After OCRichard's latest post (he always uses lovely pictures, btw) I took another look at the Dress Regulations of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and I noticed something interesting.

In the photographs of the dress and mess uniforms it appears that the officers have sleeves much closer in length to that of a civilian suit jacket. The shirt cuffs rarely show, but the jacket sleeves look more contemporary. The sleeves on the jackets of the NCO's are a bit longer and those of the enlisted are nearly ridiculously long. Mess jackets, as previously mentioned by MacMIllan of Rathdowne are generally shorter than those of other uniforms. This seems relevant due to the fact that much of Highland dress, especially the more formal items seem to have evolved from Highland regimentals of the 18th and 19th centuries.

It still would be nice, I feel, if we could view an alternate timeline and see how civilian Highland dress would have developed without the Disarming Act. Perhaps the more modern forms will end up approximating that. That sort of speculation is one of the reasons I have thoroughly enjoyed the back and forth and give and take in this thread.

Regards,

Brian