Tattersall shirts

[Terry Searl]

I very much enjoy watching BBC Canada programs on the TV and especially dramas from the 1930's to the 1950's. Often on the shows I watch there are gentlemen of a, what might be called, for lack of a better term, country class and certainly from an older generation. Almost always these gentlemen are wearing waist coats with striped ties and "tattersall" shirts. When I first noticed this I thought to myself, By Golly those folk really do need help when picking out their day attire, heh! heh!....... To be honest I never knew that style of shirt had a name until I looked it up after hearing it referred to here, and mostly by Jock Scott, when he is advising us what is proper and what isn't in highland day wear attire.

At first, to me, Jock sounded like a bit of a curmudgeon, but I have softened that opinion to just Jock's way of expressing himself...... I still haven't come to the point where I would wear a tattersall shirt with a striped tie with my waist coats BUT I don't think any one who does wear such a shirt with a striped tie and waist coat needs help when choosing their day attire either

To me Jock is at one end of my spectrum on kilted daywear attire and those that choose a tee shirt, ordinary or scrunched down socks with boots, and wear their kilt at the same height as blue jeans and at their knees or below, are at the other end

I really want to thank Jock for his advice on how the kilt and day wear attire is worn in the Highlands. The more I see his advice in practice the more I agree with it .......not that my opinion matters to anyone except me.

I still haven't bought a tattersall shirt yet, although I do have a couple striped ties .....

Thanx for the advice Jock......I hope you all had a very nice Easter.......and please keep posting photos, as the old saying says " a photo is worth a thousand words"......cheers!

[Mike S]

Although I'm aware that your message is intended to reach beyond the subject of your title, I have to say that I love the Tattersall shirts with kilted daywear. Now finding a proper, British Tattersall via U.S. sources is quite the challenge unfortunately. I would imagine that such is not the case in the Great White North.

[tokareva]

Glad you brought this up Terry, I had never heard of tattersall either and I'm still trying to figure out what exactly it is. Some examples I found all seem to have one common trait , small to medium squares of the same or various colors. Is that right? Are these all tattersall shirts?








Edit: What about this one is it considered tattersall also? Seems like it might compete with the kilt tartan too much to me.Thanks.

[Bruce Scott]

Examples of tattersall shirts:

[Luke MacGillie]

I wear tattersall, or what I call check shirts almost exclusively. Check shirt being the 18th Century term, and my hold on the 21st Century is rather tenuous.

I like the Barbour tattersalls for winter. A light cotton flannel, I have pair of them, tan and maroon lines, not a button down.

I have a number of Arrow and Orvis tattersall's in linen and cotton that are lightweight and appropriate for even the hottest of days, but they almost all tend to be button down collars.

https://www.warwickshireclothing.com has a number of options, but I have only purchased a pair of plus 4's from them, not any of their shirting.

[Bruce Scott]

Some more (subtle) check options:


Gingham


Window Pane

[Profane James]

...with humble beginnings as a horse blanket cloth I believe?

[KiltedSergeant]

I have a few tattersall shirts that I wear with my kilts, but I always think they look best with a waistcoat. Is that just me?

[Hirsty]

An alternative name for Tattersall shirts in my semi-rural childhood home (Culross) was "country shirt". It was definitely a classless shirt worn by the upper-class, working class, and everyone in between but only if you worked in the country. Town folk didn't wear them.

[FossilHunter]

Glad you brought this up Terry, I had never heard of tattersall either and I'm still trying to figure out what exactly it is. Some examples I found all seem to have one common trait , small to medium squares of the same or various colors. Is that right? Are these all tattersall shirts?








Edit: What about this one is it considered tattersall also? Seems like it might compete with the kilt tartan too much to me.Thanks.

Where did you find that green shirt? I love it.