Has anyone made their own flashes?

[Michael Weatherhead]

From your link: "if your Flashes were showing then you were single and available, while hidden Flashes meant that you were a taken man!" I was unaware of this. Is this still the custom?

Thanks for that link. Good info.

[OC Richard]

I would take that "hidden flashes" thing with a very big grain of salt!

It's merely fashion. The garters used to be tied around the outside, then they started rolling over the tops of the hose, but you could still see the garters hanging down.

By the mid-19th century most civilians didn't have any garters showing. The army still held on to old ways (as usual).

For some reason in the 20th century they became popular again with civilian kiltwearing.

Traditional garters and flashes, by the way, were (and are) made of worsted wool woven to the correct width, usually in a herringbone weave.

The idea of taking a piece of fabric yardage, and cutting and hemming flashes, is quite recent, I think. I have no such.

The wool yarn garters with the frayed/unwoven ends are borrowed from shooting socks but look great for Highland Dress.

But anyway yes I've made many flashes, back in the 1980s mostly, when I wanted certain colours. Now I just wear ordinary Shooting garters, they come in a set with one pair of elastic garters and four pairs of flashes in various colours.

19th century full tied garters, with the cuffs turned over but the garters still visible (1846)



Civilians in the 1860s showing a range from ornate costume to quite plain outdoor dress, no flashes at all



By the 1920s Highland Dress had become more systematised, and with flashes for all modes



Traditional flashes made from worsted wool tape woven to the correct width in a herringbone weave

[Father Bill]

I would take that "hidden flashes" thing with a very big grain of salt!

*snip*

I would take it with a whole salt-lick, like the cattle use in the field. Furthermore, when I see stuff like that, I personally tend to look at the entire website and its purveyor with a rather jaundiced eye wondering what else they've fabricated outside of the garters and that story.

[ScottishStuart]

I would take that "hidden flashes" thing with a very big grain of salt!

It's merely fashion. The garters used to be tied around the outside, then they started rolling over the tops of the hose, but you could still see the garters hanging down.

I would take it with a whole salt-lick, like the cattle use in the field. Furthermore, when I see stuff like that, I personally tend to look at the entire website and its purveyor with a rather jaundiced eye wondering what else they've fabricated outside of the garters and that story.

I have altered the wording on the article, making clear that this part is folklore.

[figheadair]

From your link: "if your Flashes were showing then you were single and available, while hidden Flashes meant that you were a taken man!" I was unaware of this. Is this still the custom?

Let me be a little more forthright than some. Forget the salt, this claim is absolute rubbish and has no historical basis!

[BertMcG]

Also, has anyone here ever made the old style flashes, that you tie up (rather than just having ends sticking down, from an elastic band)? I'd be interested on your ideas/input

I've experimented with the ones you tie, made a pair on a homemade Inkle loom. They probably need to be a bit wider but they were easy to make. The loom was easy to make as well, a long piece of dowel and some left over wood.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yy6saHjqC4

[Todd Bradshaw]

I'm thinking about trying some diced garter ties on our inkle loom, just to see how they come out. It currently has a wide band on it, which my wife is weaving. I set it up with colors similar to one of our tartans and it will probably end up being a strap for a leather general purpose shoulder bag I'll make her. I'm getting the feeling though, that due to the nature of inkle weaving (weft yarns don't really show, so the weavings tend to be kind of stripe-y) it may end up looking as if it sort of goes with our tartans, but just by coincidence and be more of a distraction than anything else. We'll see how it turns out.



It's kind of fun though. I designed a simple computer program that allows me to punch in different colors and widths to preview the designs. Then we made a whole bunch of them. The only problem is figuring out what to do with them, now that they're done. I don't usually have much use for a sash, no matter what I'm wearing. Garter ties, especially solid colors, or maybe solid with a stripe or dicing along their edges would work pretty well, and the fully-diced ones might be neat.

[Wareyin]

But anyway yes I've made many flashes, back in the 1980s mostly, when I wanted certain colours. Now I just wear ordinary Shooting garters, they come in a set with one pair of elastic garters and four pairs of flashes in various colours.

When I search for "shooting garters", all I can find are the ones you tie. Where do you find the ones that are elastic and come with 4 sets of flashes? I'm assuming 4 sets so you can change colors.

[Barb T]

I posted this several years ago. Not sure why it looks like one of Steve's posts, but.....

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...flashes-57217/

[tweedhead]

When I search for "shooting garters", all I can find are the ones you tie. Where do you find the ones that are elastic and come with 4 sets of flashes? I'm assuming 4 sets so you can change colors.

A few months ago I ordered a set of elastic garters and a pair of the self-tie garters from here: http://www.furfeatherandfin.com/prod...9&wsh=0&page=1 and I'm quite pleased with them.

I didnt realize at first how to tie garters around the leg so I thought they were absurdly long, but then I found this video (by Matt Newsome himself) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h08uYRMx7A