Civilian Spats

[CMcG]

Spats (or gaiters as they used to be referred to) were an ordinary item of everyday dress, kilted or otherwise, before WWI (1914-1918). After the war they still remained in vogue, especially among the upper-middle and upper classes. As modes of dress became less formal fewer gentlemen wore gaiters and by the end of WWII (1945) only elderly gentlemen would be seen in gaiters.

Loudon McQueen Douglas in his book, THE KILT (published in 1914), when describing proper day dress, has this to say about gaiters:

"Footwear should consist of thick soled brogues with gaiters to match the stockings."

C.R.MacKinnon of Dunakin, writing in 1960, makes no mention whatsoever of gaiters, which clearly indicates that by that date "spats" were probably relegated to the costume of music hall comedians.

I have a quite large collection of 19th century and early 20th century photographs of men in Highland Dress and, in looking over them just now, I can only find one showing spats, a fine early image it is:



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Thank you both for helping fill in some gaps in the historiography. Strange how spats/gaiters were recommended wear in 1914 but we see so few photos or paintings showing them being worn...