The Day Plaid wrapped and pinned in Victorian era

[Stewart of Galloway]

EDIT: very uncommon, but I did find a Victorian photo of a gent wearing a plaid in the modern "day plaid" manner



What one generally sees is the traditional long plaid wrapped around the body:







sloppy ones





Here with a brooch. Note the plaid isn't gathered, but flat





Getting the plaid to look like it's on the bias was mentioned, here it is



The same was worn in the army. Here in 1855, note how loose the plaid is



By around 1900 the military piper's plaids had become more tightly wrapped, but no more precise



Contrasted with modern military plaids which are carefully pleated to the stripe, and the pleats sewn in

What a revelation these images are! Just goes to show how people can stylize a practical garment to become almost a parody of itself, no long really performing it's natural function. Pretty normal I guess but very liberating to see such a variety of plaid wearing styles! Thanks very much

[Tobus]

Getting the plaid to look like it's on the bias was mentioned, here it is

Hmm, he's actually wearing it opposite from the MacLeay examples. His is on the bias across the chest, with the draped portion seeming to be square (i.e. the tartan lines follow the drape). I want to do the opposite of that, as MacLeay painted: the portion across the chest having the tartan lines following the length, with the draped portion on the bias.

I'm thinking it may have to do with tucking one corner of the plaid either into an epaulet or under the rest of the plaid at the shoulder. That would get the fringe to cascade down, but it still wouldn't "turn" the tartan to a diagonal orientation. I'm stumped.

[Dale-of-Cedars]

Hmm, he's actually wearing it opposite from the MacLeay examples. His is on the bias across the chest, with the draped portion seeming to be square (i.e. the tartan lines follow the drape). I want to do the opposite of that, as MacLeay painted: the portion across the chest having the tartan lines following the length, with the draped portion on the bias.

I'm thinking it may have to do with tucking one corner of the plaid either into an epaulet or under the rest of the plaid at the shoulder. That would get the fringe to cascade down, but it still wouldn't "turn" the tartan to a diagonal orientation. I'm stumped.

I think you might have caught MacLeay in an inaccuracy; unless the end of the cloth is cut at an angle (unlikely?) any folding on a bias will not allow the pattern to be square with the length of the plaid. I would trust the photo, and that to get the angled fall it was necessary to fold/gather it up on an angle as well.

(Unless there is more going on with this plaid than meets the eye... the pattern is angled in the fall, but not across the chest)

[Tobus]

I think you might have caught MacLeay in an inaccuracy; unless the end of the cloth is cut at an angle (unlikely?) any folding on a bias will not allow the pattern to be square with the length of the plaid. I would trust the photo, and that to get the angled fall it was necessary to fold/gather it up on an angle as well.

(Unless there is more going on with this plaid than meets the eye... the pattern is angled in the fall, but not across the chest)

MacLeay had quite an eye for detail, judging by some of the finer points of his paintings. But the thing is, he didn't just do this in one of his paintings. I'd say that the majority of his Highlander portraits where plaids are worn around the chest are depicted like this. The tartan pattern is square/in-line with the cloth across the chest, but diagonal at the draped length with the fringed edge visibly coming down next to the arm, usually in a wavy manner. Here are a few more examples below. Either he got it wrong on all his paintings, or it was commonly worn this way. And as you can see, regardless of how the plaid is attached at the shoulder (or not), the draped end consistently appears diagonally with cascading fringe. There's got to be a trick to doing this.

[FossilHunter]

MacLeay had quite an eye for detail, judging by some of the finer points of his paintings. But the thing is, he didn't just do this in one of his paintings. I'd say that the majority of his Highlander portraits where plaids are worn around the chest are depicted like this. The tartan pattern is square/in-line with the cloth across the chest, but diagonal at the draped length with the fringed edge visibly coming down next to the arm, usually in a wavy manner. Here are a few more examples below. Either he got it wrong on all his paintings, or it was commonly worn this way. And as you can see, regardless of how the plaid is attached at the shoulder (or not), the draped end consistently appears diagonally with cascading fringe. There's got to be a trick to doing this.

A third option besides a mistake or an accurate representation of what he saw is artistic license. He may have felt that the way it looked in reality did not show the tartan to best effect and he painted it on the bias intentionally. That would explain why it is present in all the paintings of plaids.

[OC Richard]

I see now what Tobus is talking about.

Talk of catching MacLeay in an inaccuracy got me looking through my Victorian photos- so far what he shows has been supported by photos, and I'm something of a self-appointed Fidei Defensor.

Some photos showing at least a portion of the plaid that's visible on the diagonal







(Note the child/youth size crossbelt hardware)



Note on the one below and above a portion of the plaid is hanging vertically, part diagonal.



Too bad we can't see much of the plaid, but you can see the fringe at a strong angle



When I look at Victorian military men the bottom of the plaid is almost always at an angle. This varies from a slight angle to diagonal. Look at the Pipe Major on the far right, his plaid is nearly diagonal.



This is a nice clear view of a full plaid, note that at the front the bottom is horizontal but as it goes round the back it's diagonal; note the difference in height of the fringe front to back.

[Father Bill]

Wouldn't that be fairly easy to do if you picked the strip of tartan up at the side and attached it, thus making it drape diagonally?

I've tried it on some samples with good results. Most times, it seems to me, we're advised to attach it to our shoulders right across the strip of material rather than from one edge.