New Highlander Movie

[The Tartan Sparky]

Saw this online last night. Wondering how accurate the kilt and how it’s worn is.

[The Tartan Sparky]

Sorry, still trying to figure out how to add photos

[The Tartan Sparky]

Maybe this will work

[The Tartan Sparky]

Okay, I just changed my avatar to the photo I was trying to upload

[figheadair]

Saw this online last night. Wondering how accurate the kilt and how it’s worn is.

How accurate? Oh dear, where to start.

1. Worn too long.

2. Upper portion pinned across the body.

3. The edge appears to be rough rather tan having a selvedge.

4. The image is too poor to determine the tartan but the Ancient Colours palette is wrong for the period.

5. Ouchlander style high leather boots.

And then there are the other case members.



Non-Highland sword belted over the plaid.

[OC Richard]

My theory is that Hollywood costume people, in doing their research looked at a number of 18th century portraits and didn't understand that they were seeing two different modes of Highland Dress.

They saw kilts, and they saw tartan wrapping around the torso, and conflated these two modes to create something that never existed: a kilt with a piece of tartan, somehow attached, that went diagonally across the chest.

This goofy-looking hybrid seems to go back into the 1950s if not earlier, and has been endlessly perpetuated in Rob Roy, Braveheart, and Outlander.

Here's the two actual forms of traditional Highland Dress in 18th century portraits:



Here's the Hollywood image of Highlanders over the years:

[Jock Scot]

I understand that they are filming some of this nearby. Hey-ho standby for trouble! Whilst visitors are always welcome, it's the attitude of the assorted film crews in general that gets a tad wearing.

Mel Gibson, who is also visiting around here apparently, is a fine and rare example of low key courtesy------contrary to his somewhat rowdy reputation-------- from the film world in my experience.

[OC Richard]

On second thought, my theory about Hollywood costume people doing some research, looking at 18th century portraits, and conflating the two distinct forms of Highland Dress seen therein, is possibly giving them too much credit.

Let's say they don't even bother to look at 18th century portraits, but look at whatever old-looking images they happen to come across, like MacLeay portraits (below).

These show the wearing of kilts with matching tartan draped around the body.

However in their slapdash research they've also read about "ancient Highlanders" having a single big piece of tartan that they wrapped around themselves forming a sort of kilt.

This would lead to cobbling together a goofy jumble of tartan, arranged who knows how, to achieve the look of a kilt that also has an attached bit of cloth wrapping around the body.

[OC Richard]

I just now put together this showing something of the Hollywood history of this conflated hybrid miscegenation thingamajig starting with a 1959 film at top left and going through the Usual Suspects such as Rob Roy, Highlander, Braveheart, Outlander, and finally the new Highlander.

Notice the Hollywood costume people can never quite figure out how the thing is supposed to work.

And they love to put big ornate Victorian brooches at the shoulder, things which didn't exist in the 18th century.

They also usually use brown & grey "reproduction" or "weathered" colours for the tartans, which didn't exist until 1949. (There are other Rob Roy photos showing this.)

Note the recurrent trope of ancient Highlanders running around either shirtless or wearing Hollywood pirate shirts. (No such shirts existed then, or at any other time in history.)