Quote Originally Posted by PatrickHughes123 View Post
If people could stop referring to Ghillie shirts as pirate shirts, that would be great. Ghillie shirts are traditional shirts and are not modern inventions like some claim. I wear a Ghillie shirt with my kilt and it looks great!
Hi Patrick - I certainly get your point, but if you go onto the web and google "Pirate shirt" and "Ghillie shirt", you will see exactly the same garments for sale. They are both roomy cotton shirts with fall-down collars and neck openings that are secured by lacing. I believe this type of shirt came into existence at some point in the 20th c., so the style isn't that old. In the 18th c. men's shirts also had neck openings, but they were secured at the top by buttons. Depending on the time period, shirts could have narrow banded collars (early) or wide fall-down collars (1760s onward), and narrow cuffs (early) or wide cuffs (1790s onward). Shirts then were almost always made of linen (cotton was expensive!) of varying qualities. The length of the shirt depended on what the wearer wanted; when I go reenacting, I choose to have my shirts extend about 3/4-way down my thighs, where it acts to protect my skin from the wool of the kilt/plaid. My shirts also double as night-shirts when I camp out at reenactments.

If you're going for a historic look and want to get an authentic "Jacobite" shirt to wear with your kilt, you might try reenactor vendors like G. Gedney Godwin. Or buy a pattern and get some linen and get one made - it isn't that hard. IMHO, it will look a lot better than a Ghillie/pirate shirt.