Civilian Spats

[CMcG]

<snip>
And they were supposed to match the hose color?

Judging by the few examples I can find and the general attitude towards matching that still exists in the Highlands, I imagine the colour wouldn't have mattered at all. Neutral colours like white and grey, seemed popular.

Here's a few more images I dug up of how it used to be done:





I'm not sure if this one is military or civilian:

[OC Richard]

In the post above, the image from The Highlanders of Scotland is showing a military man, so spats are to be expected.

I would wager that the bottom photo is a "play dress-up" photo, not a portrait of a person accustomed to wearing Highland Dress and posing in clothes that they own and wear regularly.

The tell-tale signs are the mixing of civilian and military items, things being worn improperly, things ill-fitting, and exaggerated poses.

He's wearing a Gordon Highlanders officer's sporran which has not been stored properly, plain hose with no flashes, mismatching kilt and plaid, no collar badges or cap badge, and posing with a sword tho not wearing a sword belt or scabbard...

It's obvious when a subject is wearing a Gordon Highlanders sporran but not wearing Gordon Highlanders flashes, hose, spats, kilt, or jacket.