Great Kilt Weight

[macwilkin]

Such is the problem with researching historical fashions and clothing -- even in the 19th century period, there is sometimes very little evidence of what people wore and what people carried -- we ran into this in Civil War reenacting all the time -- and while there are plenty of photographs, tintypes, deguerrotypes, CDVs, etc. from the period, can a photo be a generic representation of how people dressed & looked across the country? We can get close, but no cigar, so to speak.

The problem lies in the fact that few people write in journals, letters, etc. with detailed descriptions of their clothing -- what is made from, stiches to the inch (a large point of contention in reenacting), what colours, etc. Very few written accounts that give us complete descriptions of attire. How many times (with the exception of this board) do we discribe our attire in great detail today to someone in an e-mail, letter, etc.? We, just like people in the past, didn't think about someone in the future "needing" that sort of detailed description.

Even something that should be fairly easy like military uniforms can be a challenge, although there are original examples in museums, etc. -- but even then, would every soldier have worn this particular type of jacket? Why was it saved? Was it modified for civilian use, such as some of the smoothbore military-issue muskets (class B weapons) issued to troops at the beginning of the war? Granted, we do have official documents, such as quartermaster returns, etc., but not for everyone.

The discussion about the blanket & it's heaviness reminds me of the army blanket I carry in CW and Spanish-American War period -- it is a reproduction of a wool blanket carried by a Wisconsin soldier from the Wisconsin Veteran's Museum in Madison -- but "wool" is somewhat misleading, because it's actually made from "shoddy" -- the leftover material, cheap, and of poor quality. It's a great blanket in the summer, but not the best in the winter time by itself. Much of the contract uniforms & equipment issued were this way, made by greedy companies looking to make a buck. But I digress...

One trick I have heard of Highlanders doing in the winter is to wet their great kilts and to allow a layer of ice to form, which creates insulation from the cold -- not sure if it really works, but you never know. I do know that layering yourself in several garments will actually make you colder, as cold air will get trapped between the shirts, etc. and make you cooler than you would be -- I've seen that first-hand as a newbie reenactor.

The wool uniforms issued to Civil War soldiers are about 13-15 oz. weight, the same as Matt's estimate for the arisaide, and that weight will keep you warm outside in the winter. I remember when heavy "blanket-weight" repro uniforms were "big" in reenacting, but when you look at original uniforms, they were much lighter-weight wool.

Jimmy's reference: the Court of Lord Lyon...LL is the official keeper of Heraldry (coats-of-arms) in Scotland, and is also a good source for historical information.

Sorry, just my ramblings...didn't mean to get OT here...

Cheers,

Todd