What is Traditional Highland Dress?

[ThistleDown]

Professor Ray is actually a "her". Her work has been discussed here before, by yours truly and others. Overall she presents a very interesting look at the Scottish-American community. While some might find her analysis disconserting, I think she raises some very good points about the mythology of history and how diaspora people re-create their home cultures abroad. Her analysis of World War II German reenactors has been far more contraversial than Highland Heritage though.

T.

Thanks, Todd. I don't think I have ever run across a male with the name "Celeste". I'll go a-searching and catch up on what has been written here. I recall "her" work being referenced in a study of the migration of, predominantly, Lowland Scots to British Columbia in the post WW1 years and the degrees of their acceptance by the resident Scots community.

Rex

[MacMillans son]

I am afraid, Brooke, that I can't provide you with box-to-knife pleat transition dates and refer you to our own Matt Newsome's writings on the subject. In looking backwards, however, we should all be careful that we don't give too much credance to a perception of clothing pride that most likely was not there in the eras before our own.

Certainly there were "dandies" in urban society and a few among the leisure class, but Highland dress is a rural form of attire and the vast majority of country folk in Scotland did not have the gilt to even think about what they wore, except that it protect them from the cold and the wet. The paintings we have of individuals dressed to the teeth in tartan finery may well represent the posers of the day for all we know.

I doubt there is a pure answer to your question on evolution. As Jock has so well described, the existence of the flat cap as an item worn with Highland dress faded into and faded out of use and is now seen to be what it perhaps was -- a fashion or fad. The cap is still around, of course, but is perhaps similar to the American baseball cap and that's certainly not worn with Highland dress, either.

I wonder if we may actually draw a parallel with the ubiquitous baseball cap? As an item of head gear to keep the harsh sun from one's eyes it is good although to keep the rain off it is not so good. That's the utility of the thing. Has it now become a traditional item of clothing in America? Is wearing it backwards just a fashion within that tradition? And is wearing it indoors some sort of personal statement? If it continues to be worn backwards and indoors does that become the evolved tradition?
Oh dear, and how long do we have to put up with the fashion and style before we know for sure?



Rex

If it continues to be worn backwards and indoors does that become the evolved tradition?

If it does, I sure hope public beheadings return to fashion soon after!

I was sorry to hear about the flat cap, as I actually like that look. And of course, we are all free to wear whatever we are comfortable with, but as I am learning, we just need to be careful what we call it.

Over here we don't have the "tradition" of the kilt, so I don't think to wear it with the flat cap here would be understood to be a major style crisis. (similar to your crow feather head dress in Bavaria example earlier)

From Jock Scot's post, I am assuming that there are some mixed feelings about the beginning and/or the demise, of the flat cap "fashion". Was it a much debated issue in the Highlands? And if so, what were the issues?

I'm not sure if the baseball cap would be considered traditional yet, but it is certainly accepted as casual head wear. However, I am not sure of the parallels between the flat cap and the baseball cap. The baseball cap has always been a very informal, utilitarian item that has had an increase in use among the "Rap" faction in the last decade or so. And as a result, has gained greater appeal with younger wannabies of that group. It has never been worn by the general adult population with anything other than the most casual of clothing ie. jeans. My impression of the flat cap was that it was somewhat more in use with (avoiding mislableing) a tweed jacket and traditional kilt attire. Whereas, a ball cap here has never been acceptable wear, (with what I would assume our somewhat parallel style) with a sport coat and casual slacks for instance.

Can you and/or Jock shed some light on the flat cap issue over there? Is there a new traditional, or even fashionable, head wear in vogue these days or is bareheaded the commonest look ?

Brooke

[BoldHighlander]

It has never been worn by the general adult population with anything other than the most casual of clothing ie. jeans.

Well, it is worn regularly w/ a uniform in the security field & by some law enforcement departments (&/or law enforcement tactical units).... but I suppose that's more the exception than the rule

[Jock Scot]

Brooke.

The "Flat Caps" discussion was a "hot" topic for a while, some time ago and now, I think, has developed into a leg pull at my expense. That's fine by me as I think I can hold my part of the line!

From memory the problem discussion started when all these old pre WW1 pictures were used as evidence, by lets say non Scots, that flat tweed caps were part of traditional Highland kilt wear. I and others, tried to explain that these days bare headed was the usual Scots way and the flat cap is not and has not been worn with the kilt since about WW1 and what is more it is regarded as a traditional Highland kilt attire faux pas these days by many Scots.

Now it seems from the pictures published here and the ensuing furore that occurred it was assumed by many, including a few Scots, that the flat cap was acceptable Highland kilt attire, which of course these days in Scotland it is not. To cut a very long story short I think that both sides now understand each other's point of view more fully. In fact I think for many, including me, it was a defining moment in the realisation that there is a definite divergence of opinion and interpretation over what is and what is not traditional Highland Scots attire. I do have to say, that there are many outside these shores who forget where the kilt hails from and who it is that inherit, maintain, adjust and set, albeit unwittingly, those traditions -----the Scots.

To coin a phrase ; "the world will not stop spinning around" if a flat cap is worn with the kilt, just don't make the mistake of thinking it is traditional kilt attire and it looks smart. Kilts and kilt attire are not and as far as I know, never have been a major topic of conversation in Scotland. I suspect that the only time most people even think about the kilt over here, is five minutes before they are about to put the kilt on!

You may find an old thread interesting reading, if you can wade through it, it was called "theory and practice" by well er --me. It covers, amongst other things, the pitfalls of using old pictures as "proof" that wearing, lets say for example, a flat cap is acceptable kilt attire, when actually in Scotland, these days, it is not.

Make no mistake the flat cap is still in regular use in Scotland and is worn mainly, I suspect, by the "country set", but not with the kilt.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Another realization that came out of the "great flat cap debate" is that Scots in the UK and those of Scottish descent living in North America had different opinions on the matter. With very few exceptions, those in the UK thought the flat cap a no-no, while those on the other side of the Atlantic found nothing wrong with it.

This is relevant because, when you think about it for a moment:
--if your family left Scotland 100 or 200 years ago...
--and if your family has continued the tradition of kilt wearing for that time...
--it stands to reason that after all that time away from Scotland, fashion and your idea of "traditional" may change in minor or major ways.

And that's ok. Why shouldn't there be minor regional differences in how the kilt is worn in Ontario vs. Inverness? After all, there are differences in how the kilt is worn from one part of Scotland to the other.

The thing to remember, however, is that at the end of the day the kilt is Scottish National Dress, and our benchmark should be the Scottish tradition. Minor variances outwith Scotland are understandable, but they should be understood for what they are. The Scottish tradition should always be what we turn to for inspiration and guidance.

[Micric]

This is I find an interesting thread!

In a book I have on Tartans, there are drawings of the different tartans being worn.
Some of the depictions are of supposedly historic attire, wheras others are contemporary to the time when first published. (maybe late 40's?)

Some show gentlemen out shooting, wearing the kilt And deerstalker. Yet now, this appears as much a no-no as the flat cap.
Is this correct, or is the deerstalker acceptable to a greater degree than the flat cap?
The answer will be purely academic to me, as my old 'for and aft' is 30+ years old, and past it's best anyway!

[Jock Scot]

Deer Stalkers and the Fore & Aft are quite acceptable for informal kilt wear still. Although not a common sight with the kilt here. If I should wear the kilt on the moor whilst grouse shooting or fishing(neither of those pastimes is it wise to wear the kilt!) I would wear a Deer Stalker,or Fore & Aft.

[ThistleDown]

As Jock and Matt have said, the flat cap issue referred to is exclusively an XMTS one and was got up and going as a way to take the michael out of a certain Lochaber-man.

The baseball cap has now been reduced to "ballcap" has it? May I suggest that that moves it somewhat closer to being accepted as tradtional US attire I'm not that familiar with its history, but it seems to me that the primary intent to keep the sun from one's eyes and less important purposes related to warmth and dryness indicates its origine in the summer sun or the southern part of your country.

The utility of the flat cap is the reverse: warmth and dryness first, eye protection somewhat after, and I suspect that it had its origin in England among the labouring classes, migrating north into Scotland with the industrial revolution. Certainly its fashionable wearing by the landed classes in either country (and Wales and Ireland) was very, very brief and gone with that class's reduction by 1918 or so.

The issue is not whether the flat cap is traditional to Highland dress, therefore, because it is not. Nor is it current fashion with Highland dress in the Highlands today. It is periodically seen, but at some sort of gut level we just know it to be a no-no at worst and a private style thing at best. I suppose a bit like wearing a ballcap with a suit.

As Jock says, the deerstalker and fore-and-aft are different kettles. They have been worn with Highland dress for long, long years and may just be approaching the "welcome to tradition" level of acknowledgement. Mind you, we know where and when they are appropriate, too.

Rex

[Zardoz]

I think Matt was on the ball that there are always going to be regional differences in how the kilt is worn or accessorized.

I find the Deerstalker and Flatcap posts somewhat telling in this regard. Because while (like it or not) flatcaps are frequently worn with the kilt here in the US without incident, I do not think I've ever seen a deerstalker worn here in any context except as part of costumes by somebody dressed as Sherlock Holmes. That includes actual stalking. But it seems the deerstalker is still just fine for country daywear in the UK.
So both of those late Victorian/Edwardian headgear fashion "fads" seem to still have their fans, just in different plarts of the world.

Since I generally tend to agree with them on most stuff, I feel it's a shame that many "traditionalists" don't seem to have any flexibility. On one hand you recognize that the some accessories with Highlandwear might have been OK as a 'fad' or trend at one time, but you won't consider the idea that the trends might come back around.

[MacBean]

I've not seen many people in kilts except last year in Inverness at a Clan Celebration, so I know little about tradition. The folk I met were congenial and hospitable; we had a wonderful time, so I am inclined towards adopting Traditional Highland Dress when wearing a kilt.

That said, the artist in me recognizes the importance of looking forward, of modernisms, and I rather like some of the stylistic innovations around the kilt and its related incumbrances.

Then again, my various Scottish ancestors left the home country in the 1600s and 1700s, so I suppose I could adopt an anachronistic style in recognition of those times.

So what is the ordinary American to do? We do a bit of each of the above of course, resulting in the usual American cacophonous mess. And oddly, I see that too as not so different from wearing various cacophonous tartans and leathers and not caring too much. Perhaps somewhere in here we have found a core Scottish quality beyond tradition?