Highland wear

So you’ve decided to bypass the tuxedo this time round and go for highland wear (or Scottish dress). Good choice, however there are two questions that are normally asked? 1) What’s underneath the kilt? 2) What’s the etiquette around wearing highland wear?

Highland dress became a term back in the early nineteenth century when it started to become the national dress of Scotland. Of course before this Scottish highland dress had been around for many centuries and over time had evolved to the outfit we now recognise.

This style of clothing has certainly grown in popularity at weddings across Scotland and even in England. Although it tends to be worn by the Scots anyone is entitled to wear Highland regalia for their wedding regardless of whether they are Scottish or not. The man who seems to have single-handedly created the market for modern kilts is Howie Nicholsby.

Highland dress

A number of retailers now include highland wear within their collection of formal wear. If you are not Scottish and will only be wearing this outfit once then it’s recommended hiring the various elements as it can be quite a costly outfit to purchase. Following is a list of items commonly linked with highland wear. You must choose whatever is appropriate for the occasion you are attending.

Royal Stewart Kilt	Scottish National Kilt	Grey Spirit Kilt

The highland jacket

You have the choice of two styles of jackets:

Prince Charlie jacket
This jacket has normal lapels. The jacket tends to taper away slightly from the bottom of the lapels and juts back to just above the hips giving a pointed appearance to the hem. The Prince Charlie tends to be adorned with square, silver buttons and worn open.

Argyll jacket
This is a less formal jacket than the Prince Charlie. Its main feature is that the jacket has upturned cuffs that slope towards each sleeve. The jacket should include several silver square buttons and normal lapels and is normally worn unfastened.

Ghillie shirts

A ghillie shirt is one that features an open collar and no buttons (however a drawstring collar is present which feeds through eyelets on either side of the shirt). You can choose a ghillie shirt in either black or white.

Kilts

This is the most famous element of highland dress and is essentially a large piece of tartan coloured material. If you are from an ancestral clan then it’s tradition to wear the tartan pattern from that clan. If you have no allegiance then you can choose a number of varieties such as Scottish National, Modern Douglas or Royal Stewart).

Highland accessories

There are a number of accessories to finish the highland outfit including neckwear, hose, brogues, kilt pins, sporran (a fur or leather pouch worn at the front of the kilt) and flasks.

Black sporran	Prince Charlie jacket	Neck tie

All images above are from Moss Bros who have a great selection of Highland Wear for rent.