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  1. #1
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    outfits at The Worlds Friday 2018

    It's that time again! We pipers and drummers who didn't make it to The Worlds are sitting in front of our computers watching our friends play on Glasgow Green.

    Today (Friday 17 August) was the Grade One Qualifiers. They started at 3am Pacific Time.

    The Grade One format has changed in recent years. No longer are the big UK bands pre-qualified; now everyone must play in the Qualifying Heat, which is held on Friday.

    As I do every year, I take note of what the bands are wearing in addition to the music they're playing. Also the Worlds can't be beat for pipe-spotting. (Cool to see how many American-made pipes are in Grade One circles.)

    As far as Fashion News goes, there's not much to tell. The pace of evolution of competition Pipe Band costume is more akin to that of geological processes than the activities of humankind.

    Seems that we can finally say with confidence that the White Hose Era is dead and gone. Once again, not a single band in the Grade One Qualifiers (22 bands) was wearing white or any light colour. Once again nearly all the hose are black, navy blue, or charcoal grey. The only exceptions were a couple bands wearing what I would call RAF blue, a couple wearing a deep royal blue, and one outlier wearing dark olive. (They had dark olive waistcoats to match.)

    With kilts, there's been an ongoing trend away from the old standard tartans (which used to dominate the Pipe Band world) and towards commemorative, corporate, and bespoke tartans. Lomond & Clyde, Field Marshal Montgomery, and Scottish Power are wearing tartans designed for the bands. The New Zealand Police wear a tartan that commemorates the centenary of the Clan MacLeod Society, and Denny & Dunipace wear Princess Elizabeth.

    Old standbys making an appearance were Royal Stewart, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, Clan Cameron, Blue MacKay, and MacLean of Duart (weathered). 40 years ago at the Worlds Royal Stewart and MacLean of Duart accounted for around a quarter of the bands!

    Only two bands had their kilts pleated to the sett, the rest being to the line or block.

    Every band was wearing waistcoats, ghillies, and Glengarries. No band wore jackets.

    A recent trend is bands going away from the once-ubiquitous black Barathea waistcoats with square silver buttons and wearing plain tweed waistcoats with matching plastic buttons, in black, navy blue, and charcoal grey. The outliers were one band wearing dark brown and another wearing dark olive.

    A decade ago you could see dozens of bands all wearing black Hunting Sporrans with chrome cantles; this year half the bands were wearing them. A couple bands were wearing plain black leather Day sporrans, a few were wearing grey sealskin Evening sporrans, a couple were wearing those distinctive Ian Grant sporrans.

    Still popular with bands are the ornate silver sporran chains. A few bands are putting band logos on their flashes.

    Nearly all the bands were wearing striped neckties.

    Three bands were wearing military cap-badges though there didn't appear to be any military connexion, one band Cameron Highlanders, one band Black Watch, one band Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders.

    The most interesting kits, bucking a number of common trends, were worn by the Glasgow Skye Association and Inveraray & District.

    (All the comments above leave out mention of Bagad Cap Caval. They do not wear Highland Dress, which by the way is not required by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association.)
    Last edited by OC Richard; 17th August 18 at 05:23 PM.
    Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte

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  3. #2
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    No pics?

  4. #3
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    Here is what my band wore:


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  6. #4
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    I think the main difference between the current Dark Hose Era and the previous White Hose Era was what matches what.

    In the White Hose Era there was generally a match between the hose and shirt. However this redundancy led some bands to go to blue shirts, which IMHO looked far better with the white hose.

    Nowadays there's generally a match between the waistcoat and the hose: navy/navy, charcoal grey/charcoal grey, black/black.

    The pipe bag dressings are nearly always black or navy, which may or may not match the waistcoat and hose colour.

    There's been an increase in the number of bands wearing French cuffs and cufflinks.

    For whatever reason, this year there seemed to be an increase in kit issues. In the various Grade One bands I noticed

    -shirts sticking out
    -mismatching sporrans
    -mismatching sporran chains
    -missing cap badges
    -mismatching cap badges
    -missing touries
    -mismatching touries (both in colour and size)
    -stained hats
    -mismatching hats (black and navy)

    Amazing how so many of the kit problems are hat-related.
    Last edited by OC Richard; 19th August 18 at 07:34 AM.
    Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte

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  8. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by WalesLax View Post
    Here is what my band wore
    Very cool!

    Are your hose and waistcoats navy blue? It's difficult oftentimes to tell black from navy in photos, even more so in YouTube videos.

    But that's the de rigueur competition dress nowadays, and few bands depart from it. Every band in the 2018 Worlds Grade One Qualifiers (and by definition Finals) wore:

    -Glengarries, no dicing, black or navy

    -waistcoats without jackets, black, navy, or grey (generally charcoal grey save for Inveraray's mid-grey)

    -long sleeved shirts, generally white but sometimes pale blue (one band wore a very pale grey)

    -dark hose: black, blue (usually navy but also RAF blue and deep royal blue) or grey (usually charcoal but sometimes approaching mid-grey)

    -Ghillie brogues

    (Just on a personal note we did meet head to head in competition, at Pleasanton in 2005, while I was playing in Misty Isle.)
    Last edited by OC Richard; 19th August 18 at 07:34 AM.
    Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte

  9. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by tokareva View Post
    No pics?
    Plenty of videos on YouTube and the BBC live streamed it.

    But pretty much all of the Grade One bands dressed alike. As they say "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down".

    This band typifies the modern higher-grades civilian pipe band competition dress, except that not many civilian bands wear military cap-badges like that. You see the standard dark Glengarries, waistcoats, and hose, the white long-sleeved shirts, the standard pipe band sporrans, the ornate sporran-chains, the dark bag-covers and cords.



    Even military pipe bands adopt this dress for civilian pipe band competitions; here's 3SCOTS wearing civilian shirts, waistcoats, sporrans, ghillies, and hose in competition

    Last edited by OC Richard; 19th August 18 at 07:42 AM.
    Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte

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  11. #7
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    It’s been quite the experience. 3rd in qualifying, then 11th overall. Pretty fantastic.

    To answer your questions:

    Navy vest (with square metal buttons) and navy hose. The flashes match the tie though.

    Glengarries are black - I must point out that all badges match exactly though.

    White shirts, no jackets though - it’s too hot and humid. Rain capes when necessary, but were adamant not to wear them into the circle even if it had been pouring rain.

    Ghillies, which I hate. I keep pushing to move to Nike’s, but no one listens. Cole Haan actually makes brogues dress shoes with Nike foam soles that I wear for parades.

    2005 was before my time, but I’m glad you know/recognize the band!

    R

    Quote Originally Posted by OC Richard View Post
    Very cool!

    Are your hose and waistcoats navy blue? It's difficult oftentimes to tell black from navy in photos, even more so in YouTube videos.

    But that's the de rigueur competition dress nowadays, and few bands depart from it. Every band in the 2018 Worlds Grade One Qualifiers (and by definition Finals) wore:

    -Glengarries, no dicing, black or navy

    -waistcoats without jackets, black, navy, or grey (generally charcoal grey save for Inveraray's mid-grey)

    -long sleeved shirts, generally white but sometimes pale blue (one band wore a very pale grey)

    -dark hose: black, blue (usually navy but also RAF blue and deep royal blue) or grey (usually charcoal but sometimes approaching mid-grey)

    -Ghillie brogues

    (Just on a personal note we did meet head to head in competition, at Pleasanton in 2005, while I was playing in Misty Isle.)

  12. #8
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    I thought I'd post links to the BBC videos of the highest-placing bands so their kits can be seen.

    2018 World Champions, Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band from Northern Ireland, the Pipe Major is Richard Parkes MBE.

    Their kit consists of kilt in Drumalig tartan (designed for the band in conjunction with the firm R G Hardie) pleated to the line, traditional style sword & shield kilt pin, navy hose, striped red flashes, ghillies, black barathea waistcoat (with navy silk back), longsleeved blue shirt, bespoke cufflinks, striped tie, standard pipe band sporran with engraved disc, ordinary sporran chain, navy cover and cords, and glengarry with scarlet tourie and large clan-style badge.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06htmky

    In second place on Saturday, the 2017 champions Inveraray & District Pipe Band from Scotland, Pipe Major Stuart Liddell (who, I would imagine, has an MBE in his future).

    Their kit is kilt in MacCallum (ancient colours) pleated to the line, no kilt pin, grey hose, blue flashes with logo, ghillies, mid-grey tweed waistcoat, white longsleeved shirt, round cufflinks, striped tie, grey sealskin Evening Dress sporran, ornate sporran chain, navy cover and cords, and glengarry with black tourie small clan-style badge.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06htk9h

    In third place is Saint Lawrence O Toole Pipe Band from Eire, Pipe Major Alen Tully. They wear a green kilt, battle-axe kilt pin, dark grey hose, claret flashes with logo, dark grey waistcoat with horn buttons, white longsleeved shirt, striped claret tie, plain leather Day sporran, ornate sporran chain, claret cover, green & claret cords, glengarry with claret tourie and large bespoke cap badge. (The cap badges do double duty, being affixed to the sporrans as well.)

    Their kit is a perfect example of colour co-ordination, as they have avoided using the green of their kilt anywhere else in their uniform, the rest being a balance of dark grey and claret. They're the only band to have bag-covers that aren't either black or navy.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06hth6g

    In fourth place on Saturday were Scottish Power Pipe Band (sponsored by the utility) Pipe Major Chris Armstrong.

    Their kit consists of kilt in the Scottish Power tartan, pleated to the line, kilt pin with round crest, dark grey hose, red striped flashes, ghillies, dark grey waistcoat with silver buttons, longsleeved white shirt, claret tie, Ian Grant (Edinburgh) sporran, ornate sporran chain, black cover, Royal Stewart cords, glengarry with badge.

    I find it interesting that a number of top bands wear Royal Stewart drone cords though they wear kilts that aren't in those colours.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06htn1g

    A note about this band and their tartan: the band started out in 1969 as the British Caledonian Airways Pipe Band and wore the Caledonia tartan (ancient colours). In 1989 they changed sponsorships and became Power Of Scotland. In the early 1990s a corporate name change led to the band becoming Scottish Power and in 1995 the firm Kinloch Anderson designed the Scottish Power corporate tartan with the band adopted.

    In fifth place Saturday was several-time World Champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band from Canada, Pipe Major Alan Bevan.

    Their kit is kilt in Fraser tartan, pleated to the line, no kilt pin, navy hose, flashes with logo, ghillies, navy waistcoat with silver buttons, white longsleeved shirt, striped tie, standard pipe band sporran, ornate sporran chain, navy cover and cords, and glengarry with large round bespoke badge.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06hthfk

    A note about their tartan: from the founding of the modern SFU pipe band in 1981 they wore Fraser in ancient colours, but in 2010 had a special run of the tartan done with the blue changed to the dark blue of modern colours.

    And finally in sixth place at the 2018 World Pipe Band Championships was Police Scotland Fife Pipe Band , Pipe Major Douglas Murray.

    They wore kilt in Carnegie Of Fife tartan, pleated to the line, no kilt pin, navy hose, claret flashes with police dice, black waistcoat with silver buttons, white longsleeved shirt, interesting dark teal and red striped tie, standard pipe band sporran, plain sporran chain, faded navy cover, silver cords, and glengarry with scarlet tourie and small clan-style badge.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06htjk9
    Last edited by OC Richard; 22nd August 18 at 04:11 AM.
    Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte

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  14. #9
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    Waleslax, is your bands kilt Cameron tartan?

  15. #10
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    and let's not forget the Grade 2 champs for this year - our own Dunedin Pipe Band:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06htp6l

    https://www.pcsb.org/site/default.as...&Comments=true

    http://www.dunedinpipeband.com/

    There's a celebratory parade on the 15th of September.

    https://www.facebook.com/events/301798933705419/
    Last edited by Tobinn; 3rd September 18 at 02:49 PM. Reason: found the date of the parade
    At a time like this one must ask themselves, 'WWJDD"
    What Would Jimmy Durante Do?

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