Traditional day dress c. 1870

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Here is a Vanity Fair cartoon showing the Marquis of Lorn from Nov. 19, 1870.


Looking at this cartoon from the standpoint of Highland dress, I really don't see anything at all from his attire that would not also be very suitable Highland daywear today in 2011, with the possible exception of the wide waist belt worn over his tweed waistcoat.

Comments?

[tulloch]

That is really interesting. I agree. It could be from today, even with the soft, rather open collar shirt. Who can duplicate that look? I don't have an otter sporran or a blue shirt.

[McMurdo]

A very interesting illustration, really does show how slowly the fashion changes, I'd love to see that Argyll jacket in real life.

[Tobus]

Ha! Wonderful!

I couldn't help but notice the brown ghillie brogues. Which also happens to be a commonly-seen style of shoe in the MacLeay portraits from the same era. Virtually no one wears these today. At least, not in that particular style.

[MacLowlife]

I was just looking for examples of the Colquhoun tartan and I believe this is one. Do you suppose his kilt was really that color, or is this the result of ink technology?

[JSFMACLJR]

I was just looking for examples of the Colquhoun tartan and I believe this is one. Do you suppose his kilt was really that color, or is this the result of ink technology?

Surely the Marquis of Lorn aka the Duke of Argyll would be wearing a Campbell tartan, no?

[creagdhubh]

Surely the the Marquis of Lorn aka the Duke of Argyll would be wearing a Campbell tartan, no?

Quite right, Sandy.

[Eck]

Ha! Wonderful!

I couldn't help but notice the brown ghillie brogues.

I also find the ghillie brogues an interesting addition. More generally associated with full dress outfits and frowned upon by some traditionalists when worn with day wear outfit. Amazing how a change of colour from black to brown makes it acceptable.
Fashion? Tadition? I don't know!

[MacLowlife]

I yield to you, JSFMcA,in your knowledge of the Marquess's clan. I agree, the Duke of Argyll would be wearing a Campbell tartan, but I can't make the picture match. My monitor ( and this is the second one I have looked at) gives a distinctly red or pink cast to one of the stripes in the kilt- and to the toorie on his bonnet.

Campbell of Cawdor has a red stripe, but it also has a white one crossing on the green, which seems to be absent. Perhaps Vanity Fair's tartan scholar was on vacation.

I am probably missing something, but I return to my earlier question. Are these colors (shades) merely the result of limitations of the printer's ink, or is his kilt actually that pale, be it Campbell, Colquhoun, or otherwise? I do love the oil portrait with all of its detail, but it seems to be the more usual Campbell tartan, aka the Black Watch.

Thanks very much for adding that picture (and more salmon button envy.)

[Tobus]

I yield to you, JSFMcA,in your knowledge of the Marquess's clan. I agree, the Duke of Argyll would be wearing a Campbell tartan, but I can't make the picture match. My monitor ( and this is the second one I have looked at) gives a distinctly red or pink cast to one of the stripes in the kilt- and to the toorie on his bonnet.

Campbell of Cawdor has a red stripe, but it also has a white one crossing on the green, which seems to be absent. Perhaps Vanity Fair's tartan scholar was on vacation.

I am probably missing something, but I return to my earlier question. Are these colors (shades) merely the result of limitations of the printer's ink, or is his kilt actually that pale, be it Campbell, Colquhoun, or otherwise? I do love the oil portrait with all of its detail, but it seems to be the more usual Campbell tartan, aka the Black Watch.

Thanks very much for adding that picture (and more salmon button envy.)

Colquhoun is completely different. The red line is in the middle of a green stripe, but the green is bordered by white lines (except for the Sobieski frauds who put the white line on the wrong side of the black). And the blue field has two black lines crossing it. There is no black stripe crossing through green in Colquhoun.

The Colquhoun tartan is one of the earlier documented ones, pre-dating the 'tartan frenzy' that followed George IV's 1822 visit to Scotland. So it has been pretty well locked in for a long time, and I'm unaware of any variation that would make it appear similar to the one in the caricature.

I imagine that, as others have said, this is an artist's caricature of tartan, with no attempt (or a poor one) at representing an actual tartan design.

As for the colours used, it might just be the artist's attempt to represent a faded tartan using his watercolour technique? A deep red would have been out of place.