Australian Highland Dress in 1898

[MinusHD]

Great article! This is the first mention I've seen of "kilt drawers". I believe I can imagine what these are, but I tried a little searching and I stumbled across an older thread that mentioned "kilt drawers". The conversation went along the lines that these were provided by kilt makers, and that they may have been issued in the military for certain situations/environments. Does anyone have any additional info, description, photos, etc. of these "kilt drawers"? When did they gain popularity, and when did they fall out of use? Perhaps the advent of more modern undergarments? Or the desire, or military custom, to "man up" and go regimental?

[neloon]

Minus,
They were just shorts with a fitted waist and button fly made in the same tartan as the kilt.
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-ph...ng-out-of-kilt
They were originally part of Officers uniform in the Highland regiments but two pairs came to be supplied automatically by civilian kiltmakers up until WW2 and to order thereafter. They were not, of course, very hygienic because they could not be washed very frequently and they were not very comfortable even by the comfort standards of those days. They were usually just called "(under)trews".
The "regimental" rule applied only to Privates (the lowest rank of soldier) when on active service but, by WW1, even they were issued with plain "drawers, short" against the extreme cold of the trenches and for civilian wear - my father was one such soldier.
Alan

[tpa]

Minus,
They were not, of course, very hygienic because they could not be washed very frequently and they were not very comfortable even by the comfort standards of those days. They were usually just called "(under)trews".
Alan

I will second that. My first kilt came complete with a pair. I very quickly and conveniently "lost" them.

[neloon]

I will second that. My first kilt came complete with a pair. I very quickly and conveniently "lost" them.

As youngsters, we didn't always have that option!
Alan

[Jock Scot]

The 'washing linen", cotton as I recall, ones were definitely a better option!

[HootinHoller]

Doublet and vest? Isn't the doublet the military style jacket that buttons to the neck?

Um, why the vest then? Other than making the tailor more money that is.

[OC Richard]

Doublet and vest? Isn't the doublet the military style jacket that buttons to the neck?

There were two sorts of "doublet", the ones worn in the Army that had a short standing collar that were worn buttoned all the way up, and the civilian ones which had an open collar with ordinary lapels.

The doublet was by far the most popular civilian Highland jacket from c1840 to c1910.

Here it is! They were often cut like this, designed to hang open to reveal the vest (yes, it was usually called a "vest" back then)



This wonderful photo shows three styles of doublet: on the left is a fully trimmed civilian doublet, next is a plain civilian doublet, and next are two military-style doublets. All have the same style of cuffs and skirts, more or less.

[Jock Scot]

Doublet and vest? Isn't the doublet the military style jacket that buttons to the neck?

Um, why the vest then? Other than making the tailor more money that is.

Beware! Rather unhelpfully Scottish tailors had, and sill do to an extent, a tendency to name their wares to what they thought was a good name. Certainly in those days the same style of jacket could easily be called several names, or even more confusingly, the same name but completely different style of jacket, depending on the tailor that made it.

[FinnKilt]

Doublet and vest? Isn't the doublet the military style jacket that buttons to the neck?

Um, why the vest then? Other than making the tailor more money that is.

Um, the point is that on the eastern side of the Great Atlantic, vest means what on the western side is called an undershirt, and what in North American English is called a vest is in eastern English called a waistcoat or perhaps jerkin – with the notable exception of high-visibility vests, where the whole term seems to have been adopted as such.

Aren't you familiar with the story about the North American businessman or equivalent preferring in summer to work in just vest and pants (=undershirt and underpants), when what he really meant, English-style, was waistcoat and trousers? = he'd taken his jacket off. Not his coat, which in Englishspeak means an overcoat.

In summer I often wear what I call a jerkin, i e sleeveless jacket with pockets. I'm a pockets addict, and all my kilts have pockets. To be honest, these too are probably now increasingly marketed in the UK as vests, and one knows they aren't underwear since they're not in the underwear section of the shop (or do I mean store?).

To his horror he recollected that he had left both coat and waistcoat behind him in his cell, and with them his pocket-book, money, keys, watch, matches, pencil-case— all that makes life worth living, all that distinguishes the many-pocketed animal, the lord of creation, from the inferior one-pocketed or no-pocketed productions that hop or trip about permissively, unequipped for the real contest.
The Wind in the Willows, chapter 8: Toad has escaped from prison by crossdressing as a washerwoman, thus transgressing boundaries both of gender and class (class is probably the more serious), and therefore finding himself dispocketed.

[OC Richard]

This is the first mention I've seen of "kilt drawers".

I'd never heard of them until I started collecting vintage Highland Dress catalogues.

A while back I poste the entire Anderson 1936 catalogue

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...talogue-74888/

Here's the page which mentions kilt drawers, part of the "Highland Dress in the Evening" section



About that article, thanks for posting! An interesting insight into a different time and place.

There are a number of 19th century photographic portraits taken in the USA showing quite elaborate Highland Dress, the American equivalent of the Mr MacDonald of that article.

I notice the term "full kilt" which my old Pipe Major found highly amusing:

"People are always calling to hire me, asking if I'm going to wear my 'full kilt'. One of these days I'm going to say 'no, I think for your event I'm going to wear my half kilt'."

He could not imagine what a 'half kilt' might be, but if there's a 'full kilt' there must also exist a partial one.