The Ghillie Shirt

[PatrickHughes123]

You're doing a great job Patrick, huge improvement IMHO.
I do wish you would consider taking your look to just plain modern casual though, it seems like you are stuck between renfair medieval fantasy and full blown dress for some reason.
I think this chap looks fantastic, and I don't even really like the tartan. Just my 2¢.

Attachment 34978

Edit: He really looks a little more dressy than I would personally prefer because of the shoes.

I'd say this guy needs to put some Ghillie Brogues on though, not a fan of normal clothing with a kilt as you can probably tell.

Again, yes, the fly plaid was a mistake. The feather plume was a huge mistake. The full-dress sporran was also a mistake.

The next time I need to buy new kilt stuff, it will be like this for a casual informal look with a Ghillie Shirt that will look nice and I'm sure I can pull this off.

Head - Either Balmoral or Glengarry with bonnet pin (all optional).

Upper body - Ghillie shirt, with optional day plaid and brooch

Kilt - Kilt, Kilt belt, kilt belt buckle, pin, day sporran in either black or brown!

Footwear - Sgian dubh, white hose, black Ghillie brogues with the high front-tie as I only really like this tying method, flashes

[PatrickHughes123]

There's something about it, to me at least, that makes a Ghillie Shirt go great with Ghillie Brogues. The fact that they are both Ghillie-type clothing, and they both have laces.

Just imagine the sentence "Put on your Ghillie Shirt to go with your Ghillie Brogues!" said in a happy Irish accent, it sounds so satisfying.

Seriously though, I love the kilt as much as anyone else on this forum, and I want to preserve it as modern clothing with traditional and historical links, I don't want to turn it into a costume. So yes, I will get rid of the feather plume, I will never wear fly plaids again when I buy new kilt wear. But I will never give up the Ghillie Shirt, it's a shirt that I feel passionate about and want to promote as much as possible. To me it's not a horrible shirt, but something of beauty, a beauty that goes unfairly treated and put aside so the Prince Charlie Coatee or the Montrose Doublet can take its place in the spotlight. For me, it's more than clothing, it's a romantic link to the past. I love the shirt, so beautiful.

[Luke MacGillie]

Yes I'm sorry, I worded it poorly. I meant to say traditional. And the Ghillie, being a modern recreation of an old historical shirt, should be the most worn kilt shirt option. That is what I'm trying to say in this post, that the Ghillie Shirt should be given more respect. I respect the kilt as a contemporary descendant of the old Belted Plaid while being traditional.

The problem, is that the "Gillie Shirt" looks like no shirt I have ever seen from the 17th to early 19th Century. I make reproduction shirts of that era. The Gillie Shirt is like Jock said, pantomime at best. Not even a "Reasonable Facsimile"

[PatrickHughes123]

The problem, is that the "Gillie Shirt" looks like no shirt I have ever seen from the 17th to early 19th Century. I make reproduction shirts of that era. The Gillie Shirt is like Jock said, pantomime at best. Not even a "Reasonable Facsimile"

Aren't you being harsh? It's a romantic Highland-type shirt with a renaissance element. The way I see it, as long as it is bought from a kilt company then it is not a costume piece. There may be costume-like ones out there, I am not sure about that, but the one I have is from a kilt company.

[figheadair]

Aren't you being harsh? It's a romantic Highland-type shirt with a renaissance element. The way I see it, as long as it is bought from a kilt company then it is not a costume piece. There may be costume-like ones out there, I am not sure about that, but the one I have is from a kilt company.

Not harsh, just factual. There is/was no such thing as a 'Highland type shirt'. Shirts in the Highlands have always reflected the contemporary style that was being worn eslewhere in Scotland, Britain and Europe at the time. As for it being a 'Jacobite shirt' as this style is described by some sellers, what do they suppose the Hanoverians wore? The shirt was an item of clothing, not some form of regional or political costume.

[Tobus]

Aren't you being harsh? It's a romantic Highland-type shirt with a renaissance element. The way I see it, as long as it is bought from a kilt company then it is not a costume piece. There may be costume-like ones out there, I am not sure about that, but the one I have is from a kilt company.

I'm curious as to why you think that it can't be a costume piece if it comes from a "kilt company". These companies aren't under any sort of mandate that they may only produce authentic clothing, nor is there any reason to believe that just because they make something it is automatically a legitimate bit of Highland wear. They make costumery all the time. As you have admitted, it is a romanticised style. If it is not historically authentic, is not part of the evolved tradition, and is a modern romanticised design, what else could it be but costume?

MacKenzie Frain sells these ghillie shirts along with so-called "chieftain weskits" (this costumish style is also commonly called a Jacobite vest), labeling these as "New Jacobean". They are marketed specifically to people who like the style as a romanticised costume, with the caveat that they are not historically correct. That seems like a fair compromise. Defining the style as New Jacobean indicates that it is a modern re-imagining of an older style, with plenty of liberty taken in the design. It seems to have enough of a following to have become a modern style in its own right, for those who prefer that look. MacKenzie Frain, along with many other outfitters, will keep selling these as long as people want to buy them. But there really isn't any escaping the fact that it is a costume piece designed with no small degree of fantasy in mind.

[PatrickHughes123]

I'm curious as to why you think that it can't be a costume piece if it comes from a "kilt company".

I just think it is unfair and harsh to call it a costume piece. It's a type of shirt, regardless of origins just like the grandfather shirt, a plain white shirt or a wing collar shirt. This is just how I see it, I think its place in kilt wearing is underappreciated. I mean, to be honest, why does it matter when it came around? Some doublets and kilt jackets only came around recently, so why does it matter? They're considered genuine.

[PatrickHughes123]

Are you honestly saying this gentleman in the photo looks like he's wearing a costume?



I think he looks excellent, very smart looking. A Ghillie Shirt, a very smart-looking shirt, a great modern contribution to kilt wearing.

Source: Scotweb

[Luke MacGillie]

Are you honestly saying this gentleman in the photo looks like he's wearing a costume?



I think he looks excellent, very smart looking. A Ghillie Shirt, a very smart-looking shirt, a great modern contribution to kilt wearing.

Source: Scotweb

Context, and authenticity. Lets remove the Scottish element and substitute say, a tie dyed shirt. On the back of a frat boy at a party, paired with a fake wig, its costume, on the back of a person who has been "On the Bus" with jam bands their whole life, its a piece of, well, cultural dress......


But these gillie shirts have no actual basis in Scottish culture, they are, pardon my pun, cut from the whole cloth of costume.

[FossilHunter]

Are you honestly saying this gentleman in the photo looks like he's wearing a costume?



I think he looks excellent, very smart looking. A Ghillie Shirt, a very smart-looking shirt, a great modern contribution to kilt wearing.

Source: Scotweb

Yes, it looks like a renaissance fair costume to me.


From: renfaire.com