Fly Plaid at Burns Supper?

[TheVintageLibertine]

Do we have a good idea HOW they would have dressed for that memorial celebration? Perhaps more relevant, what do we know about how Burns himself dressed, particularly later in his life, after it was clear there was more money to be made from writing wonderful verse than from farming infertile land? And, so far as "costumes" vs. customary semi-formal dress is concerned, couldn't virtually ANY wearing of kilts (except for weddings, graduations, and perhaps clan gatherings) be considered "costuming" rather than "custom," ESPECIALLY in Scotland?

We have a fairly good idea of how Robert Burns dressed, because he sat for several portraits during his lifetime. I am not aware of any likeness depicting him as wearing any clothing which can be described as uniquely “Scottish”.

Here is a link to known portraits, some from his lifetime, and others made after his death:

http://www.robertburns.org.uk/burns_appearance.htm

As far as the attendees of the early Burns Suppers held by his friends, in all probability, they dressed as Burns did, because they came from essentially the same socioeconomic/class background and general region as him, i.e., other intellectual/literary types, friends from his Masonic lodge, etc.

While a common theme in Burns’s work is a celebration of Scottish identity, as a lowlander who lived from 1759 to 1796, highland dress just was’t part of his conception of Scottishness.