Plaid Brooch with the great kilt

[Luke MacGillie]

Didn't plain brooches come in after the great kilt became extinct? Weren't great kilts secured at the shoulder with a ribbon?

It always bugs me to see things like Outlander with huge Victorian "Gaelic Revival" brooches worn to secure 18th century great kilts.

Or the style of brooches worn hundreds of years, perhaps thousands of years, before the great kilt appeared in Scotland. (Iron Age brooches and the like.)

Throughout the Victorian era and even today, in the army, the so-called "drummers plaid" (actually worn by all Other Ranks, not just drummers) which sort of recreates the look of the old great kilt is held at the shoulder with a ribbon rather than a brooch. (Distinct from the belted plaid worn by officers from the retirement of the great kilt to today.)

The last vestige of the military great kilt, the plaid worn by ORs in Full Dress. Note there's no fringe and no brooch.

A Simply "Aye" just wasn't enough of a thanks for that photo!

[Luke MacGillie]

You can see a very similar treatment for plaid suspension on the image of Lord Loudoun when he was painted wearing the uniform of the 64th Regiment, Loudoun's Highlanders.

[MNlad]

Then again, if you are not looking for something historically accurate but well executed, it's hard to beat the work of Nagle Forge for the price. http://nagleforge.com/product-catego...laid-brooches/

[figheadair]

You can see a very similar treatment for plaid suspension on the image of Lord Loudoun when he was painted wearing the uniform of the 64th Regiment, Loudoun's Highlanders.

Ditto the portrait of Captain Ranald McKinnon, 84th Regt.

[Orvis]

When I was a member of a group that portrayed the 77th (Montgomery's) Highlanders in the F&I War, and a battalion company of the 42nd RHR during the American Revolution, I wore my belted plaid with a loop to fix over the shoulder strap button, rather than using a brooch or pin. Now, I portray a Jacobite Highlander of the Appin Regiment in 1745, and I usually use a bodkin to secure the top of my belted plaid to the left shoulder of my jacket/waistcoat, or across the chest (if wearing only a shirt). Most of the time around camp, I won't even secure the top of my plaid in the "up" position, but will let it hang down behind me over my waist belt.

Although 19th c. fancy plaid brooches and medieval penanular brooches are not authentic to the 18th c but are available inexpensively, I usually buy them only to get the brass or iron pin, which I use as a bodkin. Another suggestion for making your own bodkin is to use steel or brass double-ended knitting needles, one end of which can be bent under heat into a circular pattern (or similar). Again, fairly inexpensive. I've learned to avoid the blacksmith-made penanulars, since the pins on them are usually quite thick and also are twisted - both of which can damage the fabric of your plaid or jacket over time.