What a total Dirk.

[MacCathail]

According to Frank Adam's wonderful prescription, a properly dressed highlander should not only have a dirk, but a sgian dubh, a sword, a brace of pistols and a powder horn. As for myself, I don't have a dirk, a sword, a brace of pistols or a powder horn . . . and half the time I forget to tuck the sgian dubh in my stocking.

As practical matter for the 21st century the posters above pretty much nailed it. I would only add that the one person who without question, in my occasionally humble opinion, should always be wearing a dirk, is a drum major on parade.

Cheers,

-John-

[MacGumerait]

According to Frank Adam's wonderful prescription, a properly dressed highlander should not only have a dirk, but a sgian dubh, a sword, a brace of pistols and a powder horn. As for myself, I don't have a dirk, a sword, a brace of pistols or a powder horn . . . and half the time I forget to tuck the sgian dubh in my stocking.

As practical matter for the 21st century the posters above pretty much nailed it. I would only add that the one person who without question, in my occasionally humble opinion, should always be wearing a dirk, is a drum major on parade.

Cheers,

-John-

John , would that possibly be for the drum major's protection from the pipers ?

[OC Richard]

Yes in the 19th century it was common to see people with the money to do so wear the full array of Highland weapons in their Evening attire



But for whatever reason Highland Dress underwent a huge transformation in the early 20th century and by the 1920s Evening Dress was much simplified, and sleek new jackets like the Prince Charlie Coatee, Montrose Doublet, and Kenmore Doublet came onto the scene, as you can see in this 1936 catalogue



And ever since then the wearing of dirks and crossbelts and plaids has mostly been left to the Army and pipers in military-style garb. In ordinary civilian dress the wearing of dirks has become rare, though you will see dirks worn sometimes, such as here by John Burgess, famous for his piping prowess and also for his stylistic panache



Note that the dirk is supported by a dirk belt.

So there are no hard-and-fast rules, just style sense; choosing to be subdued, or choosing to stand out or even be a bit over the top.

I've been known to wear a dirk. And a sword. Part of a piper's Full Dress

[MacCathail]

John , would that possibly be for the drum major's protection from the pipers ?

Surely not. As a race, pipers are amongst the proverbial sober, righteous, and godly. (No sniggering in the back row, there!) It's those drummers who need to be kept in line. Why, that can be a full-time job.

But really, since the pipe band uniform now seems to have devolved into kilt, white shirt, tie, and black waistcoat, and black jacket on occasion, the only one left to make the audience's eyes light up and say "Howdy!" is the drum major. He's the one likely to have the doublet, the feather bonnet, the plaid, and so forth. Should really have that dirk, too, to finish off the look.

Cheers,

-John-

[Blueline72]

I have to say I'm kind of disappointed the way that a lot of the pipe bands are going with uniforms. I agree they seem to be more and more bland as time goes by. I do understand though, I'm sure a full military style uniform like the one above is obscenely expensive and you would hardly have any members if they were compulsory.

[AFS1970]

I have two Dirk's and neither one would be well placed at a ren faire. This is because they are both Victorian style. They could be worn with traditional highland dress but as has been said before me, in modern times these seem to be going they way of the do do birds in terms of formal wear. I think this is because they are the last of the vestigial weapons and as our society gets more and more weapon free (for better or worse) these are seen as either quaint historical oddities or something to be discarded.

As an aside to your remark about being allowed to have such things, I live in a state where a dirk (called in the statute a dirk knife) is one of a short list of weapons that require permits. I have never been questioned when in highland dress, because even though uncommon, they are still considered normal. When I was part of an organized color guard I looked into the permitting process and gave up in confusion. Since I rarely wear my dirk nowadays it is really not an issue.

I would love it if there were more chances to wear dirks, as I think it is a nice tradition, however it is also not really that functional any more and gets into the area of peacocking when worn at most events. They are doing me no good in the closet.