Questions Regarding a Dirk

[Freelancer]

I'd like to query the rabble on where and when a Dirk is appropriate. Outside of the Pipe and Drum Corp kit, on what occasions would one be worn? Would they be worn with formal attire? How about casual dress? Is it fairly uncommon to wear one? Thanks for the feedback!

[cavscout]

My complete personal opinion, There are formal and casual Dirks. Casual would likely be a wood or bone handles dirk with brown leather sheath. Formal likely would be black handled with nickel or silver or gold fittings.

I think however a dirk is a very ceremonial piece of kit and it's more practical to just carry the sgian dubh for function.

In formal settings ie. Prince Charlie coat and vest at Burns Dinners. Would be fine.

[McMurdo]

You rarely see them, however I have seen them at Burns Suppers, and even Highland Games. To me anyway they are more appropriate to Formal Dress than anything else, depending on the Dirk, there are Officers Dirks which are quite ornate and then there are less formal Dirks.

[JRB]

Personally, I only wear my dirk if I'm dressed in period attire. I have seen very dressy looking dirks being worn to very formal events, but only rarely. Otherwise outside of a uniform, a dirk looks out of place IMO.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

100 years ago the dirk was considered de rigueur for highland evening dress, and was eschewed for day wear. Today it is occasionally seen at highland games worn by re-enactors or those in period dress. Once in a while someone will turn up wearing a dirk at a Burns Supper or tartan ball, but by and large this is no longer the fashion.

I think that dirks have been abandoned as an item of fashionable evening dress for two reasons, both of which are lamentable:

First, it is nearly impossible to purchase a new dirk today that is as stylish and as well made as the dirks produced between 1900 and 1950.

Second, white tie has been almost universally replaced by black tie (and worse) at what used to be formal Highland events.

A dirk looks silly when worn with black tie and a Prince Charlie coatee, especially if the chrome plated mounts are clutching bits of coloured glass set into pot-metal pommels. What once was a statement of elegant gentlemanly style has now become a piece of junk jewelry, worn mostly by those who don't seem to know any better.

My advise would be not to wear the dirk unless you are in a band, a serving officer in a kilted regiment, or a member of a very exclusive dining society.

[Jock Scot]

Spot on,M.of R..

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I think Rathdown's point is well illustrated by taking a look at a few of the portraits from Kenneth MacLeay's work. For instance:






I just pulled a few examples at random. These were painted c. 1870, and most of his subjects (not all), had a dirk, and not a few have swords. But look at the other elements of their dress. Usually it is some form of full doublet, a cross plaid of some sort, and a hair sporran. These days this is not the norm for Highland gatherings -- even formal occasions. The only men you are likely to see dressed like this will be drum majors and the like.

While the dirk looks very appropriate with this kind of outfit, the more usual formal wear for men in Highland dress these days doesn't lend itself as well to such accoutrements.

Just to pull a few random examples from the internet, can you imagine what the addition of a dirk might do to the below outfits?

[Carolina Kiltman]

I generally agree that the dirk has fallen out of general use, and that the more ornate ones do look out of place on the PC (which is slightly more dressy than a tux, IMHO) I was given a replica (compleat with singed British Test Cetificate) of a late 16th or early 17th century dirk. The case and pommel are both understated, obviously a utilitarian piece of hardware. I do wear it, but only when the occasion is both ceremonial and formal. (Burns night, for instance). Otherwise, not.

[Kent Frazier]

Another thing to consider is local laws. For instance, here in Texas, dirks are mentioned by name as a prohibited weapon. [Penal Code of Texas, Sect. 46.01(6)]

"Illegal Knife" means a: ...(C) dagger including but limited to a dirk, stiletto, and poniard;

[Monkey@Arms]

I have seen them worn informally - for fun mostly - at Highland games in California, and have on rare occasion done so myself. (I own the damn thing - bought at jumble sale in Scotland, might as well get some use out of it.)

Best regards,

Jake