Classic kilt style - as seen at large this summer in Scotland

[Father Bill]

I am afraid I must differ, to my rather conservative mind, the patterned hose and fancy day sporrans are overdoing things a tad. Fine for some day events, but for me they are rather unnecessary, particularly for general day attire, these days.

I wondered when you would chime in with that. I also wondered what day event would require that level of decor.

[Troglodyte]

I wondered when you would chime in with that. I also wondered what day event would require that level of decor.

I would say it's nothing out of the ordinary (well, certainly not extraordinary) if what I saw at different Highland Games this past summer is anything to go by.

Perhaps we're seeing a resurgence of more interesting styles, than the toned-down mode that upset the old Lord Lyon in the mid-years of last century.

Going kilted with elan is the way forward..!

[Jock Scot]

I think its a question of degree and personal choice. But...... but, I really do think that care needs to be taken with what and when certain items of kilt attire are worn. I know that one member of this website will not be pleased with what I am going to say, but the dangers of "over-egging the cake" with our attire choices does encourage the rather outrageous kilt attire choices that we see on this website all to often. To be fair, they are not seen as often, on the website, as they used to be. But, toning down the more flamboyant kilt attire, as shown in the first post in this thread is best left in the past, in my humble opinion.

So, to my mind, care needs to be taken with our attire choices. Its not a question of right or wrong with most of our choices, but it is a question of making our attire choices so that we wear those kilt attire choices "to best effect" to fit our chosen event, with relevance to today.

Harking back to the more romantic kilt attire choices is all very well, but we have moved on . Trying to revive those dated attire choices is a personal choice for us all for sure, but for me, those frivolous days are gone and best left in the past.

That does not mean, by any means, that we cannot dress in our kilt attire smartly and appropriately, but, we can do it without leading us into frivolous and unnecessary territory.

[Hirsty]

Most chaps I know will go kilted to the Highland Games. The level of scruffiness seems to be age related though. As most men get their kilt for their 18th birthday (or inherited), you might see the younger lads in jeans

[OC Richard]

Interesting that I also got my first kilt at 18!

I had just got my first set of pipes, so the kilt had to follow.

About patterned hose with Day Dress, the writers of style guides from 1914 through the 1950s consistently insist that self-coloured hose to "tone in with" the jacket are "proper" or "correct" (they love to use those words then!).

Now, in Victorian times Highland Dress didn't have rigid divisions between various modes of dress.

Yes, there's a Day Dress of sorts with tweed jackets, but self-coloured hose or patterned hose were deemed equally proper, as were long hair sporrans, even white ones with silver tops. (True that it was popular to wear brown long hair sporrans with leather tops with tweed.)

And quite plain jackets were often worn with elaborate accessories for Evening.

However near the start of the 20th century and especially just after WWI Highland Dress sorted itself into rigid distinct categories of Day and Evening, each with dedicated shoes, hose, sporrans, jackets, and even kilts. (Writers mention over and over that heavy worsted kilts are for Day, finer kilts, often Saxony, for Evening.)

So to see Day Dress as actually worn to a Highland Games, in this case Oban, here are photos showing every decade from the 1920s through the 1990s (photos from the 1940s are rarer for obvious reasons).

It makes a nice overview of Traditional Highland Day Dress.

[Flotineer]

What is the second-from-the-right man wearing in the 1935 pic? Is it a long plaid wrapped around him in some manner?

[Padraicog]

For Pipers, the 1935 picture is interesting - in the second rank starting left is Archibald Campbell of Kilberry, and next to him is James Campbell, his son. James appears in the 1962 picture sandwiched between DR MacLennan (half-brother of GS MacLennan) left and Archie Kenneth (called "Compo" by Andrew McNeill: you need to have watched Last of the Summer Wine a BBC TV series to get that allusion) on the right

[Troglodyte]

What is the second-from-the-right man wearing in the 1935 pic? Is it a long plaid wrapped around him in some manner?

It is a style of wrapping the plaid that is seldom seen (carrying a plaid is rare these days, anyway) but was favoured by some at one time.

I have tried it for style myself, and find it keeps the plaid neat and close - no flapping or blowing about - but it is bothersome to put on and off. Draped over the left shouder is by far the quickest and easiest method.

Another plaid style is often seen in old (18th century) paintings of Scottish pastoral life - drovers and the like - where the plaid is draped over the left shoulder and taken across the body both front and back and tied in a flat knot at the right hip. I have only seen this method shown on men in breeks, not kilted.

[Troglodyte]

Interesting that I also got my first kilt at 18!

I had just got my first set of pipes, so the kilt had to follow.

About patterned hose with Day Dress, the writers of style guides from 1914 through the 1950s consistently insist that self-coloured hose to "tone in with" the jacket are "proper" or "correct" (they love to use those words then!).

Now, in Victorian times Highland Dress didn't have rigid divisions between various modes of dress.

Yes, there's a Day Dress of sorts with tweed jackets, but self-coloured hose or patterned hose were deemed equally proper, as were long hair sporrans, even white ones with silver tops. (True that it was popular to wear brown long hair sporrans with leather tops with tweed.)

And quite plain jackets were often worn with elaborate accessories for Evening.

However near the start of the 20th century and especially just after WWI Highland Dress sorted itself into rigid distinct categories of Day and Evening, each with dedicated shoes, hose, sporrans, jackets, and even kilts. (Writers mention over and over that heavy worsted kilts are for Day, finer kilts, often Saxony, for Evening.)

So to see Day Dress as actually worn to a Highland Games, in this case Oban, here are photos showing every decade from the 1920s through the 1990s (photos from the 1940s are rarer for obvious reasons).

It makes a nice overview of Traditional Highland Day Dress.

The recorded origin to this 'traditional' mode is the powers-that-be behind the Northern Meeting.

Some time before 1910 (and they had been discussing and practising the style for some time by then, and MacLeay's portraits show exaamples), they decided and annoucned what the new 'correct' form was to be for the new century, and we can see how sucessful they were.

They were railing against the overly elaborate styles of the Victorial era, which the new Edwardians seemed only too happy to reject generally, and not just with Highland dress. The expressed idea or motivation behind it all, was for simpler and easier (and so more comfortable and relaxed) modes of dress.

Although they didn't quite throw out the baby with the bath water, they did leave the baby with only a shallow puddle to bathe in. Or so it seems sometimes.

It's curious. When looking at class distinctions as shown in styles of dress, a recurring complaint by the lower-classes was that the upper-classes were spoiling it for them - they have nothing to aspire to if the upper levels are wilfully lowering themselves.