Sharing Picture of Marching Band Uniform

[Naught]

While I order and await ‘The Art of Kiltmaking’ (in order to hopefully ask more knowledgeable questions - or have some questions answered), I thought I would share a picture of what our students wear. I’ve had to make repairs to several of our kilts already, as I took on the job of quartermadam and band season is here, so hopefully haven’t made too many mistakes.

Although I’m in no position to make changes to any of the uniform pieces, it would be interesting to hear thoughts on them.

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[YOJiMBO20]

The plaids suck. Not yours specifically or how they’re being worn, they just just in general. Especially for playing band instruments (they’re not as bad for playing pipes) because they just get in the way. If the band is only marching in parades, they’re marginally okay, but if they’re marching field shows with a full plaid, they become very cumbersome.

[12stones]

I think you look sharp. I can definitely see how the plaid gets in the way, but since it's part of the uniform, it is what it is. And good for you for taking on the extra role to help your bandmates out.

[Naught]

The plaids, jackets and glengarries are only for parades. For performances, the top part of the uniform varies depending on the theme of the field show. This year it’s a white dress shirt, black vest and Royal Stewart tie. Last year the music featured a song from Linkin Park, and the kids wore black denim vests that they customized.

That’s my kid in the picture. The idea of him trying to stitch anything is quite amusing, but maybe he’d be good at it. He does play bagpipes in addition to baritone, and he just got his full set of drones, so I know his fingers are dexterous, haha!

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[OC Richard]

Putting on my "historical guy" hat, I'll say that the uniform in the OP follows the style of a fairly standard Scottish military piper's Number One Dress uniform.

Here's the "real world" equivalent, being worn by the pipers of the 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5auhOmybbc

I think the OP's plaid (pronounced "played") is OK, it's just not put on right.

Civilian pipe bands wearing military-style No1 Dress always face two challenges:

1) acquiring all the parts of the uniform

2) putting everything on correctly.

It's very common to see these civilian No1 Dress bands have all the right things but be a bit sloppy in how they're put on.

The plaid is the trickiest part. There are several "correct" ways to do it, it varied by regiment in the army.

There are YouTube tutorials, for example one by ex-Scots Guards piper Peter Harvie showing the Scots Guards method:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1XGDB8EtNI&t=10s

My first pipe band had an ex-Cameron Highlanders piper who taught us a quite different way.

Anyhow the only things in the OP's uniform that deviate from a proper piper's No1 Dress are the hose, and the lack of the crossbelt.

No1 Dress always calls for diced or tartan hosetops with white spats.

A couple notes:

-the OP's uniform is clearly based on piper's dress. In the Scottish regiments the "military band" (brass band) didn't dress like the pipers.

-the OP's doublet has the buttons in groups of threes, which in the British army is only worn by the Scots Guards (Third Guards).

[Naught]

Putting on my "historical guy" hat, I'll say that the uniform in the OP follows the style of a fairly standard Scottish military piper's Number One Dress uniform.

Here's the "real world" equivalent, being worn by the pipers of the 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5auhOmybbc

I think the OP's plaid (pronounced "played") is OK, it's just not put on right.

Civilian pipe bands wearing military-style No1 Dress always face two challenges:

1) acquiring all the parts of the uniform

2) putting everything on correctly.

It's very common to see these civilian No1 Dress bands have all the right things but be a bit sloppy in how they're put on.

The plaid is the trickiest part. There are several "correct" ways to do it, it varied by regiment in the army.

There are YouTube tutorials, for example one by ex-Scots Guards piper Peter Harvie showing the Scots Guards method:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1XGDB8EtNI&t=10s

My first pipe band had an ex-Cameron Highlanders piper who taught us a quite different way.

Anyhow the only things in the OP's uniform that deviate from a proper piper's No1 Dress are the hose, and the lack of the crossbelt.

No1 Dress always calls for diced or tartan hosetops with white spats.

A couple notes:

-the OP's uniform is clearly based on piper's dress. In the Scottish regiments the "military band" (brass band) didn't dress like the pipers.

-the OP's doublet has the buttons in groups of threes, which in the British army is only worn by the Scots Guards (Third Guards).

Thank you so much for this info! One thing I probably can direct is how the plaid is worn.

[ShaunMaxwell]

Interesting uniforms! I wonder why they opted for what seem to be "child-sized" sporrans...

Cheers,

SM

[OC Richard]

Interesting uniforms! I wonder why they opted for what seem to be "child-sized" sporrans...

I hadn't noticed that! Good eye.

I can't tell if they're "youth" size or "child size". The old makers did all three.

In any case that sporran looks too small for a person that age.

Speaking of people wearing sporrans not the right size...

[Naught]

Interesting uniforms! I wonder why they opted for what seem to be "child-sized" sporrans...

Cheers,

SM

While I can’t say for sure, my guess would be so that there’s less interference when the band is performing. Our band is aware-winning, and the field shows can require a LOT of movement. As it is, the battery wears the sporrans to one side so that their drums are not over the sporrans while actively performing.

As the quartermadam who has to repair and keep track of all their items, I would be willing to do without a sporran. (I’m sure that’s some sort of blasphemy, lol.)

[ShaunMaxwell]

… Our band is award-winning, and the field shows can require a LOT of movement.

Not to hijack your thread, but as the son of a band director and husband of a band director, and as someone who was in the band from the sixth grade through college, I'd be interested in seeing one of their performances. Any chance you could post a link from YouTube or some such to one of their half-time shows? (We're in the throes of "Bandtober" in Texas, where every weekend is a marching contest culminating with the Texas State Marching Contest at the Alamodome in San Antonio on 10/30-31.)

Texas is a "band state", so the competition to make it to State is pretty intense. My daughter's band (Cypress-Woods) qualified in the 6A category (large schools) and there are 43 bands competing in this category. Since there are more than 40 bands, the top 14 will advance to the finals.

Last year's show, "Shenannigans", featured Sir Malcolm Arnold's "Four Scottish Dances". It was a bit of a mish-mash between Irish/Scottish tunes, but was a fun show and well performed. (If you're interested, you can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSnHKlXuQyM). They actually get started at 3:17 in the video)

This year's show is more edgy/avant garde and less to my liking but still impressive (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL4m_szhsW4). This was from a couple of weeks ago and was a bit ragged and all the choreography hadn't yet been added... We'll see how they do next week!

Always curious to see what other areas are doing in terms of band!

Cheers,

SM