Robert Mackie bonnets on Ebay

[OC Richard]

I have both a Glengarry and a Balmoral bonnet. Both are black, both have red tassels, and both are diced.

Does the dicing affect their appropriateness for wear by a civilian?

First, I don't think "tassel" is what you mean, rather "tourie" (the little pom-pom).

Second, I'm wondering if they're black, or blue. They're difficult to tell apart unless you have a blue one and a black one side-by-side outdoors in direct sunlight.

I just ask because I see dozens of blue ones for each black one, black didn't ever seem to be very popular.

The military ones are always blue, and civilian ones usually are too.

About dicing, to my eye the Mackie bonnets in Fawn, Lovat Blue or Lovat Green, etc look equally tasteful and civilian whether plain or diced, while the dark blue ones look tastefully civilian if plain, but look a bit over-the-top if diced, due to having red/white/black dicing.

This is because the dark blue bonnets with red/white/black dicing look like army hats.

(The black ones have two-colour black & white dicing and are worn by Police Pipe Bands.)

About Glengarries, they've not been popular with civilian Highland Dress in over a century.

[jsrnephdoc]

First, I don't think "tassel" is what you mean, rather "tourie" (the little pom-pom).

Oops! Right you are. Apologies.

Second, I'm wondering if they're black, or blue. They're difficult to tell apart unless you have a blue one and a black one side-by-side outdoors in direct sunlight.

I just ask because I see dozens of blue ones for each black one, black didn't ever seem to be very popular.

The military ones are always blue, and civilian ones usually are too.

About dicing, to my eye the Mackie bonnets in Fawn, Lovat Blue or Lovat Green, etc look equally tasteful and civilian whether plain or diced, while the dark blue ones look tastefully civilian if plain, but look a bit over-the-top if diced, due to having red/white/black dicing.

This is because the dark blue bonnets with red/white/black dicing look like army hats.

(The black ones have two-colour black & white dicing and are worn by Police Pipe Bands.)

About Glengarries, they've not been popular with civilian Highland Dress in over a century.

Both my Balmoral and my Glengarry are black, even in the bright Montana sun. There's no label in the 3-color diced Balmoral; the red-white diced Glengarry is from Gaelic Themes "Piper Range."

Both get uniformly "thumbs up" reviews here in Bozeman. They're my favorite winter hats.

[Jock Scot]

The military ones are always blue, and civilian ones usually are too.

Errrr not quite. From an imperfect memory, the Lovat Scouts wore a black bonnet with black and white dicing.

[OC Richard]

Errrr not quite. From an imperfect memory, the Lovat Scouts wore a black bonnet with black and white dicing.

Good to know, I've always heard the two-colour black/white dicing called "police dice" and associated it with police. Though in truth, it wouldn't surprise me if the "police" headgear was actually extremely dark blue.

Here's the photo I've sometimes used to show the difference between police 'blue' (the shirt) and black (the tie).

The Mackie standard "blue" is pretty much like this.

[OC Richard]

Here's a dark blue with the red/white/black civilian dicing in size 57, $46

https://www.ebay.com/itm/356676683855

[OC Richard]

About diced hats especially Glengarries over 150 years of military use has cemented that look as "military" in the public eye.

For me, and I would guess for many others especially Scots, seeing a civilian wear this sort of hat looks a bit out of place, a bit like Fancy Dress (as worn by many supporters at Scotland football and rugby matches).

Jock it is the same with you?

The Royal Regiment of Scotland:



The Tartan Army:

[RGM1]

I avoided the diced look since it seems to be a military preference for a black glengarry with a red button on top which appears to be the Murray of Arnold style. For the tartan day parade, I elected to stick with tweed to avoid looking like one of the piper`s.

Also.figured out one benefit of button is it helps gets the hat on right side up in the dark.

[OC Richard]

I avoided the diced look since it seems to be a military preference for a black glengarry with a red button on top

Also figured out one benefit of the button is it helps gets the hat on right side up in the dark.

With the one notable exception mentioned by Jock Scot above, the army Glengarries have always been an extremely dark blue.

When civilian pipe bands the world over switched to the black Argyll + Glengarry + Ghillies outfit in the 1980s Mackie Glengarries in black suddenly became popular, the idea being to match the jacket and Glengarry.

Throughout the decades the vast majority of bands wore black Argylls you'd see a mix of blue and black Glengarries in nearly every Pipe Band. In truth most people have always had difficulty telling the two colours apart. Plus, even today it's a common sight to see a mix of black and red touries in Pipe Bands.

About tourie colours, as I was working at a Highland Outfitter in the 1980s who was a Mackie stockist I gained a clear idea of their standard colour offerings.

The traditional dark blue Balmorals and Glengarries came with red touries as standard.

The recently popular black Balmorals and Glengarries came with black touries as standard.

Of course Pipe Bands could do large bespoke orders from Mackie, and you began seeing black Glengarries with red touries worn by some Pipe Bands. And you'll see bands with light blue, green, and even purple touries.

Our band was staying in Glasgow during which time we would be competing at three Games and performing in George Square. The night before our first event the Pipe Major had everyone report, with our Glengarries, to a big room (there was around 50 of us). He handed out black touries for everyone with red touries, or missing touries, to attach to our hats. He had plenty of thread and needles.

[Jock Scot]

About diced hats especially Glengarries over 150 years of military use has cemented that look as "military" in the public eye.

For me, and I would guess for many others especially Scots, seeing a civilian wear this sort of hat looks a bit out of place, a bit like Fancy Dress (as worn by many supporters at Scotland football and rugby matches).

Jock it is the same with you?

]

Personally, I would rather that they didn't. But then, I am not interested in football or rugby, I think partly, that is because the attire chosen by Scottish supporters looks so dreadful.

[OC Richard]

Here's an authentic Mackie Glengarry (with label intact) for 40 Pounds, in a strange colour combination.

Body: claret/maroon
Tourie: scarlet
Dicing: scarlet & white (the "93rd dice" or "Argyll dice")
Ribbon binding, cockade, tails: black

https://www.ebay.com/itm/13560276614...temCondition=4