Fashions at the 2019 World Pipe Band Championships

[OC Richard]

just out of curiosity, what was the de facto standard prior to the 80's 'uniform'?

It was a period in flux.

The civilian pipe band thing got big starting around 1900, and then there were two looks bands went with

1) Military-style full dress. This was the piper's costume introduced in the Cameron Highlanders in the 1840s which by the time of the 1881 reforms had become general throughout the army. It still defines "military style full dress" today.

2) Civilian Evening Dress. This, like all civilian Highland Dress, went through changes in the 1910-1930 period which brought it from the typical Victorian civilian Highland costume to our familiar 20th century Highland costume.

This was the situation with civilian pipe bands up into the post-WWII period.

WWII had a temporary impact on pipe band costume, with many bands adopting versions of the Battle Dress jacket (or Ike jacket as we call it in the USA) in the 1940s and 1950s.

But in the main civilian pipe band costume really hadn't changed much up into the 1970s when I joined my first band, with bands wearing Evening Dress or military-style full dress.

In the 1970s bands started simplifying their costume. A typical 70s costume might include

-Prince Charlie coatee
-Balmoral bonnets, or even hatless (it was a time of big hair)
-bow ties or long ties (yes long ties with Prince Charlies, it was a thing)
-Evening Dress sporrans
-heavy cream-coloured hand-knit Aran hose
-Ghillie brogues

The latter were actually new to the pipe band world; before the 1970s it was either spats, or buckled Evening Dress shoes with full tartan hose.

It was around that time that bands started going to the black Argyll jackets as an alternative to Prince Charlies.

So before pipe band dress became standardised around the 1980s you would still see bands in Evening Dress and military-style Full Dress and bands with the newer costume with the Aran hose, Ghillies, etc.

Civilian pipe band in Evening Dress, early 20th century



Civilian pipe band in military-style Full Dress, competing at the 1980s Worlds.



The changing fashions: Canadian pipe bands in 1976





In the early 1980s Scottish Grade One bands like Shotts and Boghall are appearing in the new costume of

-black Argyll
-long tie
-black Glengarry
-Ghillie brogues
-off-white hose

and by the end of the decade this costume had become the new standard.

In 1984 RUC was still competing in Full Dress, said to be among the last holdouts.

About the "when" of white hose, the 1970s was the start.

About the end of the white hose era, the number of G1 bands wearing white at various points:

2006: 11 of 14
2014: 3 of 14
2018: zero