Quote Originally Posted by Ivor View Post
From an interested observer’s view, my consideration is that highland dress is a distinct form of dress, not a divergence from what some may call “Saxon dress” i.e. a suit, 2 or 3 piece, with shirt and tie and usually black shoes, sometimes described here in American terms as “wingtips”. Presumably this distinctiveness derived from a separate source and a truly representative form of distinctive Scottish dress would be a kilt(obviously) with Doublet and jabot, patterned hose perhaps to match the tartan of the kilt and footwear of a distinctive Scottish kind. Anything else becomes a parody of English or “ Saxon” clothing and, while perfectly acceptable and perhaps even more practical, detracts from the purpose of dressing in an authentic way. A great deal of scorn is expressed here from time to time about dress choices, particularly when it comes to footwear but also socks and even shirts, but if Scottish dress is to continue as a unique and distinctive form then ghillie brogues and even buckle brogues must remain an integral part.
I think your statement misses a few points. The most important of which is the strong possibility, discussed already in this thread, that the open topped shoe, laced around the ankle, that eventually became known as the ghillie shoe, may well have been invented whole-cloth by a pair of charlatans. There seems to be ample evidence that buckle shoes were quite popular at one point but they were not uniquely Highland or even Scottish. George Washington wore buckle shoes.

On the other hand, brogued shoes of any kind seem to have originated in Scotland and have a unique position in Highland formal wear since brogues are emphatically in the realm of informal shoe when it comes to Saxon dress. In fact, far from simply being a simple divergence from Saxon dress, traditional highland dress has a number of elements of what is acceptable for a given formality level that make it unique from Saxon dress. That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been cross pollination over the last 200 years but I think it’s incorrect to simply attribute wearing a tie and real shoes with a kilt to a Saxonization of Highland dress. These are two counties sharing a small island and a long shared, if often rocky, history. It’s almost amazing that Highland dress has managed to stay as unique as it is.