A Lasses Wear Thread

[davedove]

A personal favorite (in part because I have a definite crush on the model) is the Hortensia corset, which just happens to be on sale, at least in three different tartans.



Just a question......How many of you lasses out there would wear that?

Yes, and names, I need names!!!!

[Dixiecat]

We're thinking of a black skirt with tartan gores, white blouse, and a vest.

Don't go with black if you do a lot of performing on stages or at night. You'll lose the ladies to the backdrops or to low light issues. I'd reverse your idea by making a tartan skirt with black lace or tulle gores. With that much tartan, a solid sash with a tartan bow might be more suitable.

my thread on tartan gowns, which got almost no traction with our lasses here

IMHO, I think maybe it's because threads like these tend to go in the direction of what a man wants to see a woman wear and generally not what the women who actually frequent this site would wear. (This is not to say the garments posted haven't been lovely)
This is borne out by comments such as:

I'm trying to STOP thinking about it.

Yes, and names, I need names!!!!

To my mind, these are a close equivalent to The Question.

[vmac3205]

Yes, and names, I need names!!!!

At 61 years old, I doubt it. In fact...not even for free.

[Alan H]

Here's one of the graduate students on the 3rd floor of my building. I was sitting in the lounge doing "help hour" and she walked by. I caught her on the way back, and she was cool with me posting her picture here.... A totally relaxed, "I'm in the lab getting messy and being smart" look....

"sciencegirl" better known as Meg



BTW, I showed Meg a picture of the Hortensia corset I just posted today...it's the Lindsay, modern garmet up a few posts, and asked her if she'd wear it. She wanted to know how much it cost, so I told her. She nodded....sure, she'd wear it in the summer, she says.

She didn't even know she was wearing Black Watch.

[Standard]

How about a suit made in a favorite tartan with a velvet lapel and collar?

Regards,
Rex.

Oh my yes.

[Alan H]

So, look. I put up a picture of a REAL young lady, wearing REAL clothes, in fact looking borderline sloppy. She' s not a model, she' s an attractive lass but she's not stupid-skinny It's about as real as it can get, and no comments?

You know whenever we put up pictures of this...



The hollering starts... "too hot in the summer at the Games"

But then when someone posts something that shows some skin, a lot of you lasses start saying..."I can't wear that, no normal woman with morals would wear that, it's nothing but some man's fantasy!"

....and I gotta say, OK, then... Us guys are clueless. So how about YOU lasses put up here what YOU like. I see precious little of that in this thread. There are several posts where where the women say "Great thread, thank you!", but the number of posts where you lasses post a picture of yourselves or what you like is minimal. Cynthia and Squeaky McMurdo come to mind as having done that, same with Dixiecat with her dancing outfits. But how about something other than your dancing outfit, Dixiecat? If this thread is just guys posting pictures of what WE think/wish/hope the ladies should wear, then, well.......

[Squeaky McMurdo]

I would wear something like what Meg is wearing. In fact I do wear something like that at Hunting Camp. I don't have any good pictures of my outfit though that don't involve something that's being gutted...so I'll spare you all.

Here's a cute dress I'm going to make for my daughter in MacPherson Red



Also.....there are a lot of us women that wear kilts....which as you know doesn't thrill some of the men of the rabble, so we keep our pictures to ourselves to avoid contention.

[Cynthia]

Most of these outfits, really do nothing for me as I've mentioned before. Just because they happen to have tartan or plaid in them doesn't mean they hold any interest (note: I LIKE tartan. But I need neutral garments in my closet so I can wear MY tartan with them). I realize we don't have "rules" like you gents do with the kilt and Highland Wear, but some of us would like to find out for sure (even if we decide to break the "rules" anyway).

Things like gowns, I'd sew them myself in a solid color and put my own sash on it. In fact, I've already got my idea for my vow renewal gown (didn't get a wedding gown) that I'll be sewing myself. It will not have one bit of tartan on it, save for the sash in the tartan that my husband chooses for his kilt. I have no problem wearing something "sexy." I have no problem wearing that traditional hostess-length kilted skirt, sash, and frilly white blouse (and in fact, I intend to get one someday). I have no problem even pairing up a black t-shirt with my Thrifty kilt and hanging out at home barefoot, chatting with my hubby, having a dram, and playing my fiddle. I may look, I may get ideas, I may like something or think it looks bad or would drive me nuts (I hate short-waisted, ill-fitted tops, for example). I may not always comment, either. I can only speak for myself about why ladies aren't posting to this thread very much.

A few of us have asked specific questions about how to wear "traditional" clothing to represent our heritage and our questions sometimes go unanswered and get lost in a flood of regular-fashion posts and comments that aren't very helpful. If it's plain fashion (sorry, a lot of this is -- some of the tartan gowns aren't regular, but some of us ladies don't want something like that), I typically pick that out myself based off my own tastes with what I can find in person or what I make myself. I don't mind if someone posts and says "I just saw a pair of rain boots in ___ tartan in this catalogue" because that is something neat that you might not be able to find everywhere and it might appeal to someone who is interested. Obviously some of the fashion posted here has helped some people too.

But when it comes to something in tartan, I want to be able to find it in my tartan and I want it to say "look, I'm not wearing this because it just happens to have tartan, I'm wearing it because it's honoring/representing my heritage." Even if I were to have something made in one of my tartans, that isn't going to happen for a while because it's too expensive and I'm not ready for it right now. Plus, I'll admit. When I see typical clothing that just happens to be in a tartan, I don't think anything of it. When I see an actual tartan skirt (even a non-kilted style), especially if it's paired with a sash or a pin or something that makes me stop and think "family Clan", I think "traditional." That's what I'm going for right now.

I want to know tips from women about the best way to pin the sash and get it to stay. I want to see neat ideas for kilt pins that aren't typical. I want to know the sort of events (formal/festival/casual/etc) for what type of kilted skirt/look/etc.

Also, some ladies might not want to post photos of themselves here for various reasons. It's actually not normal for me to post photos online... any you see of me here is me relaxing my own personal rules about photos of myself.

This thread *has* been helpful, so please don't be frustrated. Every one of us women need or want something different from this thread, I'm sure, just as we all have our own tastes.

There is a Ladies of XMTS social group. I started it because one of our new members wasn't sure if she was the only one here and was relieved to see that she wasn't. It occurred to me that it might be nice to have us together so future female members could find us easier. Also, since it was mostly us, we could ask about things like "can women wear kilt hose" or "what's the best way to pin your sash and keep it there comfortably?" without getting ignored or having trouble finding that information.

[Jock Scot]

Sounds fair enough to me Cynthia. It is rather refreshing to get a female point of view though and I, for one, enjoy your input.

[ali8780]

Here's a cute dress I'm going to make for my daughter in MacPherson Red

Squeaky, that is an adorable dress, where did you get the pattern?

Okay guys-- here are some things that I would wear. Like Cynthia, I would like to find a tartan that means something to me to make a few meaningful garments in, but I'm also interested in the pattern and color of various other tartans just for wearing.











Those are some things I can imagine working into my daily wear (not necessarily in those tartans). As far as traditional wear, I'm still learning about that and working that out ;)