Beautiful Doublet

[Jock Scot]

There has been some discussion of late about styles of evening doublets. One of the nicest doublets I have seen belongs to a good friend of mine, from Appin. I am posting these pictures to show that one does not have to go the "cookie cutter route"! It is most unlikely that you will see too many doublets like this one. I am especially taken by the silk tartan lining. Enjoy

I rather fancy that I have seen that doublet for real! Sadly these days, we are getting buried in the "peas in a pod" look of the Quartermaster's Store. What the modern kilt wearer does not realise is that the personal flair of the owner and the individual skill of a tailor can produce a variation on the same theme and in|Scotland is quite normal. In my time on this earth we seem to have sunk to the standard issue PC of the hire companies, which is understandable in some ways ,but if some one was going to spend £X on buying a PC, then with a few pounds more an individual style can be created that is more than fitting to an occasion------in fact, in my not so humble opinion, desirable!

[OC Richard]

To me "traditional" usually implies things which first appear at some point of time in the past, and can subsequently be traced through the years in a series occurances, implying an unbroken lineage.

Now it's an interesting topic, discovering the origin and earliest appearances of the "tashes" to create the classic "doublet" style.

As I recall the earliest images I've seen show the entire doublet made from the same fabric, sometimes tartan, sometimes a plain colour.

They were worn in the military by the pipers of the 93rd Highlanders before they were adopted generally by the Scottish kilted regiments, who at that time were still wearing coatees:





Then in 1855 doublets were adopted by the kilted Highland regiments (this is the early version. Gauntlet cuffs came later)



In the classic 19th century military doublet note that the epaulettes were likewise the same colour as the body, as their origin, as well as that of the tashes, was not as turned-back elements:



In any case I don't go around inventing stuff, but rather have the approach of a historian, looking at as much evidence as I can and drawing the most logical conclusions I can.

If someone can lay out a case, supported by images, of the tashes being a contrasting colour, going back to early appearances of the doublet style and persisting in an unbroken tradition down to modern times, I'd love to see it.

This topic reminds me of when people seperate the two flashes on their garter, putting one on the outside of their leg and one on the inside. It shows both an ingorance of how they have traditionally been worn, and an ignorance of how they came about.