The Highland Subaltern

[OC Richard]

the kilt worn with braces and without straps; retained by pins.

As far as I know the early "little kilt" or philabeg was held in place by blanket pins.

Peter MacDonald would know.

I do believe some surviving early kilts have evidence of being repeatedly pinned.

It's difficult to trace the history of kilt fastenings through Victorian photographs because men very rarely appeared in kilts in shirtsleeves.

There's this famous photo. If a high resolution version were to be examined it might be seen whether there are straps or buckles, however it doesn't tell us that these might not have been added later.



I put together this collage of the only photos I've seen showing kilted men in shirtsleeves. The highest-resolution versions of each might be found and examined, to see what tale they tell.