Quote Originally Posted by OC Richard View Post
It's an interesting question, and it makes me want to go through my Victorian photos and see.

Peter would know, but I've long thought that it looked like the belted plaid had bound edges; no fraying, no fringe.

There's one early image, I can't remember now, where some artist depicts a garment somewhere between the ancient Irish brat and the Highland breacan-an-fheilidh, with fur trim bound all around the edges. After all, that's what the belted plaid was, the ancient Gaelic "mantle" wrapped round the body. In Ireland fur trim on the mantle was standard, but at some point it disappeared from its Highland descendant.
If you find that image, I'd be keen to check it out. Thanks for contributing!