Proper shirt for wear with a Sheriffmuir

[Jock Scot]

I have seen the late Chief John MacLeod of MacLeod wear that outfit many times and always as evening dress------apart from the one time when he was posing for an artist who I understand worked for much of the time from a photograph, for background purposes, taken during the day. Besides in mid June it never gets dark at Dunvegan.

Apart from the formal evening jacket, he is also wearing a dirk, a dress sporran and chain, an evening style buckled belt and a bow tie. All evening attire and a dollop of artistic licence to boot. So if its the picture that I think you are alluding to Steve, then I venture to suggest that you may be drawing the wrong conclusion there.

There are distinct day and formal conventions and yes there are distinct kilt attire differences between the conservative traditional thinking Highlands and the more liberal and contemporary thinking Central belt. This is brought about for understandable reasons, I think.

There was until the late 1960's very little general enthusiasm for kilt attire in the Central Belt, quite the opposite in my experience. Most who actually wore a tartan in the Lowlands in those days wore tartan in the form of trews. I am not sure why attitudes changed but change they did, but the problem was that there was little kilt attire knowledge available to guide the new kilt wearers----much like the rest of the world now with their questions and advice on this website -----so assumptions were made, often based on guesswork and hearsay and those resulted in different choices being made and perpetuated. For example pirate/jacobite shirts being thought of as traditional, black bow ties, white hose and PC's/sherriffmuirs/montrose jackets/etc., being regarded as suitable, correct even, formal day attire. Added to which of course, the kilt hire shops mushroomed to fulfil the need. Sadly the assorted advice given by the unknowing has perpetuated the differences of opinion of styles and suitability of kilt attire for any given event, between the Highland kilt wearers and those of the rest of Scotland.

Yes there are exceptions, yes there varying levels of experience and yes, it a free world and we are all able to make choices. However we need to be very aware that those very real differences of outlook are a reality when kilt attire choices are made and when advice is being given.