Mixing tartans - yes or no?

[OC Richard]

Just to bring us back to my original question - what do the style guys think of the idea of kilt in one my clan's tartan and hose in another of the same clan's tartan.

To take a long look at things, going back to the earliest Highland Dress we have clear images of, in the late 17th century and early 18th century, the hose never matched the kilt. Hose were not knit, but cut out of woven fabric yardage and sewn up. The tartan used for hose was a thicker stuff than that used for kilts and tended to be woven in simpler patterns, often using red and white.








These traditional red and white hose were adopted by all the Highland regiments raised in the 18th century are are still worn by the military today:



So when you see nonmatching diced or tartan hose worn in modern times, it's harkening back to the earliest Highland Dress we have good images of.



Knitted hose made to mimick the tartan of the kilt as closely as possible didn't get popular until the mid 19th century. You see a load of those kind of hose in The Highlanders of Scotland (1860s).

Not in hose, but in plaids, there's an entire pipe band that wears mismatched tartans, though it's subtle, two different MacDonald red tartans (the only difference being the presence or absence of a central black line). I really like that, as it's very much in keeping with 18th century Highland Dress. It's the Isle of Skye Pipe Band and here they are:



(I'm talking about the pipers. As you can see the DM is wearing a Cameron of Erracht kilt. I think that guy was a QOH DM but I'm not sure, and he may be wearing his ex-army kilt.)

The tartan of the plaids was copied from the painting above, the jacket worn by the boy holding the golf club.

[Biathlonman]

Many thanks for pulling these images together - you've done some great digging on all our behalf. Have to say the photo of our friend with tartan waistcoat, drink in hand and cigarette in the other is priceless - talk about style! Would that we could all carry that off with such obvious panache.

It may be some time before I wear my formal stuff with the kilt again, but I think red and white diced hose get the final nod. The discussion this all provoked was helpful to some I hope.

[SlackerDrummer]

Not in hose, but in plaids, there's an entire pipe band that wears mismatched tartans, though it's subtle, two different MacDonald red tartans (the only difference being the presence or absence of a central black line). I really like that, as it's very much in keeping with 18th century Highland Dress. It's the Isle of Skye Pipe Band and here they are:



(I'm talking about the pipers. As you can see the DM is wearing a Cameron of Erracht kilt. I think that guy was a QOH DM but I'm not sure, and he may be wearing his ex-army kilt.)

The tartan of the plaids was copied from the painting above, the jacket worn by the boy holding the golf club.

Are you sure all the drummers aren't wearing the Cameron of Erracht? I can see that the drummers are wearing red doublets and it looks like maybe their kilts are darker, but I can't tell for sure. That would be the way many of the regimental bands operate.

[OC Richard]

Sorry I wasn't talking about pipers and drummers wearing different tartans from each other, but rather the mixing of tartans upon the same person, in this case the pipers wearing kilts of one MacDonald tartan and plaids of a different MacDonald tartan (though the two tartans only differ in one stripe). The drummers and drum major also have mixed tartans, but much less subtle, their plaids the same as the pipers but their kilts Cameron of Erracht.

In The Highlanders of Scotland (1860s) there is generally an attempt to match the hose (whether diced or tartan) to the kilt.

11 figures are wearing matching tartan hose.

17 are wearing diced hose made from two colours which appear in the kilt.

However 11 men are wearing diced hose which do not match the kilt.

Only 2 figures are wearing tartan hose in a tartan different from that of the kilt:



I love this, the way the yellow tartan hose complement the kilt while being completely different.


(Note that hose are made from two differing shades of red, rather than red and blue as one would expect given the tartan of the kilt.)