Kilted in the 1800's

[OC Richard]

Jane Austen was/is very much a fixture of Regency England. As such it would have been neigh on impossible that a gentleman in England during that time would have worn a kilt.

An exception that comes to mind is an officer in a Highland regiment who might well attend a ball or other function in his regiment's full dress uniform.

As mentioned above, the period in question, spanning the end of the 18th century and the first quarter of the 19th, was a time of rapid change in men's fashion, which had a "trickle down effect" on Highland Dress.

To illustrate, late 18th century Highland officer's dress looked like this:



Around 1900 jacket collars began to get higher and the front opening of men's coats changed. (Both civilian and military, the two usually evolving more or less together.)
18th century coats were double-breasted with the lapels being buttoned back. Around 1900 the lapels began to be closed and buttoned and the coatee evolved. The skirts of the 18th century jacket got shoved more to the rear and shortened.

Here's a clan chief at the start of the 19th century showing the change in jacket style already underway



and another portrait of around the same time. Note the double-breasted coatee buttoned across the chest, the higher collar, the tails moved around to the back and side.



A bit later than the period under discussion perhaps, but interesting, are these surviving costumes from 1822. First we see the evolution to a single-breasted jacket with only lines of trim suggesting the earlier buttoned-back lapels



and here no suggestion of the coatee's double-breasted origin remains. The tails in the rear can be seen.




and from 1835, retaining the double-breasted look of the early 19th century. Here can see seen how sporrans usually looked in the first quarter of the 19th century, a narrow rim of binding instead of a cantle at the top, a fringe of hair in a contrasting colour at the top, and a row of large tassels.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

An exception that comes to mind is an officer in a Highland regiment who might well attend a ball or other function in his regiment's full dress uniform.

True, but only in Scotland. It's my understanding that between the end of the American War and the beginning of the Napoleonic war (when Jane Austen flourished), no Scottish regiment was stationed in England. Any officer of a Highland regiment, traveling in England, would have been dressed in ordinary civilian attire and, in all likelihood, would have likewise been thus attired if attending a civilian ball.

I think the best approach to this (attending a Jane Austen Society Ball) is to adopt the attitude that if it isn't mentioned in a Jane Austen novel, it doesn't exist.

[Drac]

I think the best approach to this (attending a Jane Austen Society Ball) is to adopt the attitude that if it isn't mentioned in a Jane Austen novel, it doesn't exist.

I was going to go to one and get a feel for it anyways.

Hopefully they'll be relax enough for me to bend the rules a little. Like I said I will get an English garb eventually.

As for Mr. Darcey, she already has the "I love Mr Darcey" tee I got her a couple years ago. Though since this year's conferance (in our area, how cool) is on Sense and Sensibility would be Edward I guess.

Curious about the D'Arcy, I looked up the spelling and my copy (yes I carry the complete works of Jane Auten in my E-Readr) and it has Darcey. Is there a differance I should know about before I get into trouble?

Jim