TCHD insights from non-Highland clothing

[OC Richard]

I just now came across this video Classic Not Costumey which touches on a number of subjects we encounter in traditional civilian Highland Dress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWWh-vG70XI

It's about modern men who love the quality, fit, and look of clothing from the 1920s through 1940s but want to avoid looking like they're re-enactors or cosplayers dressing to look like they are from a previous age.

Some things that I feel are especially relevant to Highland Dress:

0:35 Some fashions of the past should be left in the past; if incorporated into a modern outfit they make it look costumey.

1:34 In general only clothes from the 1920s and after can be smoothly blended into modern outfits.

8:23 The "cumulative costume effect" where adding too many accessories turns an otherwise normal outfit into a costume.

9:48 An example of this, taking an ordinary modern suit and adding too many vintage accessories, turning it into a costume.

13:04 Don't pick one vintage fashion icon and try to copy his dress exactly. The key is to develop your personal style.

[Touchstone]

I just now came across this video Classic Not Costumey which touches on a number of subjects we encounter in traditional civilian Highland Dress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWWh-vG70XI

From Gentleman's Gazette, a great resource for higher end menswear. Can be a little "idiosyncratic" as the video you cite demonstrates.

Tons of articles and videos including one on highland wear which appears to be mostly accurate.

(Yes, that's a picture of Panache towards the bottom.)

[Jock Scot]

I just now came across this video Classic Not Costumey which touches on a number of subjects we encounter in traditional civilian Highland Dress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWWh-vG70XI

It's about modern men who love the quality, fit, and look of clothing from the 1920s through 1940s but want to avoid looking like they're re-enactors or cosplayers dressing to look like they are from a previous age.

Some things that I feel are especially relevant to Highland Dress:

0:35 Some fashions of the past should be left in the past; if incorporated into a modern outfit they make it look costumey.

1:34 In general only clothes from the 1920s and after can be smoothly blended into modern outfits.

8:23 The "cumulative costume effect" where adding too many accessories turns an otherwise normal outfit into a costume.

9:48 An example of this, taking an ordinary modern suit and adding too many vintage accessories, turning it into a costume.

13:04 Don't pick one vintage fashion icon and try to copy his dress exactly. The key is to develop your personal style.

Helpful advice here. The only thing I can usefully add is: Leave the weapons, including dirks, at home and if you wish an SD(Sgian Dubh) to finish off the overall look then make sure it is an SD and not some version of a fighting knife.

[Steve Ashton]

I have always tried to followed the KISS principle. Keep It Simply Stupid.

I was raised to think that simple and understated is always classic and classy. And that the more formal, the simpler and more understated you want to look.

In my early days of kilt wearing I began to use the idea of looking in a mirror from the waist up. If I were to be standing at a counter for example, the person on the other side would not know that I was dressed in a kilt. This is usually the opposite of how most people approach vintage clothing outfits or kilt outfits.

For example if you are wearing a Balmoral bonnet with crest or a Glengarry, anyone seeing you over a counter would expect that you were wearing your kilt outfit. The same goes for a Laird's Plaid a cromach, Argyle jacket or the horrid Ruche tie.
Look at almost any photo I have posted of myself over the years and you will see this sort of thinking in practice.

A kilt sets us apart instantly. To me it's those Highland wear accessories that make us look like we are wearing a kilt costume.

[kilted2000]

Before I was a member of the Rabble here I was active on several forums about what is often termed "classic menswear." Simplicity was often a recurring theme. One resource I still use is a website called Put This On. It goes into many of the themes in the posted video. I thought it might be useful to some of the membership here. https://putthison.com/start-here/

[figheadair]

I have always tried to followed the KISS principle. Keep It Simply Stupid.

I was raised to think that simple and understated is always classic and classy. And that the more formal, the simpler and more understated you want to look.

In my early days of kilt wearing I began to use the idea of looking in a mirror from the waist up. If I were to be standing at a counter for example, the person on the other side would not know that I was dressed in a kilt. This usually the opposite of how most people approach vintage outfits or kilt outfits.

Steve,

I couldn't agree more. Simple and classic speaks for itself.

Here's my counter look.


And what is not seen.

[Troglodyte]

The Gentleman's Gazette is a curious beast.

Until the YouTube offering, it was an on-line subscription magazine, but it's approach could be rather too subjective, and was essentially the view of it's Brazillian-German author. Cultural differences were often in conflict when it came to ideas of correct form and 'the done thing'.

A few years ago, I was asked to write a few pieces for his forum, but I felt his take on things were too far from what is felt right in the Anglo-Saxon world (let alone the more specialised subject of this forum) so it came to nothing. I was surprised to see later his rejection of British conventions when it came to references to British-origin styles and garments.

I remember having a frustrating task explaining to him the role brogue shoes play in both Highland dress specifically, and British dress generally. He was of the opinion that the more 'broguing' the more informal the shoe, and that they could never be worn for anything other than country persuits. Certainly never for 'dress' occasions.

I was not sure he understood the history of the brogue, with its place in Highland dress history, or that the finely-made buckled brogues were not intended for wearing on boggy grouse-moors.

However, there is a great deal that is amusing and entertaining, as well as informative, in his videos.

[Touchstone]

Before I was a member of the Rabble here I was active on several forums about what is often termed "classic menswear." Simplicity was often a recurring theme. One resource I still use is a website called Put This On. It goes into many of the themes in the posted video. I thought it might be useful to some of the membership here. https://putthison.com/start-here/

The designer Coco Chanel (who was no big advocate of the KISS principle) nonetheless once advised women: "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off." I presume she was referring to accessories.

[Touchstone]

The Gentleman's Gazette is a curious beast.

Until the YouTube offering, it was an on-line subscription magazine, but it's approach could be rather too subjective, and was essentially the view of it's Brazillian-German author. Cultural differences were often in conflict when it came to ideas of correct form and 'the done thing'.

A few years ago, I was asked to write a few pieces for his forum, but I felt his take on things were too far from what is felt right in the Anglo-Saxon world (let alone the more specialised subject of this forum) so it came to nothing. I was surprised to see later his rejection of British conventions when it came to references to British-origin styles and garments.

I remember having a frustrating task explaining to him the role brogue shoes play in both Highland dress specifically, and British dress generally. He was of the opinion that the more 'broguing' the more informal the shoe, and that they could never be worn for anything other than country persuits. Certainly never for 'dress' occasions.

I was not sure he understood the history of the brogue, with its place in Highland dress history, or that the finely-made buckled brogues were not intended for wearing on boggy grouse-moors.

However, there is a great deal that is amusing and entertaining, as well as informative, in his videos.

He's certainly eccentric, as you can tell from the video. I have found his articles on color coordination valuable, but that's an area in which I'm hopeless.

[OC Richard]

I have found his articles on color coordination valuable, but that's an area in which I'm hopeless.

I'll have to look at those articles.

About colour coordination, it's simpler than it seems. The same basic principles apply in interior decorating, exterior house painting, and the way film Art Directors coordinate the colours of the costumes and sets.

Just last night I was watching a recent episode of All Creatures Great And Small, and noticed how the character's dress was red, seen against the green walls of the set.

So many tartans are based on green and red, and kilt outfits too, for example the traditional uniforms of many military pipers, with a red-based tartan and green doublets.

Red and green are "complimentary" colours, being opposite on the colour-wheel.

As are yellow and purple, seen with some sports teams.

And blue and orange, a favourite combination of Van Gogh, and also seen on some sports teams.

One way to get a grip on how the position of colours on the colour-wheel impacts how we view colours, you might get a colour-wheel and, say, when watching TV take note of the costumes and sets seen in series and films.

Though the colours can be disguised a bit, as the combination of blue and brown. (Brown is a very dark and dull orange.) So we have to be aware of what colours look like when made lighter, darker, and duller.

Anyhow complimentary colours are opposite on the colour-wheel, but then there's "analogous" colours which are side-by-side on the colour-wheel. They don't resonate off each other like compimentary colours do, but have a soothing blend.

So outfits often combine complimentary and analogous colours.