Question on a Jacket

[Korvyn]

I was looking through the macleay prints and found a jacket i style i fell in love with yet can't seem to identify it. Can anyone help?

http://www.tartansauthority.com/medi...nd%20400px.jpg

It is the brown one on the right.

[Destin_scot]

I believe that jacket has evolved into two jackets we know now as the Argyle and the Craile Jacket.

[The Q]

I believe that jacket has evolved into two jackets we know now as the Argyle and the Craile Jacket.

With the addition of ribbon edging, which I believe was originally to hide wear on the jacket edges but is now most often seen in school uniform blazers. Sometimes to indicate school or school house or being a Prefect.

[OC Richard]

All three of those jackets were called "doublets" then.

On the left is a military doublet, scarlet with white piping etc.

Centre and right are two variations on the civilian doublet. These doublets were by far the most popular Highland jackets in the second half of the 19th century and up into the early 20th century. In the first two decades of the 20th century several new Highland jackets appeared (the Coatee, the Montrose, the Kenmore, etc) and the doublet fell somewhat out of favour, though it is still made and worn today. We call it a "Regulation Doublet" now. It being a fully civilian style, I wonder what the word "regulation" refers to.

So you can buy a Regulation Doublet today, no problem. They can be had inexpensively from Pakistan and expensively from Scotland. The 20th century (Regulation) Doublet is cut low in front with satin lapels. In the 19th century the Doublet's lapels followed the then-standard higher cut and smaller lapels and were usually not satin.

An early image of the civilian doublet c1860. Note that it buttons very high, and is designed to hang open revealing the waistcoat. This is the standard lapel style for men's jackets at that time and not specifically Scottish. The defining thing about the doublet is the "Inverness skirts" around the bottom. Doublets usually have Gauntlet Cuffs as seen here.



This photo clearly shows the later style, not cut quite so high. This doublet has trim all around, which got more and more popular as the end of the 19th century was reached. This guy is probably a piper, because his doublet has Musician's Shells, rare to see on civilian jackets. This photo was taken in 1896.



Here we can see the Doublet developing lower lapels, more formal lapels, and well on its way to attaining the modern form of the so-called "regulation" doublet. (The cuffs are absurdly huge, one sees that around 1900 sometimes).



This Highland Dress catalogue, probably around 1930, shows both the Doublet and the Coatee



Highland Dress today: a sea of Coatees, but Gordon Walker is wearing a Doublet

[Profane James]

Highland Dress today: a sea of Coatees, but Gordon Walker is wearing a Doublet

Off topic - Gordon Walker is prob my fav piper to date...oh, and red laces!

[OC Richard]

Gordon Walker is prob my fav piper to date...oh, and red laces!

And shoe buckles! And a pocket watch chain! That sporran didn't come off the peg, I don't think. He's stylish for sure. A fine bird deserves fine feathers!

BTW in The Highlanders Of Scotland (1860s) 24 of the 56 kilted men are wearing the ordinary civilian doublet of the period. Most are plain black. A couple have lace (braid) trim. Three are dark blue, one is tartan, one is tan.

25 men are wearing jackets with rounded cutaway bottoms, 21 are grey or brown Day tweed, four are blue, black, or tartan.

The remainder of the jackets are military doublets (3) shell jackets (2) and the unique buttonless jackets of the "Harris men" (2).

[Cygnus]

I've posted this photo here before, but it further illustrates the look of the modern regulation doublet:



I'm not as stylish as Gordon Walker, but you can see the silk facings, longer lapels/opening, and low-cut waistcoat pretty well. The one difference in mine that harkens back more to the older style is that the buttons are "to close", or along the open edge of one side only and opposed by (false) button holes on the other. This is different from the current practice in most regulation doublets of mimicking the formal tailcoat and putting decorative buttons down both sides of the front, likely to appear as though the jacket is double-breasted.

The doublets in the image in the OP's link look more like a hybrid between this and the modern Sheriffmuir Doublet, so if you like the tashes (or Inverness flaps) and lapels, the regulation doublet is for you, but if the thing that draws you to the doublets in the picture is the high-buttoned front exposing a higher-fastening waistcoat, you may find a Sheriffmuir is more to your taste. That, or you could take out a second mortgage and have a professional tailor make one just like in the pictures!

[Korvyn]

Thanks everyone. Now to talk the wife into yet another kilt related purchase.