Horsehair sporran. Full mask sporran

[sevenoaks]

I have been wearing my kilt in Vancouver every chance I get this summer to the point I feel undressed unless the kilt is strapped on.
I have noticed a few other "kilties" in the city... We aknowledge each other with a nod, a passing hand slap and go our own ways. I was in Calgary, Alberta this summer and I am happy to say that the Stampead city is not all about cowboys and horses as I saw many kilted guys there also. One person I met and did stop to talk to was wearing a full mask coyote sporran.
I am not a big fan of full mask sporrans but this was made by a saddle maker I had known from High River, Alberta. the sporran was so well made and looked so good. It started me thinking that maybe I would like to get a horsehair sporran. When I returned to Vancouver, I again saw a guy wearing a horsehair sporran and in the same day a guy wearing a full mask.
Now I want one!
I have seen a few remarks that a horsehair sporran is reserved for military, police, bagpippers, fire fighters etc.
How far out of tradition would it be to wear a horsehair sporran, in the day time? The guys I have seen looked good. I would guess, people who know very little about Highland Dress have an image in there mind as to what a Scot should look like, rightly or wrongly.
Any thoughts about this before I start looking for one?
Me hand is already reaching for my wallet, me Lass has seen the gleam in my eye amd looking daggers at me, I am in a lather and will have to deal with that domestic eruption at a later date. Damn this affliction I have!
I will wear what I feel comfortable in but would not want to offend any of our men that have done and still do such a huge service for us.

[ShaunMaxwell]

For what it's worth, I think you'd do better to get a full-mask sporran. It's easier to care for and the most versatile sporran you can own.

[Downunder Kilt]

For what it's worth, I think you'd do better to get a full-mask sporran. It's easier to care for and the most versatile sporran you can own.

I would have to agree with Shaun here. Check out the full masks on the STM gift site for ideas. If you do have your heart set on a horse hair one, I would suggest a check of Artificer's site for everyday horse hair sporrans.

[CMcG]

Horsehair sporrans for civilian day wear are fairly rare these days, but long, hair sporrans (both goat and horse) seem to have been more common before the contemporary era. As a result, I'd venture to say that a non-military/piper, day wear, horsehair sporran could be a bit historical looking.

If you were going to wear a horsehair sporran for day wear, I've seen some Xmarkers wearing ones with either a leather cantle or a flap that looked quite nice. I would still tread lightly with these because they are quite a visual statement and could easily drift towards costume or brigadoonery. In my eye, full mask sporrans run a similar risk. In either case, it would have a lot to do with both the rest of the outfit and what context it was worn in...

[ThistleDown]

Give your ponytail desire a pass, sevenoaks (and change the gleam in your partner's eye). I really think you should give the idea of a full-mask a pass, too. Instead, choose a perfect all-leather sporran from among those made by Fergusson Britt for the Tartans Museum, or even better get in touch with Artificer (Scott Huber) and design one that is uniquely your own.

[MacLowlife]

This may sound silly. It is not intended to. Print off and enlarge to life-size a picture of the mask sporran you have in mind. Tape it to the front of your present sporran and look at it in the mirror. Have your lass photograph you. Ask her opinion. Look on the photos, maybe even share them with us. All of this is a lot of bother, but it is much less bother than buying and waiting for the real thing. More importantly, it will give you a chance to get a true sense of what you will have.

Hair sporrans seem to be so completely fluid that a picture would not really simulate that experience.

I have often thought that we know before asking what advice certain people will give us and we sometimes choose our advisors based on the resulting advice. There is good advice above running either way. You did not say that you are taking a poll or holding an election, so you need not go by majority rule or anything other than your own eventual opinion. You noticed the sporrans on others. Do you find that you like being noticed? Oscar Wilde once said that the best thing to do about temptation is to yield to it. That, too sounds like a joke, but I find that temptation weakens when we yield, whereas fascination only grows when we attempt to deny it.

I guess the final cliche I have to invoke here is the quest for novelty. Will you still want your expensive sporran after it is in hand? If so, then by all means, indulge your self and wear it in good health.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Are hair sporrans reserved for military and pipe bands? No, absolutely not.

However, they are not commonly seen worn with civilian day wear. Typically you will see them reserved for evening wear, where they look fantastic.

My wife and I at last year's Burns Supper. I'm wearing a hair sporran I commissioned from Artificer.


I have very infrequently worn a hair sporran during the day. It has to be the "right kind" of daywear for it to work, in my opinion. Here's an example from last year's Stone Mountain Highland Games.

I'm on the far left. It's a Highland Games, and so more of a festival environment, so I am dressed a bit "fancier" than I would be say, going out to dinner with my wife, or at a business meeting, or just strolling about my neighborhood. I'm wearing a tweed jacket -- but it's cut in a more formal style, in this case a Sheriffmuir doublet. The more formal cut of my doublet also allows for other elements normally seen in more formal settings, such as my diced hose and hair sporran. Notice the hair sporran in this case does not have a fancy metal cantle, but instead a relatively plain leather one.

I'm also wearing an ivory silk cravat, and a hand knit bonnet. The whole outfit works together to create a rather fancy daywear ensemble. But I would not be so inclined to wear my hair sporran with say a polo-shirt or a tshirt.

So get a hair sporran if you like. But if you are looking for something that will be truly versatile for both day and evening wear, with a variety of styles of dress, I'd say a full mask sporran would be a better choice, especially something relatively unobtrusive such as a muskrat.

[Tobus]

Ah, I love this topic. It seems to come up every few months, with the same predictable responses from each quarter.

I can appreciate what some of the other chaps here are trying to say, in terms of horse hair sporrans being very uncommon, or not exactly in keeping with modern civilian Scots traditions. They can border on costume too, in certain cases. And since we're having this discussion against the backdrop of the "traditional" forum, all of those viewpoints are perfectly valid.

But I think perhaps it's "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" to simply leave it at that.

Horse hair sporrans do have a strong and glorious history with the kilt. There's no denying that. The real question is whether it can still be relevant with the kilt today, since it has fallen well out of fashion and the native Scots are content to place it in the rubbish bin of history. Well, it can be relevant if you want it to! By your own admission, you've already seen at least one other person in Vancouver wearing one, and it inspired you. So don't necessarily let the naysayers have the final word. There is a growing contingent of kilt-wearers who are slowly but surely reviving the horse hair sporran's place in the kilted world (and it seems to be driven by Scots descendants, not the Scots themselves). Sort of a modern revival of a classic look. Horse hair sporrans will likely never become commonplace or mainstream. But the people who like them and wear them are, at the very least, giving them some exposure, and (in my opinion) bringing back some boldness to the kilt instead of wearing a 'uniform' that's safe within modern styles. And here is where we depart from the very narrow "traditional" box which modern Scots have chosen to inhabit.

Let's face it: not all horse hair sporrans are equal. Wearing a silver-cantle horse hair sporran with a bunch of metal-trimmed tassels (in the military or formal style) might be over the top, whereas a plainer horse hair sporran with a simple leather flap could be more fitting. One needn't consider all horse hair sporrans to be in the same category. Wearing a horse hair sporran in a modern everyday non-formal civilian setting is going to be a bold statement, to be sure, and not everyone will think it's wonderful. But it's your choice, and there's certainly nothing "wrong" with wearing one. They aren't reserved for military or police uniforms. There is no entitlement requirement to wear one. It's simply a personal choice. It can be plain or fancy, light or dark, depending on what kind of look you desire.

Again, I can't disagree with the others here on their take when it comes to horse hair sporrans being ill-suited to a purely "traditional" look. If you want to play it safe and look like everyone else, fearing that the "tradition police" are going to shove a black hood over your head and throw you in a van for a trip to the gulag, then skip the horse hair sporran and go with a plain old nondescript black leather day sporran. You'll fit right in with the masses. But if you keep having flashbacks to the fellow you saw in Vancouver wearing a horse hair sporran, and think it looks awesome, then go for it. You certainly aren't alone in liking the look. Just make sure you have the required confidence to wear one before spending the money on it.

I will say this, though. A horse hair sporran is pretty impractical. Even if it has a usable pouch, it's still a hassle to wear. When you walk, it flops all over the place. Granted, it looks pretty cool (gives you a swish factor in front, to match the pleat swish behind!), but you'll constantly worry about the hair tangling, getting caught on stuff, or just looking unruly. It's bulky and heavy compared to other sporrans, and takes a lot of getting used to. So it's not exactly an everyday sporran. But it can certainly be an attention-getter and give you your own sense of personal style that's firmly rooted in Scottish history, but in a modern sort of way.

[Panache]

Horsehair and full mask sporrans both make rather bold fashion statements. They gather a lot of attention and comment, both good and bad. You should note that out of the many members of this forum only a few sport them.

I have both and I like both

Horsehair






Full Mask





Keep in mind if you get one or other that they make big statements. With such a bit of kit strapped to your waist you must embrace the attitude "Go Big or Go Home", as these are not at all subtle. If they appeal to you then I think by all means you should get one.

I recommend you choose the one that appeals to you most instead of the one that seems a "safer" choice as confidence is a key component of any highland attire and especially those featuring full mask or horsehair sporrans.

Cheers

Jamie

[CMcG]

...I have seen a few remarks that a horsehair sporran is reserved for military, police, bagpippers, fire fighters etc.
How far out of tradition would it be to wear a horsehair sporran, in the day time?

The only horsehair sporrans I would think of as reserved for a specific group are the ones that bear their crest/badge or are otherwise specifically designed for them. I have a generic silver cantle horsehair sporran that my father passed on to me. It is from his days as a piper but has no identifying features to link it specifically to his old band; the shield where a crest could be engraved is blank. I wear it for black tie formal occasions only.



As Tobus has said, a civilian hair sporran in the daytime isn't as much traditional as it is a revival of historical practice. If you are concerned about dressing according to the living tradition of Highlanders from the Highlands, follow ThistleDown's advice.

If you are set on a horsehair sporran, however, then you couldn't find a better set of examples than those provided by Jamie and Matt. They have ably demonstrated that, if you are going to wear a hair sporran, you need a certain amount of "panache" to pull it off.

...
How far out of tradition would it be to wear a horsehair sporran, in the day time?
Any thoughts about this before I start looking for one?
Me hand is already reaching for my wallet, me Lass has seen the gleam in my eye amd looking daggers at me, I am in a lather and will have to deal with that domestic eruption at a later date. Damn this affliction I have!

To reduce the chances of domestic violence against you, bide your time and get something second hand on eBay or the sales sub-forum. The price of a brand new hair or full mask sporran could quickly turn your lass from looking daggers at you, to throwing them