Cuffs on traditional Highland jackets

[Benning Boy]

There's a wonderful example of slash cuffs being turned back In a dinner scene of the movie The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. That scene sticks in my mind more clearly than the scenes that never can be mentioned here. I guess I'm a cuff man.

[Jock Scot]

In the Original Post I posted photos of early examples of both cuff types, the round cuff and the slash cuff, at a point (early to mid 18th century) when they were still functional, that is, could be opened or closed at whim.

-the round cuff (or gauntlet cuff) when undone allowed the sleeve to be lengthened. In other words, the sleeve was made several inches too long, then turned back and buttoned.

-the slash cuff when undone allowed a tight sleeve to be loosened. This was a practical matter when fashion dictated a tight form-fitting sleeve, too tight to get your hand through.

Like this



BTW early Irish jackets from peat bogs had very tight sleeves which were buttoned all the way up.

Like this



I'll add this stuff to the OP which will make the evolution clear.

BTW this jacket may have lost the vestigial cuffs, but it has retained another feature which was functional on 18th century jackets but has later become merely decorative.



Take a gander at an 18th century "regimental"

If you are talking about the "white Tabs" on the Midshipman's (Officer Cadet) jacket being "merely decorative" then you are mistaken. They are badges of rank that signify to all the wearer's station in his nautical life. Those same white collar tabs are also worn by Officer Cadets in the British Army and the Royal Air Force.

[OC Richard]

If you are talking about the "white Tabs" on the Midshipman's (Officer Cadet) jacket being "merely decorative" then you are mistaken. They are badges of rank that signify to all the wearer's station in his nautical life. Those same white collar tabs are also worn by Officer Cadets in the British Army and the Royal Air Force.

Sorry I was speaking in terms of clothing functionality, not of symbolism.

Originally the buttons, and the buttonholes through which they were buttoned, had the purpose of holding the collar in place, as you can see in the "Regimental" that I posted a picture of.

The rectangle of decorative tape around each buttonhole originated with binding tape on each buttonhole which kept the fabric of the jacket from fraying.

This binding tape, by the late 18th century, had flourished into a system of tape designs specific to each regiment. Yet, as long as there was an actual buttonhole in the centre of each rectangle of tape, and the collar, cuffs, lapels, and tail turnbacks could be unbuttoned and opened/let down, they were 'functional' in the clothing sense.

As soon as there was no buttonhole, and the various things could no longer be unbuttoned, tape rectangle and button became vestigial or decorative in the clothing sense; people of course can later imbue such things with any symbolism they choose. (Other examples include the square-toed spats of The Black Watch and the red stripe of USMC trousers.)

German uniforms long maintained "litzen" on the collars, a pair of vestigial rectangles of buttonhole binding. The "tabs" on British Generals' collars have the same origin. What's interesting about the Midshipmen's tabs is that they retain the original 18th century form to a surprising degree, though the button has migrated to the opposite end.

Here on a WWI German uniform you can see the nonfunctional rectangles of tape on the cuffs and collar; the cuff ones mostly retain their original 18th century shape, while the collar ones are absurdly lengthened. Ironically the functional buttonholes lack the binding tape, while the vestigial ones retain it, precisely as on that Midshipman's uniform

[Bruce Scott]

German uniforms long maintained "litzen" on the collars, a pair of vestigial rectangles of buttonhole binding. The "tabs" on British Generals' collars have the same origin. What's interesting about the Midshipmen's tabs is that they retain the original 18th century form to a surprising degree, though the button has migrated to the opposite end.

The Australian Army has long since taught (I first heard it in a customs of the service lecture in 1967) that senior officers gorget patches evolved from the gorget, a piece of armour that protected the throat.

http://www.army.gov.au/Our-history/T...Gorget-Patches

http://www.nma.gov.au/online_feature...litary_gorgets