Tweed Great Kilt

[OC Richard]

...a grandfather shirt...I really enjoy the tribal look...keep it from looking too costume-y.

Sorry but the breacan-an-feileadh IS historical costume and there's no way around it. I wouldn't wear a tricorn hat, knee breeches, buckled shoes, or a breacan-an-feileadh to a party because I have only ever worn historical outfits as part of a historical setting.

About the "grandfather shirt" I don't know if it's in the category of historical costume, or in the same category as the "pirate shirt/Jacobite shirt" which is a garment which never existed historically in any time-period or place and is entirely an invention of 1920s Hollywood.

Oh how Hollywood did love to put their beefcake actors in those! (As best I can reckon early Hollywood borrowed the style from 19th century baseball shirts, worn by the popular athletes of that time.)



About "tribal look" it's likewise a Hollywood creation with no historical antecedent.

I've gone down the rabbit-hole on that, and our concept of how "ancient Highlanders" looked seems to have originated with three Englishmen (John and Charles Allen, and Robert Jones) who met at the London Highland Society in the 1820s. Under fake Scottish names the brothers moved to Scotland and wrote a fanciful error-ridden book on the history of Highland Dress and produced a fake "ancient manuscript" of tartans, most of which they invented themselves.

Likewise under a fake Scottish name Robert Jones created equally fanciful illustrations of "ancient Highlanders" for a tartan book.



These outfits were picked up around 1900 for another tartan book.



The Allen brother's fake tartans are still in production, and Jones' fake "ancient Highlanders" are still followed by Hollywood costume designers and Ren Fair and Highland Games attendees.

I was a re-enactor. Re-enactors aren't interested in fantasy costumes. We do history. We spend large amounts of research to find out exactly what historical outfits looked like and spare little expense on getting our re-creations as correct as possible.

We don't wear historical costumes (or bits thereof) as part of everyday wear. There are times and places for historical costume, such as films and historical presentations.