"Cookie Cutter" Pipe Band Dress

[OC Richard]

I've heard many people, especially in Scotland and Northern Ireland, bemoan "cookie cutter" pipe band dress: so many bands dressing alike, including wearing the same tartans.

Only a few years ago one could go to a major competition in Scotand and see every single band wearing black Glengarries, black Argyll jackets, black neckties, white shirts, black leather sporrans, gleaming white hose, black flashes, and black ghillies. Add to that black bagcovers. In many cases only the tartans set bands apart, or whether the band wore white drone cords, black cords, or two-colour black and white cords.

And often the tartans didn't set bands apart either, with so many wearing the same.

So, in a slow moment yesterday, in my Rain Man-like manner, I took out the programme of the 2004 World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow and actually made a count of the tartans worn. (Bands are required to state their tartan for some reason.)

There is certainly grounds for bemoaning Cookie Cutter dress.

Here are the most common tartans amongst the 206 bands:

23 Royal Stuart
20 MacLean of Duart
18 MacPherson (red)

10 Black Stuart
8 Fraser (red)
7 PCE Stuart

So one third of the bands were wearing only five different rather similar-looking red tartans.

There were six bands in MacKenzie and five in Gordon so the old military green/blue tartans made a bit of a show.

Flower Of Scotland, a new "trade" tartan, was worn by five bands making it by far the most popular new tartan.

As opposed to this, 56 tartans occur only once.

These included some interesting ones, ones I've never heard of, such as:

Princess Elizabeth
Princess Margaret Rose
Lady Borrowdales Gift
William Murdoch
Watsonian
Welsh Piping Society
Glengarry Highland Games
Bagad Breig

[Macman]

Richard, it would be interesting to see the trend over the last twenty years or so (not that I'm suggesting you do the same analysis for twenty years!).
Our band is never going to the Worlds. We have our own tartan designed for the band, but the rest of our kit is pretty much standard.

[macwilkin]

Lady Borrowdales [sic] Gift

http://freespace.virgin.net/john.hug...b/borodale.htm

http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tar....aspx?ref=2351

I've always admired this tartan, not only for its beauty, but for the history behind it, ever since I first saw it on the cover of Maggie Craig's Damned Rebel Bitches: The Women of the '45.

T.

[BoldHighlander]

http://freespace.virgin.net/john.hug...b/borodale.htm

http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tar....aspx?ref=2351

I've always admired this tartan, not only for its beauty, but for the history behind it, ever since I first saw it on the cover of Maggie Craig's Damned Rebel Bitches: The Women of the '45.

T.

That's a nice looking tartan Todd (I like the history behind it too)

[Andrew M. Stewart]

Richard, it would be interesting to see the trend over the last twenty years or so (not that I'm suggesting you do the same analysis for twenty years!).
Our band is never going to the Worlds. We have our own tartan designed for the band, but the rest of our kit is pretty much standard.

What band are you in Macman??

[Macman]

What band are you in Macman??

Andrew, I'm in the Greater Victoria Police Pipe Band (along with your teacher and his dad!).

[Andrew M. Stewart]

Great!! is Jim Maxwell still in the band? He and I started piping around the same time and both took lessons from Steve Kelly. I take lessons from Jamie now once a week on Skype. I also bought my pipes from Mr. Troy sr.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Could someone point out what band uniforms have to do with traditional Highland attire? Seems to me this should be in the Celtic Music forum with all the other piper/band stuff.

[OC Richard]

Could someone point out what band uniforms have to do with traditional Highland attire?

Surely you jest!

In what way is modern pipe band dress not traditional Highland dress?

Just about everything that modern pipe bands wear is on display in The Highlanders Of Scotland, thus dating to the 1860s, unless it be the specific design of a cap badge, or other minutiae.

Or does 150 years of use not make something "traditional"?

Modern pipe band dress consists of a Glengarry, Argyll jacket, kilt, sporran, solid coloured hose, and ghillies, all of which are seen in The Highlanders Of Scotland.

True that sporran designs have evolved, and that the modern "day", "evening", and "hunting" sporrans don't appear in The Highlanders Of Scotland. But all three are seen by the 1920's, giving them nearly a century of use.

And hose then didn't have thick turnovers, a rather small matter in the overall costume, and something a casual observer might not even notice.

Anyhow, back to band tartans, I just looked through the 2007 programme and there are fewer bands wearing Royal Stuart and more bands wearing bespoke/custom-made tartans.

Band tartans tend to change rather slowly though, because it's tremendously expensive for a band to change, and bands tend to wear the same tartan for many decades.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Surely you jest!

Not really. There is a world of difference between the band uniforms you are talking about and everyday civilian attire. It seems to me, since you are referencing The Highlanders of Scotland that this thread may more properly belong in "Historical Attire" or, since it is about band uniforms it might be better placed in the "Celtic Music" forum.

To my mind band uniforms (or costumes as you have characterized them) have nothing to do with present day traditional civilian attire. People don't dress like they are in a pipe band when attending a wedding, or going to dinner with their wife to cite but two examples. With very few exceptions (this thread being one of them) the topics covered on this forum generally concern themselves with what might best be termed "ordinary" Highland attire as opposed to military uniforms or band wear.

In no way do I wish to demean your obvious knowledge about piping, pipe music, pipe bands, or anything else of which you may have an informed opinion. Whether I agree or not with your views on the appropriateness of posting music-related threads on this particular forum is beside the point. I just don't see how a thread on "cookie cutter pipe bands" advances the discussion of present day Highland attire.