Thoughts on "Jaunty" Glengarry Angle?

[Stoneyburnpiper]

Thanks I'll give this a look. Thanks for this link

[Stoneyburnpiper]

That was a good link as well. But my curiosity would be this scenario. A civilian piper in this case wanting to wear no1 dress with either a band setting or personal gig ie wedding, funeral so on and so forth. Would there be a "said"rules to follow? I mean no disrespect to our brothers in arms or to the uniform itself. Of course one wouldn't want to look completely miss dressed (your not going to wear a feather bonnet with a t-shirt that says I heart bagpipes). But you could wear diced hose, let's say blue and white with spats and not the red/white or red/black or red/green. A horse hair sporran a pipers plaid & doublet, and choice of head gear between a balmoral, glen & feather bonnet?

I get get that a lot would rather not go this dressed due to comfort/cost of uniform. But in my mind you are displaying pride to heritage, serviceman, queen and country. So how could one do wrong with dressing like this?

This is maybe should be its own thread, but it got my wheels spinning looking at the links ith:

[PiperOfThePlains]

That was a good link as well. But my curiosity would be this scenario. A civilian piper in this case wanting to wear no1 dress with either a band setting or personal gig ie wedding, funeral so on and so forth. Would there be a "said"rules to follow? I mean no disrespect to our brothers in arms or to the uniform itself. Of course one wouldn't want to look completely miss dressed (your not going to wear a feather bonnet with a t-shirt that says I heart bagpipes). But you could wear diced hose, let's say blue and white with spats and not the red/white or red/black or red/green. A horse hair sporran a pipers plaid & doublet, and choice of head gear between a balmoral, glen & feather bonnet?

I get get that a lot would rather not go this dressed due to comfort/cost of uniform. But in my mind you are displaying pride to heritage, serviceman, queen and country. So how could one do wrong with dressing like this?

This is maybe should be its own thread, but it got my wheels spinning looking at the links ith:

I say this for pipers: Aside from this being non-related to the original post; my opinions regarding No. 1 dress are fairly straight forward.
Feather Bonnet/Glengarry*/Balmoral* {*use cock feather hackle}
Pipers' Doublet
Crossbelt
Pipers' plaid and plaid brooch
Kilt (Duh.)
Belt
Dirk {Optional}
Horsehair sporran
Diced hose {in the colour of your preference}
Flashes
Sgian Dubh
Buckle*/Ghillie Brogues**/black polished shoes*** {*Buckle brogues are not worn with spats. [**/***Ghillies and or black polished shoes are always worn with spats. ]}
Spatoons {See above}

I personally prefer when pipers wear glens/Balmorals with buckle brogues and no spats and feather bonnets with spats.
Just my totally-not-related two cents.

[OC Richard]

That was a good link as well. But my curiosity would be this scenario. A civilian piper in this case wanting to wear no1 dress with either a band setting or personal gig ie wedding, funeral so on and so forth. Would there be a "said"rules to follow?

What I suppose you mean is the military-style full dress as worn by civilian pipers and pipe bands.

This has long been done! In the early days of civilian pipe bands many wore pretty much the same uniform as their military counterparts. Other civilian pipe bands wore what corresponds to our modern civilian Evening Dress.

In studying vintage photographs it's often difficult to distinguish military pipers from civilian pipers. Not only are they wearing the same sorts of things, the things themselves were made by precisely the same firms!

For example Thomas Gordon & Son, Glasgow, made identical doublets for the military and civilian markets, the only difference being the buttons (each regiment having unique buttons).

About 'rules', well, I would call them 'norms' or 'traditions' rather than rules, when it comes to civilians. But well-dressed civilian pipers have always more or less followed the military in matters of how to wear things. Seeing a civilian piper or pipe band wearing feather bonnets, doublets, plaids, etc, but wearing them sloppily, looks terrible.

There's a touchy matter about civilians wearing military badges etc, apparently more touchy here in the USA than in Scotland, which I say because civilian pipe bands in Scotland have always worn military tartans and badges without apparent complaint. For example, a Scottish civilian pipe band which often performs at the Braemar Gathering, with Royalty in attendance, wears the uniform of The Gordon Highlanders (wearing their tartan and badges), and Prince Charles, who was Colonel-in-Chief of The Gordon Highlanders, apparently never had any objections.

Here they are, in the front file... note the feather bonnet of the Pipe Major is an Argylls' one (of course the piper of the Gordons haven't worn feather bonnets in a very long time)



Here's yours truly, in the uniform of a band I used to play in back around 1980 which also based our uniform on that of the Gordons, but also (incorrectly) wore feather bonnets. We did many things correctly, such as the red & white hose (our drummers wore red & black) and the black buttons on the spats, but we did some odd things such as having Black Watch style ribbons on our kilts, for sergeants, the Pipe Major, and the Drum Major.



Here's an actual piper of the Gordons in 1955

[PiperOfThePlains]

OC, thanks for your input! Great pictures too! What exactly do you meant by "correctly wearing the feather bonnet", though? I haven't heard much about feather bonnet wearing; so I just assume they're worn like a glen or Balmoral, only straight atop the head or is there a major difference?

[Stoneyburnpiper]

Thanks Richard! Very well stated. Love the pics. That's also the first time I think I've seen the ribbons on kilts. Sharp outfit, I notice the pipe majors doublet is also more decked out with the braiding

[OC Richard]

What exactly do you meant by "correctly wearing the feather bonnet", though?

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I didn't mean that they were wearing them in an incorrect manner, I meant that it is incorrect to be wearing feather bonnets at all, if wearing uniforms copied from The Gordon Highlanders, because their pipers didn't wear them.

The only Highland regimental pipers to wear feather bonnets in the modern period are those of The Black Watch. The pipers of the Argylls, Gordons, Seaforths, and Camerons did not wear them.

[OC Richard]

first time I think I've seen the ribbons on kilts.

Of the Highland regiments, soldiers of the rank of sergeant and above wore ribbons in the Black Watch



and wore an embroidered panel with rosettes in the Argylls.



The Gordons did not wear ribbons, which is why it's an 'incorrect' thing on my uniform up there.

the pipe majors doublet is also more decked out with the braiding

In all Scottish regiments, I believe, the Pipe Major and Drum Major wear doublets with 1/2 inch gold lace (the British term, braid is the American term) around the collar, cuffs, and skirts. (The exception being the Scots Guards, in which the Pipe Major's doublet has silver lace around collar, down the front, and halfway down the front skirts.)

Here are the Pipe Major and Drum Major of the Argylls, the only two men in the regiment to wear these fully laced doublets, I believe