Semple approach to Traditional Highland Dress

[OC Richard]

There've been threads about the series of book The Scottish Tartans (W & AK Johnston, later Johnston & Bacon) and the illustrations therein.

One problem is that the books didn't start putting in publication dates until the 1945 edition.

The texts in the early edition brackets dates 1916-1921 though the illustrations were hopeless out of date by that time, having been published in a series of postcards between around 1900 and 1910.

Then a completely new set of illustrations by William Semple appeared in editions starting around 1935 (the latest date mentioned in the text).

These show the fully developed "traditional Highland Dress" that is still with us today, kilt hire and pipe bands notwithstanding.

These are mere illustrations, the invention of the illustrator, to be distinguished from portraiture.

However they do show precisely the Highland Dress being sold in the catalogues, being described as "proper" by writers, and seen in innumerable photographs from the 1930s through 1960s.

One thing to note is the hose matching the tweed of the jacket, something recommended regularly at that time.

Also note that nearly all the shoes are black and all the sporrans are brown. Black leather sporrans don't begin being sold in the catalogues until around 1980.

Here's a sample of the Semple illustrations



Here's my Semple-minded attempt at this look, with matching hose and jackets, red flashes, white shirt, and plain brown sporran and plain black shoes.

Oh! And in a couple of the photos I wore a point-collar shirt as seen in the Semple illustrations.

(This is the only kilt I have which could have existed in the 1930s.)