Scottish Country Dancers and the "Highlander" Shirt

[Panache]

I recently posed a question regarding the origins of the "Highlander-Ghillie-Jacobite" shirt to the ladies and gentlemen of
X Marks the Scot
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/o...203/index.html

Matt Newsome makes a case for these shirts as "festival wear" at best which makes sense to me.

Another occasion that comes to mind is SCD.

At most dances for the San Francisco Chapter of the RSCDS (save formal ones) the standard dress for the men is one of these types of shirts along with their kilt and kit.

I find that for the vigorous Scottish Country Dancing that these shirts are quite comfortable as well as dashing.

So I was wondering how many Scottish Country Dancers here wear them at your SCD events?

Cheers

Jamie

[McMurdo]

I've not done so yet, perhaps one day I'll give it a shot just for dancing.

[Panache]

I've not done so yet, perhaps one day I'll give it a shot just for dancing.

Glen,

I was trying to gauge how widespread they are at SCD events around the world.

On they uncommon for the Ontario Chapter of the RSCDS?

Cheers

Jamie

[McMurdo]

Oh yes very uncommon indeed, I've never seen one, our team that does the games etc. wear white dress shirts, and the kilt for the men, and white dresses for the ladies usually with a tartan sash.

For our dances here it mostly a modern casual look, a golf shirt, or dress shirt with the kilt, the ladies get away with murder. Then of course there is the Tartan Ball where it is black tie, however White tie ie. a Montrose Doublet has been known to be worn, I will wear mine to the Tartan Ball this year.

[vmac3205]

The men on our RSCDS demo team wear the Jacobite (Highlander) shirt in a solid color that matches their kilt. We women wear solid color dresses that match our indiviual tartan sashes. I'll post a photo soon.

[ThistleDown]

I have never seen one of these shirts worn by dancers in either Scotland or British Columbia, but perhaps I've just not been very observant. All the men I know wear white shirts and ties (bow or straight, depending on the occasion).

[Kiltman]

I've seen them at SCD events in Washington State. BC, CA and OH. Generally they are not worn at the Ball, but for workshops, ceilidhs etc.

[londonpiper]

I wear one under my doublet when I know it's going to be hot, which it usually does when I get enthusiastic!

[Highland Logan]

The Thistle Scottish Country Dancers in Nova Scotia wear them.

Frank

[MartinGrenoble]

I can't remember ever seeing these shirts in GB. One of my friends in Grenoble has one. Two men turned up at another class in Spain both wearing identical black ghillies shirts. That really looked like a costume to me.

I too have one that I sometimes wear when asked to MC an evening in a non-Scottish context (Scottish theme & music, but with non-specialist public), but I'm not too keen to tell the truth. No jacket looks right with the big collar, so it's not ideal when it's cold, and you can't roll the sleeves up if it gets hot.

Just another of those products put on the market to keep the money coming in, and which we could quite well do without.

Martin (generally in a plain white shirt, especially when dancing).