Semi Formal Headwear

[Father Bill]

I thought of it... just trying to be clear on this.

[Kayne792]

thanks for all the insight, hatless it is, and if the weather threatens I shall simply threaten back!

And although I've never seen a bowler with a kilt, I did see an aloha shirt once... We were presenting a performance of the Hawaiian musical group Hapa (which means "half" in Hawaiian) at my college. One member is Scots-Irish and the other native Hawaiian. Barry wore a white on white floral print shirt over his kilt and Ke'lei wore a sarong. Kinda odd, but in good fun.

[Jock Scot]

Now that you now have that sorted in your mind Kayne792, let me throw a spanner in the works!

Yes in most normal weather conditions, hatless is the option to go for. However, in seriously inclement weather conditions, common sense trumps sartorial elegance every time and it is then, perfectly traditional to wear anything on your head that comes to hand that will do the job in protecting the head!

[OC Richard]

Once again we have that "semi-formal" category that doesn't really exist in the 'traditional Highland Dress' as it has come down to us.

In civilian Highland Dress there was, at least from the early years of the 20th century, a clear division between Outdoor Dress/Day Dress and Evening Dress. In my vintage catalogues headdress is never shown with Evening Dress, I suppose because the presumption is that the events are indoors. Getting to and from the event, well, they never seem to consider that! Yes to get to a formal event I'd try to keep as dry as possible, with a Rain Cape and any sort of hat that kept my head dry. These things would be checked at the door.

Going back into Victorian times of course Prince Charlie coatees didn't exist but in vintage photos hats are invariably worn even with the most outlandish formal attire. Back then Glengarries were quite commonly worn by civilians; these almost never have dicing, diced Glengarries seemingly thought of as being purely military at the time.

Here's an interesting photo, 1860, showing the typical look of Glengarry with formal dress. This might be a military man in Mess Dress; hard to tell, because then there oftentimes wasn't much difference between military and civilian dress.



In the 20th century the headdress of choice with Evening Dress was the Balmoral, usually plain black or extremely dark blue, as is seen in a vast number of photos. Pipers are notorious for wearing formal dress during the daytime, and outdoors, as this photo from 1945 shows. One piper is wearing the Doublet, one the Coatee. Note that the other men are wearing typical outdoor/day attire.



Here's what Anderson has to say in 1936. Headdress is mentioned, down on the fourth page. About 'certain clans wear the Glengarry' this crops up from time to time, and Clan Donald is sometimes mentioned as preferring the Glengarry.









Disclaimer: I'm not telling anybody what they should or shouldn't wear, rather, I'm merely presenting vintage images and texts which reflect customs followed and opinions held, in Scotland, in the past.

[Stitchwiz]

Love your disclaimer.
Having read many, many posts about this, it is nice to see that there is a general consensus which loosely follows the suggestions made so many years ago.
As usual, you are a fount of knowledge. Thank you, Richard.

[Kayne792]

Yes, thank you Richard. What great pictures and I love the Andersons catalog pages!

-Matt

[KiltFitz]

Going a bit off topic, can anyone explain 'hard' and 'saxony' tartan a bit more? Is it a weight distinction?

[Nathan]

Getting back on topic: When I'm wearing formal wear and want to wear headdress outside due to weather concerns, I choose a navy blue Balmoral bonnet. In my view, the diced or non diced options would be equally appropriate as would the red or self coloured toorie. I personally reserve my fawn and lovat coloured bonnets for day wear as this colour scheme is just so outdoorsy and connotes country pursuits. If weather is so bad that fashion can no longer be a consideration, I opt for a black wool toque.

Again, I most often wear no headdress at all with Highland formal but I think a bowler, homburg or similar hat would make an incongruous combination.

N