The Day Plaid wrapped and pinned in Victorian era

[Stewart of Galloway]

After reading the threads here about plaids and particularily the day or 'Laird's' plaid I began researching it for myself and I was surprised to discover that the day plaid in the past wasn't just hung, folded, over ones left shoulder.
Looking carefully at the wonderful paintings by Macleay on the STA website I noticed that 1. Day plaids at that time (1870) seem to have been commonly wrapped around the body with the fringes hanging front and back of the left shoulder
and 2. It appears that this arrangement was sometimes pinned/broached.

Now of course these days we say that only the fly plaid, the pipers or the drummers plaid are broached, and these three are also stitched and pressed and somewhat stylised.
However it is clear which gents are wearing one of these three.
There are a couple though that (to my eye) wear a loosely wrapped 'day' plaid that is also broached at the left shoulder.
No pressed pleats in the plaid, bunched and rounded and hanging as per the day plaids sans broach.

I rather like this day plaid look to tell the truth. Certainly the wrapped day plaid without a broach looks very proper with a traditional walking out outfit.
What do you gents and ladies think?

This painting is by Semple from 'The Scottish Tartan's' W & K Johnston Ltd , a gent from the late Victorian era I believe

[Arnot]

I like the look. I have a day plaid, but I haven't really worn it. I have used it quite a bit as a blanket, though. As it happens, I am making another one at the moment. I plan on using this one more as it will be better suited. It still won't be an everyday thing, though.

[Stewart of Galloway]

I like the look. I have a day plaid, but I haven't really worn it. I have used it quite a bit as a blanket, though. As it happens, I am making another one at the moment. I plan on using this one more as it will be better suited. It still won't be an everyday thing, though.

Yes, I am having a length of Old Stewart woven in the original Wilson's of Bannockburn thread colours and so I am getting enough to give me a good day plaid as well as my kilt. I have always thought the day plaid is a very practical plaid, a beautiful blanket really.
What I love about the painted characters is you get the sense that they live in these outfits (well, perhaps without their best sporrans 😀) and the plaid wrapped around them is just what you would do in icey wet Scottish weather. It approximates the belted plaid's 'plaid' in size and function.
I would wear it at a freezing Highland Games or walking in the Highland's away from modern tracksuit culture ha ha.
on a Laird's estate for instance, by Jove. Or whilst quietly having a Scots day at home listening to Piobroch's and reading Tartan history books.
I find the modern plaids very limited. Aside from playing in a full dress pipe band, at a very formal Highland ball or as a Bridegroom when does one wear them?
My wife is a 'cold frog' so I presume I will wrapping my day plaid about her and my kids more than myself 😀

[Arnot]

Your new kilt and plaid should be grand. The colours sound very nice.

Here is a photo of me with my plaid on my shoulder. Not folded very well unfortunately. It's not quite long enough to wrap around. The new one will be.

[Stewart of Galloway]

Your new kilt and plaid should be grand. The colours sound very nice.

Here is a photo of me with my plaid on my shoulder. Not folded very well unfortunately. It's not quite long enough to wrap around. The new one will be.

A great photo! You look very dapper indeed What tartan is that?
Something shocked me the other day, my kilt makers who are excellent, extremely experienced (40 years) and Scottish trained, have never made a Day Plaid! ( They make heaps of Fly, Piper's and Drummer's plaids).
They hadn't even heard of it until I explained. Blew me out, it just shows how far we have fallen ha ha. I have that book from the 40's I mentioned above and every third Scotsman has a day plaid. Not just Laird's by any means.
Anyhow it's very cool that you have one and are getting another one made. It's good to please yourself in this world and wear what you wish and what suits your taste.
I love the cosy down to earth practicality of the Day Plaid. Cheers!

[Arnot]

A great photo! You look very dapper indeed What tartan is that?
Something shocked me the other day, my kilt makers who are excellent, extremely experienced (40 years) and Scottish trained, have never made a Day Plaid! ( They make heaps of Fly, Piper's and Drummer's plaids).
They hadn't even heard of it until I explained. Blew me out, it just shows how far we have fallen ha ha. I have that book from the 40's I mentioned above and every third Scotsman has a day plaid. Not just Laird's by any means.
Anyhow it's very cool that you have one and are getting another one made. It's good to please yourself in this world and wear what you wish and what suits your taste.
I love the cosy down to earth practicality of the Day Plaid. Cheers!

Thanks. The tartan is MacKenzie in weathered colours.

It's strange that they had never made a day plaid. If they made a pipers plaid, they should have gone through the steps to make a day plaid on the way through the process of making the piper's plaid. That's what I do anyway. First, I make what amounts to a day plaid. Then I pleat/baste the length of it. I then press it. When it's dry from pressing, I put 7-8 sets of stitches cross-ways. I remove the basting and then put stitches down the crease of the loose pleats. The loose pleats get a few rows of basting to hold it together until the customer receives it. So, actually, I'm not getting another one made. I'm making it myself as I did the first one.

[Stewart of Galloway]

Your new kilt and plaid should be grand. The colours sound very nice.

Here is a photo of me with my plaid on my shoulder. Not folded very well unfortunately. It's not quite long enough to wrap around. The new one will be.

I just realised that you are the gent who posted the excellent 'how to' about making your day plaid. I am going to refer a lot to it when I have mine made.
What length of single width tartan do you need to make a plaid that will wrap around and hang well front and back?

[figheadair]

I just realised that you are the gent who posted the excellent 'how to' about making your day plaid. I am going to refer a lot to it when I have mine made.
What length of single width tartan do you need to make a plaid that will wrap around and hang well front and back?

No, that was a thread by Tobus - Making a Day Plaid (Laird's Plaid) - Tutorial He's a Colquhoun - pistols at dawn I should imagine.

[Arnot]

I just realised that you are the gent who posted the excellent 'how to' about making your day plaid. I am going to refer a lot to it when I have mine made.
What length of single width tartan do you need to make a plaid that will wrap around and hang well front and back?

I use 3 to 3 1/2 meters of double width.

[Pleater]

One year when attending Sidmouth Folk Festival which is a week long camping expedition, it was very wet. It didn't just rain, it poured.
Luckily I had several wool kilts and a couple of long plaids as I found I overheated underneath waterproofs, so I decided that I would just get wet.

A couple of times I was in pubs - where the sessions were held and see steam rising in the mirrors - it was me drying off.
The long plaid can be opened up and wrapped around, completely enclosing me - I am 5ft 5 - just, and wet wool becomes more windproof than it was when dry.

Several times I arrived back at the van soaked to the skin late at night broke out a change of clothes, hung up the wet ones and then drove to the campsite. By the time I arrived I was perfectly warm and could go to sleep with no danger of the bedding getting wet. Others were trying to keep warm in soaking sleeping bags.

I secured the plaid with a cord around both layers on my left shoulder and tied on the right side, not pulled so tight that it was all bunched up, it needed to be able to spread out in ordinary style or swiftly deployed when the rain started.

It was certainly rather testing, and rather than waiting for Saturday morning to go home I set off after the fireworks on the Friday night and arrived home in the small hours. Of course the weather changed to brilliant sunshine on Saturday morning and I managed to bleach one of the plaids slightly when drying it out.

Tunic, kilt and plaid certainly proved to be a practical outfit for moving around in bad weather. I did have some berets with me too - large enough to get all my hair into so stopping that nasty cold trickling down the back sensation.
There were several quite bad cases of hypothermia amongst those wearing jeans that week.