"Cookie Cutter" Pipe Band Dress

[OC Richard]

As a sort of update, I just spent last weekend at our largest local Games, at Costa Mesa.

A number of bands came down from Canada.

As you can see, the White Hose Era is dead, as far as pipe bands go at least.

But bands still are tending to dress alike. They've abandoned white hose and white shirts en masse as you can see, but so many wear blue shirts that there's hardly more variety than before.

Grade One was won on Saturday by our local Los Angeles Scottish (muted Drummond of Perth kilts)



down from Canada in Grade One were Alberta Caledonia and Triumph Street, seen here:



If you don't get your kilt pleated like the other guys, you don't get to play!



(just kidding... the guy in the foreground is with Edmonton & District, which wears the same uniform.)

Here's Edmonton, then James Coyne Memorial (in an Irish county tartan), then Kevin Blandford Memorial, then Robert Malcolm Memorial (from British Columbia). Those shirts the Blandfords wear are quite intense.









Judges' dress is interesting. It's not pipe band dress per se, because judges usually avoid wearing the uniform of the band they play in, if they indeed still play in one. Here's Canadian judge Jamie Troy. Interesting sporran, the cantle of a Gordon Highlanders sporran stuck on a leather Day sporran:

[Andrew M. Stewart]

Judges' dress is interesting. It's not pipe band dress per se, because judges usually avoid wearing the uniform of the band they play in, if they indeed still play in one. Here's Canadian judge Jamie Troy. Interesting sporran, the cantle of a Gordon Highlanders sporran stuck on a leather Day sporran:

Nice!

He's my teacher!

[sirdaniel1975]

Nice thread.. and I like the term "Cookie Cutter", mostly because I use that to describe many things myself. I will say this, applying it to Kilt outfits makes loads of sense to me. It does get tiring seeing 5 bands go by in the same or similar tartan.

Fortunately, here in the Bay and Central FL area.. we do see some different tartans. Dunedin has their own, one group wears Isle of Skye, one of the Police pipe bands around here wears the Gordon tartan, Sarasota Riverview HS wears the Dress MacDonald (going on memory), Lake Wales HS wears MacLeod of Lewis tartan. Now there are still those that wear Royal Stewart or Stewart dress, but that is not the norm here... so I guess my eyes are lucky.

I personally have not thought about applying the term "Cookie Cutter" to pipe bands, but I definitely would apply it to 1st time kilt wearers sometimes. You know what I mean; same shirt, hose, kilt belt, etc... Most of us have been guilty of that at some point.

[Andrew M. Stewart]

The thing with the Argyll vest and short sleeve shirts is that it's more comfortable to play in. Full dress (spats, full plaids, doublets etc) is totally uncomfortable to play in and very hot as well. You've got to remember that playing the pipes is quite a workout. The tartans that a lot of bands play are quite common tartans as well but it cost a lot of money to outfit a band and to use rare select tartan is an extra cost. As far as most bands are concerned it is the music that you are playing that is on show not the uniform that you are wearing. Some solo competitors are pretty elaborate like Gordon Walker and the Late John D. Burgess but I think most pipers would agree that if you want to stick out like them you'd better be able to play like them too!