"Viking Style" Brouge lacing?

[Ivor]

What sparked this discussion really was viewing this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=hvHeTArCnYQ - showing groups of Scottish country dancers of which the majority of the men taking part are obviously wearing the dreaded white socks. This raises an obvious question as to what is right or does it just boil down to a matter of personal choice?

[Jock Scot]

What sparked this discussion really was viewing this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=hvHeTArCnYQ - showing groups of Scottish country dancers of which the majority of the men taking part are obviously wearing the dreaded white socks. This raises an obvious question as to what is right or does it just boil down to a matter of personal choice?

Well, yes it is personal choice, but.........

In my youth, some 8 decades ago, we were taught the difference between civilian kilt attire, military kilt attire, band kilt attire and entertainers kilt attire. When seen like that and understood, it was/is easy to differentiate one from another. It still holds true today.


I have just looked at the video that was mentioned here and bearing in mind the above, my instant thought is that these people are entertainers, and are dressed in this case for dancing. Therefore they are not dressed in traditional civilian kilt attire and should not be used as an an example of THCD. These people in the video are attired perfectly for their activity, entertaining.

[FossilHunter]

What sparked this discussion really was viewing this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=hvHeTArCnYQ - showing groups of Scottish country dancers of which the majority of the men taking part are obviously wearing the dreaded white socks. This raises an obvious question as to what is right or does it just boil down to a matter of personal choice?

Some questions that occurred to me as I watched this video.

-Are these men habitual kilt wearers?

-If not, is their outfit more akin to costume/uniform worn for the dance?

-Are they wearing actual ghillie brogues or dancing ghillies? More akin to ballet slippers. Are those laced differently? I honestly don’t know.

-Is country dance hard on socks, especially when the dancers practice regularly? Is so, could cheap white socks be chosen for economy over style?

A point Jock has made in the past is that one has to be careful when trying to gauge traditional dress from photos, pipers, royals, etc. Context is vital or all kinds of erroneous assumptions might be made.

[OC Richard]

What sparked this discussion really was viewing this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=hvHeTArCnYQ - showing groups of Scottish country dancers of which the majority of the men taking part are obviously wearing the dreaded white socks.

That video is from 11 years ago, when white socks hadn't yet become unfashionable in some circles.

Fashions come and go, and with Highland Dress the thing that changes most often are the hose.

White hose suddenly became standard in kilt hire and the pipe band world and with many other kiltwearers in the late 1980s into the early 1990s only to become suddenly out of fashion around 2010.

(I'm talking the pure gleaming white hose, not the ecru/cream/offwhite hose which were in fashion for the 15 years or so prior to the pure white hose replacing them.)

[Ivor]

That video is from 11 years ago, when white socks hadn't yet become unfashionable in some circles.

Fashions come and go, and with Highland Dress the thing that changes most often are the hose.

White hose suddenly became standard in kilt hire and the pipe band world and with many other kiltwearers in the late 1980s into the early 1990s only to become suddenly out of fashion around 2010.

I really don’t wish to harp on about white hose as such fairly trivial matters seem to attract
attention out of all proportion to their importance. To put this into context, however, I am presently enjoying a New Year break at a well known Scottish hotel where virtually every kilted person is wearing, yes you’ve guessed it, white socks😵*💫.
I have resisted the temptation to point out to them the error of their ways, principally because they are bigger than me but also because, quite frankly, it is none of my business how they choose to dress, even if they asked. So there you are. Many Scottish people, in Scotland, wearing kilts and obviously none of whom have heard of the antipathy towards white socks.