Figure 1.--Here we see a mpm helping her son out with his kilt dancing costume forba feis competition. Few boys this age knew how to tie a tie. Notice the suspenders holding up the kilt on boy in the background.

The dancing competitions at feises were primarily judged on dancing skill. But as many of the dancers were skilled, mothers and fanceing school teachers inevitably put a considerable emphasis on turn out, both hair and costume. Fortunately for the boys this simply meant a good comb. The girls had a much greater emohasis on hair styling. Ringlet curls were popular. And this meant much more than a simple comb. And then came the costume. Irish dancers wore elaborate costumes. The girls wear elaborateky embrodered dresses emulating swirling Irish designs in a wide ramge of colors. The designs largely come from the beautifully illustrated Book of Kells. The boys' costumes were not as elaborate, but before River Dance were mostly kilt outfits with sashes along with ties and knee socks. Children begin partiioating in feises at about 6 years of age. To get the hair combed the costume correct, the tie tied and the knee socks pulled up the younger boys needed mother tom sort everything out. And even older boys had a little help getting their costume in perfect order. Unless this was done, a poorly outfitted costume could be distracting to the adjuticators. And while the focus was on the dance steps, a perfectly turned out dancer could not help but create a good impression.

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web dance pages:
[Main dance page]
[Ballet] [Irish step] [Highland] [Ballroom]
[Native American] [Tap]

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing kilt pages:
[Main kilt page]
[Kilt suits] [Scottish kilts]
[Scottish boys clothing] [Scottish school uniform]
[Highland dance] [Irish step dancing] [Irish kilts]
[Irish boys clothing]
[Greek kilts]

Created: 5:54 AM 8/24/2004
Last updated: 6:13 AM 2/12/2020