Sash on the left???

[plaid preacher]

I don't know that I can contribute to how a lady wears a sash. I would say this is governed by fashion and convention - but I'm sure someone will debate that.

As for the photos you shared, Tarheel, you unfortunately picked three members of the royal family all wearing the blue sash of the Royal Order of the Garter. Had you post pictures of three male members of the order you would find that they wear it in the same direction. The wearing of Orders, like the wearing of military medals, is very proscribed. I have a hunch that the sash of the Royal Order of the Garter is worn from left shoulder to right hip because at one point it was strictly male in members. Men tend to wear the sash from left shoulder to right hip because their baldric/sword belt is worn from right shoulder to left hip. To underscore this - or perhaps, confound it - here is a photo of the Toronto Scottish Regiment. The Officer, sword drawn, wears a sash from left to right; the Warrant Officer behind him wears the same sash in the opposite direction ...notice he does not have a sword, but a rifle.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pah57/4088498464

Orders from across Europe, worn by females, all worn in different directions, based on the order. This was an interesting study. http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.ca/2...and-stuff.html

So back to women's sashes, my hunch is that based on the above, and the fact that men used to wear a cross belt, which dictated sashes be worn left to right, to differentiate female from male, the direction was reversed.

Hope this helps....although there is a fair bit of speculation.

Regards.

Robert