"Brigadoonery"? "TCHD"? Who decides?

[CMcG]

You just cut to the heart of the issue for me: the pith helmet was a part of a military uniform in previous generations, but not civilian dress. Why is one ahistorical affectation bad and the other not?

Neither are "bad," but they signify different things. It depends on what sort of look you're going for.

Pith helmets are worn by a few Xmarkers who are taking a cue from certain kilted regiments that fought in hot climates. They claim that this type of head wear is practical for the blazing sun, which gives them a sort of dispensation under THCD. I don't think, however, that pith helmets are widespread outside of Xmarks and should thus be considered idiosyncratic, personal flair, and/or practical adaptation to the weather.

Those puffy, pseudo-Jacobite shirts, on the other hand, are derived from a Hollywood or romance novel approaches that are decidedly costumey, which is how they get labelled as brigadoonery. If you like them, then go ahead and wear one, especially if you're going to a Renn Fair! Traditional, however, they are not.

[Panache]

For those with an interest in pith helmets and sun helmets here is an excellent website

http://www.militarysunhelmets.com

It is run by Stuart Bates and Peter Suciu who together wrote both The Wolseley Helmet In Pictures from Omdurman to El Alamein and Military Sun Helmets of the world

While their focus is on military pith and sun helmets, this post (link below), was interesting as it shows an advertisement for helmets for the entire family and the article itself notes the line between military and civilian helmets gets fuzzy

http://www.militarysunhelmets.com/20...r-british-maid

Cheers ith:

Jamie