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We note one English-made Scottish outfit. We know it was made in England because the insignia of the London tailor can be found in the Glengerry cap. Interestingly, this was an elborate Highland outfit, but was made with kneepants rather than a kilt. We suspect that this may have been because a visiting American mother bought it for her son. This is a wonderful seven-piece young boys Scottish velvet outfit. It consists of a velvet jacket, vest, knee length pants, hat, leather gloves, wool argyle long socks, and the sporran worn on the belt. The Glengary cap has a label on the inside that reads:HYAM & Co. limited-138 & 140 OXFORD ST., LONDON. The leather sporan hangs from the belt and has real horse hair. The sporan also has a label that reads: THE ROYAL CLAN TARTAN WAREHOUSE-SCOTT ADIE-115 REGENT STREET CORNER OF VIGO ST., LONDON.
Proper Scottish kilts were a separate skirt-like garmet, usually in a tartan
material. Boys and men might wear a full, formal Higland kilt outfit or they might wear a more informal outfit. A formal Highland kilt with all the regalia might consist of a Scotts' cap, prerably a Glengary, black jacket, ruffled jabot or Eton collar, kilt, trews, Argyle kneesocks, and broges or buckles shoes. Eton collars were common through the 1920s, but became increasinly less popular durng the 1930s. There were many variations, such as an eagle feather or dirk. Scottish boys wore both Barmoral and Glengary caps with theor kilts. Some fashion experts insist that the Balmoral should not be worn with the kilt. Scottish boys also wore much more informal outfits with kilts. A boy might wear a kilt with a tweed jacket to school or church. Until the 1920s this was almost always with an Eton collar. Eton collars were still common in the 19230s, but had become less so by the 30s. For casual after school activities he might wear his kilt with a warm sweater or other casual clothes.
The suit here is undated. We suspect from the kneepants that it was made in the 1890s or 1900s before World war I. Probably a better oidea of the date can be found from the operating chronology of the two companies noted here, by this information is not available to us.
We note one English-made Scottish outfit. We know it was made in England because the insignia of the London tailor can be found in the Glengerry cap. The Glengary cap has a label on the inside that reads:HYAM & Co. limited-138 & 140 OXFORD ST., LONDON. The sporan also has a label that reads: THE ROYAL CLAN
TARTAN WAREHOUSE-SCOTT ADIE-115 REGENT STREET CORNER OF VIGO ST., LONDON. We believe that the jacket and trousers were made in England. The sporan and argyle kneesocks could have been made in Scotland and simply handled by the London retailer, here we are not sure.
Interestingly, this was an elborate Highland outfit, but was made with kneepants rather than a kilt. We suspect that this may have been because a visiting American mother bought it for her son. We suspect this because the outfit was being sold by an owner in America (Vermont). Wearing a kilt outfit might have been acceptable for affluent English children, we suspect that it might have been more of a challenge in America, especially after the turn of the 20th centuiry when kiltsuits went out of style. We note wealthy American boys weating Highland outfits in the 19th century--including franklin Roosevelt. We rarely see this after the turn of the 20th century. (Except later in the 20th century at Highlands gatherings.) Thuus the American mother may have decided on the kneepnts rather than a kilt. Of course it is always possible that mother bought both a kilt and the kneepabts seen here. As far as we know it was rare in Scotland and England for boys to wear Highland outdits with black kneepants. We have, however, seen Highland outfits with plaid long trousers.
This is a wonderful seven-piece young boys Scottish velvet outfit. It consists of a Glengary cap, velvet jacket, vest, knee length pants, hat, leather gloves, wool long argyle socks, and the sporan worn on the the belt. The leather sporan hangs from the belt and has real horse hair. The jacket measures 10 1/2" from seam to seam and is 16" long from back of neck to bottom. From shoulder seam to cuff it measures 11 1/2". The pants measure 24" at waist and are 15" long from waist to bottom. Socks measure 6" at foot and are 9" long from top to ankle.
The Glengarry bonnet was a classic Scottish cap. It was all black one without the dicing one often sees on these caps. There appears to be some kind of satin decorative device on the front left side. It was made in black velvet to match the jacket. Like all Glengarries, there was a black streamer. The Glengrary cap has a label on the inside that reads: HYAM & Co. limited-138 & 140 OXFORD ST., LONDON.
The black velvet jacket was done in a military style as was often the case for these Highland outfits (figure 1). There is elaborate grey embroidery trim and matching buttons. There is detailing around the edges and vertical lines below aq mock waistline. The military style was adopted for these jackets because in the 18th century, the British Army recruited Scottish regiments. Thus the kilt and Scottish Highland outfits became associated with military uniforms. Sone jackets were made in civilian-styled jackets, especially tweeds, but military stles like the one here were also popular. This jacket measures 10 1/2" from seam to seam and is 16" long from back of neck to bottom. From shoulder seam to cuff it measures 11 1/2".
This Highland outfit was made yo be worn with a matching black velvet vest. As the jacket buttoned to the collar, you rather wonder why a vest was necessary. With the jacket, one could not see the the vest. At any rate the suit had a vest and it was heavily styled to go with the jacket styling.
There was no blouse with this suit when it was sold in 2004. It could have been worn with a variety of blouses or waists with detachable collars. The Eton collar was a popular style for boys wearing Scottish suits. Another possibility is a lace collar or a lacey jabot.
The black velvet kneepants do seem to go with the jacket and vest. We were somewhat suprised to see these kneepants rather than a kilt was worn with the jacket. We believe that kilts in fact were much more common for this type of jacket. We have seen plaid trousers orn with these military styled jackets, but this appears to be more British military dress than boy's Highland outfits. The black velvet kneepants here do seem to be part of an outfit worn with the heavily embridered military-style jacket. Both the velvet material of the jacket and vest as well as the lining of the vest seem to match. (We cannot see the lining of the jacket.) The pants were modestlydetailed to match the jacket and vest. We thought at first that the kneepants were a standard pair of black velvet kneepants that might just as well be worn with a Fauntleroy suit. The pants measure 24" at waist and are 15" long from waist to bottom. Socks measure 6" at foot and are 9" long from top to ankle.
There was no kilt with this garment when it was placed on sale in 2004. That does not mean of course that there was a kilt was not purchased along with the pants. We believe that it was much more common to wear kilts than kneepants with thesecScottish suits, even in England.
This outfit was worn with green and black Argyle kneesocks. Wehve seen these socks worn with kilts as early as the turn of the 19th century. They may have been worn even earlier. Available paintings and photographs show them being worn with kilts. We have never noted them being worn with kneepants. American boys in fact generally wore kneepants with long stockings. Available images show the red-black color comination to have been more common than the green-black comination. We doubt id the tartan color clan comination was important as this suit was not worn with a kilt. If there had been a family clan connection we suspect that the suit would have been purchased in Scotland and done with a kilt.
Gloves in the late 19th and early 20th century were considered an essential part of correct dress. This outfit appears to have come with gloves. Curiously there was no effort to coordinate the color. The gloves were a brownish color rather than black. We are unsure just what the conventions were for black Scottish outfits. It is possible the gloves did not go with this outfit. Or they could have been purchased separately and were worn with a variety of outfits and not specifically with this blacl Scottish outfit.
Sporran is the Scotts Galic term for purse. The sporran was worn at the fron of a kilt as part of Highland costume. It hada practical purpose in that kilts did not have pockets. The purse was a place where coins and bills as well as other objects normally kept in pants pockets could be carried. The leather sporran hangs from the belt. Expensive sporrans were made with fur. The one worn with suit was made with leather decorated with horse hair. The sporran was added as part of the Higland look, but as the boy had kneepants with pockets, there was no practical need for it.
A proper Highland kilt outfit involves much more than a simple kilt and jacket. A reader indicates that a kilt is held up by a belt, but asks is there are belt loops on a kilt or not? HBC reports that kilts are sometimes worn with a leather belt, but often this is worn as an ornament. I have not noted belt loops. Some better made kilts have tabs at the side to tighten the waist.
Young children wearing kilts might wear a bodice kilt or wear their kilt with suspenders. Proper kilts were generally worn by older boys. They were worn with a variety of shirts varying from lace trimed blouses to shirts with stiff Eton collars and bow ties. The Victorians chosing Scottish kilts and pleated plaid skirts for their boys, liked to pair them with various styles of caps. The most popular were Scotch bonnets (Balmoral cap) or Glengarry. Queen Victoria's fondness for all things Scottish extended to a proper cap as well as the kilt itself.
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