I'm new to this forum and to this discussion. My reaction to the original post is that at most of the formal things I've attended the Highland dress doesn't show all that much variation: everyone in Prince Charlies, white shirts, black bowties, offwhite hose, and ghillies. Of course the tartan of the kilt varies, and the exact style of sporran, so it's true that there is more colour and variety than there is in Saxon formal wear.

When I first got into piping 35 years ago it seems like there was more variety: every Highland Dress shop carried five or six different styles of formal jackets and at events I would actually see some of these different styles being worn. (I myself used to wear a Burgundy velvet Montrose Doublet back in the early 80's.) Over the years the Prince Charlie seems to have won out, though the semi-formal Argyll/Crail/Braemar jacket is often seen pressed into full-fledged formal duty.

In the pipe band world there is even less variety: a decade or so ago every single band I saw in the Grade One Finals in Glasgow wore the same uniform, consisting of black Glen, black Argyll jacket, pure white popcorn hose, and black ghillies. Only the tartan of the kilt varied. All but one or two bands even wore the same sporran style, a black leather Hunting Sporran with chrome Evening cantle stuck on.
Nowadays at least a few bands are wearing different socks, black and navy blue suddenly becoming popular.

What's cool is the huge variety of 1860's Highland Dress seen in The Highlanders Of Scotland. Amazing all the different shoe styles and jacket styles etc etc.

But then photos of pipers going from the 1860's all up through the 1930's show one single jacket style over and over again. It seems to have been regarded as the universal style for pipers. I wouldn't know what to call it. Nobody seems to make it anymore. (Several people claim to make these but none have been able to furnish a photo of one they have actually made.)