I know he has everything you could ask for on the subject.
As Ever
CSAnthony

[Chas]

Not quite understanding - do you mean a fly plaid?

Regards

Chas

[David Thorpe]

Not quite understanding - do you mean a fly plaid?

No, not a fly plaid. The belted evening plaid is like a drummer's plaid. The bottom is pleated and has a small belt or strap attached which is fastened at the waist and drapes down a bit (below the jacket hem) before coming up over the back of the shoulder where it is attached (somehow) at the jacket shoulder strap, and brooched forward and below that. The construction and attachment at the shoulder strap is what has me hung up. So far, I have been unable to find understandable explanation.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

If you will email/pm me your address I will loan you one of my belted plaids.

For what it's worth, the first time I saw a fly plaid it was being worn by gentlemen performing an exhibition of Scottish Country Dancing back in the mid 1960s. At the time I thought the fly plaids looked for all the world like small tartan table cloths pinned to their shoulders, an opinion I still hold almost a half century later.

[David Thorpe]

I appreciate your kind and generous offer. Encountering a true gentleman is made more pleasurable by its increasing rarity these days.

I agree with your assessment of the fly plaid -- a step too far in simplification and economy at the expense of tradition, IMHO.

My research continues. I have found some helpful vintage photos, photos of drummers and some related texts, including some Xmarks archives of several years ago. I think I'm getting the gist of the construction and proper wear.

I don't know if I will ever have the occasion to actually wear one. I don't travel in aristocratic or diplomatic circles, and at this point, the most formal thing I own is a black argyle jacket, converted from a suit coat. It is more a matter of insatiable curiosity -- nice to know rather than a necessity.

[Steve Ashton]

David,

I have one of these in my shop and will take some photos for you tomorrow.

[David Thorpe]

Thank you, Steve. Remarkable... two gentlemen in a single thread.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Not wishing to contradict you, but by my count I make it four gentlemen.

[Standard]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but Matt Newsome has an article on his blog about plaids. http://kiltmaker.blogspot.com/2008/0...ats-plaid.html