Need Help With My Outfit.

[Mike_Oettle]

Hi, McCowboy –
as a piper you will probably do best wearing fairly formal outfits, at least to start with.
As your piping earns you payment, you may be able to branch out and kit yourself with a variety of outfits.
You may find inspiration from a man I know who goes by the handle Piperjames. His name is James MacGowan, and he now lives in Cape Town, where he plays the pipes for whoever will hire him, including the local kilted regiment, the Cape Town Highlanders. You will find him on Facebook.
He started his piping career with the Irish Guards (having been a fighting Guardsman to begin with), and naturally played the pipes in a range of uniforms, from undress to levee dress.
He has some very formal outfits that he wears on appropriate occasions.
But he also has a lot of fun with informal outfits – much to the chagrin of the Scottish outfitter in Cape Town, who is also with the Cape Town Highlanders.
For the Soccer World Cup in 2010 he played up the popularity of the vuvuzela by inventing a gadget he called the duduzela – bagpipes with vuvuzelas for drones.
(Bear in mind that the Afrikaans word for bagpipes is doedelsak.)
For the Rugby World Cup last year he devised what he called the doodlebokkie – the bag incorporates the head and body of the Springbok rugby mascot, Bokkie.
His wife also devised the Springbok Rugby tartan, and I believe he wore it when playing the doodlebokkie. He certainly wore Springbok Rugby T-shirts on those occasions.
When playing formal gigs he wears his “tanks” – eight-yard, 16oz kilts in clan or regimental tartans.
But he is not shy to wear four-yarders in 13oz PV or wool.
One of his favourite gigs is at a Christmas parade in Cape Town, at which he usually wears his Mighty Men kilt (he and I own the first two Mighty Men kilts in 13oz PV). Bear in mind that in South Africa, Christmas is in midsummer.
Earlier this year he undertook a long-distance walk across South Africa wearing his Mighty Men kilt, sandals and a variety of shirts and T-shirts.
He made many friends along the way, and used every opportunity he found to share the Gospel with the people he met.
With his “tanks” he naturally also wears formal headgear (a glengarry or something like it), but for his informal gigs he wears much more informal headgear. For his cross-country stint, he wore a Mighty Men tammie.
Even if you choose not to go very informal, you may well find that there is a demand for a cowboy piper – be prepared to turn out in a broad-brimmed hat and a cowboy shirt!
Regards,
Mike