House Of Gordon USA Kid's Corner Fun Facts about Scottish Clothes!

MODERN DAY HIGHLAND DRESS
Morris Gordon and Aaron Todd show off formal Highland attire for a civilian
and a military piper.

Ginny Gordan (left) is wearing a traditional arisaid over a skirt and blouse.
An arisaid is a plaid in silk or fine wool (and in the south USA sometimes
cotton) belted around the waist and then either up over the shoulder or
over the head as a veil.

Today you will find women wearing kilted skirts in tartan, pleated or
gathered skirts in tartan, plain dresses with a tartan scarf or shawl, and
even sometimes the kilt itself!

Highland dancers will wear either the kilt and waistcoat, or the Aboyne
Dress. (Right Aaron Todd pipes the dancers on stage. Left below an
example of the Aboyne Dress in Gordon Modern tartan.) The Aboyne Dress
was developed by the Aboyne Highland Games, which is the annual
Gordon Gathering, to give the dancers an updated shorter version of the
arisaid. It is a full gathered tartan skirt 4.5 yards around the hem, worn over
a full white petticoat. It is worn with a chemise style blouse with full elbow
sleeves tied with tartan ribbons. Over the blouse is worn a tight- fitting
sleeveless corsage (vest), flagged round the base, sloping well to the front
and coming well down below the waist. A plaid is 40 x 60 inches and here
is the fun part! According to the Aboyne Games Committee is worn such:

The plaid is fringed on one of the forty-inch edges; on the

other are

sewn loops or

keepers, through which is passed

a belt of similar

material, an

inch wide, by which

the plaid is

fastened to the waist

under the corsage. The right hand

cor

ner of the

fringed edge is

then brought up behind and

brooched to the

wearer's right shoulder

so that the fringed

edge hangs down vertically and the plaid itself

hangs

diagonally

across the back. The corners of the lower edge

should be brought

round the waist

as far to the front as

possible.

Kilts can be pleated to the stripe or to the sett. The military kilts are pleated
to the stripe meaning that the pleats across the back match to the vertical
lines in the tartan pattern and you see a series of stripes. Pleating to the
sett means that the pattern of the tartan is matched across the back when
pleated so that you see the entire pattern across the back. On the right you
can see an example of pleated to the stripe and pleated to the sett

You can find people wearing many different types of outfits at the highland
games from more formal attire including military uniforms and kilts with
jackets to the very casual jeans and clan tee-shirt, to the historical
representations, to the fantasy outfits. It is all an expression of our pride in
our genealogical, cultural, and artistic heritage.

Bonnet -- this is a Glengarry,
and usually in the USA we
call it a cap!
Cap Badge -- the Chief's
crest belted to indicate you
are a Gordon Clansman.
Dress shirt and black or
tartan bow tie
Waistcoat-- in America it is
called a vest!
Kilt Jacket -- this is a formal
Prince Charlie style jacket.
Sporran-- it is a Scottish
pocket! (sort of)
Kilt -- this kilt is in Gordon
Modern tartan.
Kilt Belt -- you can just see
the buckle under the jacket,
but it is 1.5 to 2 inches wide!
Kilt Pin -- well you can see it
is a pin on the kilt!
Kilt Hose -- in a color that
coordinates with the tartan of
your kilt.
Flashes -- to help hold up
the kilt hose!
Sgiah Dubh-- small black
knife worn in the kilt hose.
Ghillie Brogues -- shoes!

Bonnet -- this is a Glengarry,
the red pompom is called a
toorie! The pipers wear plain
bonnets, the rest of the
regiment wear diced like Mac!
Cap Badge -- this one is a
Gordon Highlander's cap
badge.
No 1 Dress Doublet -- this is
a Gordon Highlander's
Piper's No. 1 Dress Uniform
Kilt Jacket called a Doublet
Kilt Belt
Cross Belt
Collar Dogs-Gordons wear
tigers for their service in
India.
Dirk -- a short sword.
Plaid -- sometimes called a
fly plaid (plaid sounds like
played)
Plaid Broach or Pin --keeps
the plaid in place.
Sporran-- only the pipers
wear this particular style
cantle and bells on their
sporran in the Gordon
Highlanders! This sporran is
made of horse hair.
Kilt -- the Gordon Regimental
Kilt is VERY heavy!
Kilt Pin
Kilt Hose -- red & white diced
Flashes -- red belled flashes!
Sgiah Dubh-- small black
knife worn in the kilt hose.
Ghillie Brogues -- shoes!
Spats -- white with black
buttons-- Only the Gordon
Highlanders wore black
buttons!
Bagpipes -- of course!

Did you know that the Feileadh Mor or Great Kilt
was used as a blanket as well as a garment! And
did you know that examples of real great kilts from
before the banning of the kilt after the 1745
Rebellion have belt loops on the INSIDE of the kilt?
Yes! The inside. That way a rope or soft cloth belt
could be threaded through the loops set at the
distance the pleats were to be. The material was
quickly gathered to the correct pleat and tied on at
the waist! None of this spreading out material and
gathering and laying down on it and on and on!
Who had time or room for that! Especially if you
were in the regiment wrapped up in your kilt for the
night and you had to get dressed quickly because
your unit was under attack! Kilts worn today are
called the feileadh beg or small kilt.

Read more about the Great Kilt!

A good example of a Great Kilt is this painting of Sir William Gordon of Fyvie (above left) painted by Batoni in 1766. Sir William
is in full military attire in Red Gordon Tartan spledor! The portrait still hangs at Fyvie Castle.

For everyday men wore a leine under the kilt. The leine is a long saffron (yellow) shirt. Sometimes they were off white or white
too! The leine did not lace up the front, some had a plain neck opening, and some had a drawstring opening.Today you will see
men in something similar called a Jacobite shirt which does lace up the front (above right) and they come in many colors.