Did Lowland Scots have a different look than the Highland Scots during the Regency Pe

[Kearnold02]

I am researching garb from that period and not having any luck as to what a Lowland or a Highland Scot would wear. The modern kilt sold at so many stores? A Great kilt? Trews?

My wife is interested in joining a Jane Austin group here in Ohio and we would probably dress as Scotts.

Any help to photos, links, etc. Would be a huge help.

[Pleater]

Unless your persona is that of someone serving in a Scottish regiment who might well be in uniform, then outwith their native haunts, you would probably dress exactly like any other person of the same rank - or perhaps a little less expensively and slightly behind the fashionable latest thing as seen in court circles.

[Lady Grey]

I “think” there was a difference but I just can’t remember where I read the information/source.
From memory it had more to do with class and lifestyle.... the lowlanders were more aligned with English customs and lifestyle.

I think art - paintings from the era would be helpful for inspiration, along with regency blogs
Women wore tartan/plaid patterned fabric (which doesn’t help you- sorry)
Here’s a start

http://plaidpetticoats.blogspot.com/...tartan-in.html

[Luke MacGillie]

Have you spoken with the folks at The Dutch Milleners?

https://www.facebook.com/TheDutchMilliners/

They will steer you in the correct way. Also look at Peter MacDonald's research page.

https://www.scottishtartans.co.uk/research.htm

[Steve Ashton]

Historically the Regency period (1811- 1820) was at the end of the Georgian era (1795- 1837).

This is a period in history which gave us some of the longest lasting changes into our modern world.

The Industrial Revolution was in full swing with all the innovation, invention, and development it brought. Steam engines which powered the factories and the locomotives which moved people and goods.
The Scots gave us some of the greatest, and most famous, Engineers. That is why "Scotty" of Star Trek was the ship's Engineer.

The Scottish Enlightenment began in the Regency period and continued well into the early 20th century. It brought us the 4 most respected universities of the time. All 4 (St Andrews, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh) in Scotland.
The public lending Library was a Scottish innovation. The Scots were, at the time, the most literate people in the world.

Huge advances were made in Scotland in almost every field - Philosophy, Economics, Literature, Engineering, Architecture, Medicine, Geology, Archaeology, Botany and Zoology, Law, Agriculture, Chemistry and Sociology and Politics.

Lowland Scots would have known about and would have dressed much the same as the English and the rest of the Western world of that period.

Early in the period upper class men would have worn knee length breeches with hose, high heel buckle shoes, (long tailored trousers not being popular among the upper classes until Beau Brummel) long Frock coats with Vests and some ridiculously high, and at times incredibly fancy neck cloths.

For women the Empire waist was popular along with long skirts paired with short Spencer jackets, often with puffy sleeves.



The Highland Revival had its beginnings during the Regency period so the wearing of Tartan was beginning, but perhaps with a different emphasis than we put on it today. It was perhaps seen more as a colorful and different fashion statement than a symbol of National identity during the period as the weavers became industrialized and the market became global.

The Recency era was the same time as the Romance period which was a backlash to the industrialization that was taking place. This was the time of Percy, the Shelly's, Burns and Scott so we need to look at this period, not through the romantic notions that persist and plague us today, but as a period of amazing change and advancement.

The Scots of the period were not the backwater country folk, clinging to the past, as they are so often portrayed. They were forward thinking leaders in a new and exciting time.

[figheadair]

I am researching garb from that period and not having any luck as to what a Lowland or a Highland Scot would wear. The modern kilt sold at so many stores? A Great kilt? Trews?

My wife is interested in joining a Jane Austin group here in Ohio and we would probably dress as Scotts.

Any help to photos, links, etc. Would be a huge help.

Perhaps you could clarify what social class you are thinking of representing and for what sort of events. There was considerable class difference at the time, more so than today, and even Highland Scots did not wear Highland Dress as everyday wear in most cases.

[Kearnold02]

Perhaps you could clarify what social class you are thinking of representing and for what sort of even. There was considerable class difference at the time, more so than today and even Highland Scots did not wear Highland Dress as everyday wear in more cases.

Oh, good point, I didn't think of that. I guess any information would help, but the focus would be the upper class.

I am curious if the dress was still divided by region.

[Steve Ashton]

Paintings, illustrations and writings suggest that there was much more diversity between the classes than there was among regions.

This was a period where a persons social/economic class and occupation would be readily apparent from how they dressed.

But among the same class it was pretty much the same. Some would say rigid. A farmer or shopkeeper (and their wives) would probably dress almost identically in Scotland as in England.
But as most of the evidence is of the upper classes our views of the fashions are skewed. The upper classes were well known for going out of their way and showing off their finery as a status statement.

While at the same time the lower classes were often portrayed more as characters to emphasis the class divide and the economic state of the normal, working people.

From the early 1800's up until WWI was one of the most rigid class periods in human history. Add to that the romantic notion of the idyllic life we should have had if not for the coal dust has muddied and distorted our view of the time. This dichotomy between the real, and what they wished for, has perhaps fueled more romance novels than any other era.

[Pleater]

I had assumed upper class simply due to it being Jane Austen.
There were magazines which showed the latest fashions, month by month, which anyone who was anyone would have organised the viewing of, arranging for a visit to someone who's sister, or cousin might post to them, or even arranging with the housekeeper of a house situated where such things might be obtained from a newsagent for a copy to be obtained and posted, or even sent in a hamper being returned to a country estate from a 'town house'.
Anyone travelling North would be quizzed on the latest innovations, the length of sleeve, height and shape of neckline being worn by the ladies, the latest way to tie a cravat or the subtle alteration in the shape of a hat or lapel.
The era is, fortunately, not so rigidly corseted as some, but it is too early for the espousal of all things Scottish which happened in the reign of Victoria.
There were 'gentleman farmers' who had land but needed to generate income from it by their own management, and often labour, and who Jane Austen set firmly in their place even when they cleaned up, dressed correctly and showed that they knew how to behave in polite society.

If your personas are moving in society, in the first quarter of the 19th century, or even up to 1837 they would have done everything possible to dress a la mode, have their hair done in the latest style, and even to minimise their accent, if they had one.

[Kearnold02]

I do wonder what aspect of the clothing that was being worn at the time was the tartan pattern. Did the women just wear a sash or was it a skirt or an entire outfit? Did the men just wear a waistcoat. A kilt? Trues? I honestly have not found any indicators of a Tartan being worn with the Regency style of dress.