Quote Originally Posted by Jock Scot View Post
I have no idea of the truth of how these things arrived, I doubt that anyone does, but at a guess, it was down to the personal fadds and fancies of the then C. O.'s of the individual Regiments, who thought it was a good idea at the time.The British Army is littered with such examples.
More often than not, this is exactly what happens. Even here in the US Department of Defense, we've gone through uniform changes simply because some dude or dudette entertained an idea that it was time for a change. I remember the older members of our US Air Force squadron lamenting undershirts. First, some guy thought that a crew-neck white shirt showing from under the uniform blouse was horrible. New policy: V-neck shirts only. Several years laters, some general (or rumored that it was actually his wife) thought that chest hair was more horrendous. New policy: Crew-neck shirts only.

I'd even hazard a guess that commanding officers made such decisions based on what they already have. "I've got diced Glens and metal-cantle sporrans, so that's what we're wearing." Golden rule. Whoever has the gold, makes the rules.