Scottish School Uniform Garments: The Kilt

Figure 1.--Many Scottish schools have daily uniforms of a blazer and short or long pants, but for dress wear tweed jackets with kilts.

Many private Scottish schools employed the kilt as part of the school uniform. At schools the kilt is generally worn with a tweed jacket. Scottish schools allowed boys to wear the kilt as an alternstive to trousers. Some boys wore the kilt as everyday wear. At a few schools it was required. More commonly kilts were wore for cgurch on Sunday or for special occassions and outings.

Chronology

Kilt usage in Scottish schools has varied over time.

The 19th Century

I know little about conventions at Scottish schools concerning wearing the kilt in the 19th Century. Most schools until the late 19th Century were private schools. It is thus likely that some the well to do boys that attended school in the early 19th Century may have worn kilts. Queen Victotria and Prince Albert in the 1840s began dressing the young princes in Higland garb. It was undoubtedly an astute political move, but was in keeping with the romantic notions of Scotland which was sweeping England and very much affected the young queen. The first prince to wear a kilt was the future Edward VII. I'm not sure, however, how this affected the wearing of the kilt at Scottish schools.

The 20th Century

Early 20th Century: The kilt by the early 20th Century had come to be dress wear. I think some Scottish boys at privare schools may have worn kilts to school. The convention was, however, lrobably to wear the kilt to Church on Sunday or for other special occasions. I would not dismiss the possibility of some schools adopting the kilt as the school uniform. It is likely, however, that the kilt was not commonly worn at state schools.
Post-World War II era: Kilts were still seen at schools, but were normally only worn at a small minority of the boys. Many state and fee paying day schools had kilts as an option and many took them up. One HBC contributor reports that about 20 percent of boys at some primary schools in the 1950s might be kilted. In his case, the village school in the early 1950s had three boys, including him, who were regularly kilted out of a school population of about 60 children. About 30 of whom would be boys so about 10 percent in this case. Another 6 boys wore kilts some of the time, say for Sunday wear or special occassions. Thismay have varied by region. Kilts were probably more common in the Highlands. We note the Pitcalnie School in the northern Highlands during 1957. Aboout half of the boys wear kilts. We also see boys at private schools wearing kilts, such as Scotus Academy in the 1960s. At secondary school there were only about 10 kilties out of a school population of about 400, of whom 200 would be boys so only 5 percent and reducing in the senior forms. At university there were also some kilties but harder to quantify. Some areas of Scotland had higher percentages and some lower. If there were a critical mass of kilted boys other boys were less resistant to the idea of kilt wearing and mothers even more keen tosend their sons out this way. Financial means also played a part since kilts by te 1950s were expensive.

The 21st century

Modern practices at Scottish schools vary between state and private schools. The kilt is not normally worn at state schools. Most private schools, however, use the kilt worn with a tweed jacket as the principal dress uniform. Given the cost of the kilt, however, it is not used for everyday wear. Schools now only requirethe kilt on special occasions and Sundays.

Popularity

The wearing of the kilt varies widely among Scottish schools. Basically the kilt is virtually never worn at state schools, except perhaps by a pipe band. The kilt is still an important part of the uniform as private schools. Virtually no state school uses the kilt as part of the school uniform. Many state schools have iniforms. The primary school children generally wear grey or colored jumpers and grey or blaclk pants. Until the 1980s the boys often wore short pants, but now wear mostly long trousers. The secondary schools often have uniforms with black blazers and black long pants. None of these schools employ the kilt. The only exception I know of is the King Edward VII School in Dumfrees??, a boarding school for ??? run by the Gocernment. The uniform there is normally long short pants, but kilts for dress occasions. Scottish private schools, in contrast, commonly have a kilt for their dress uniform. These kilts are very expensive. An Edinburgh outfitter in 1999 advertised kilts which are hand sewn and take 8 yards of material. The cost of 13oz wool worsted was £299 pounds (about $500) and heavyweight or specially woven worsted tartan £400 pounds (about $600). Because of the cost and the fact that boys are so hard on their clothes, it is reserved for church on Sunday or other special occasions. Usually the boys wear blazers and long or short pants to school. On special occasions the kilt is worn, usually with tweed jackets

Accompanying Garments

Several garments were worn with the kilt. Most Scottish private schools have boys buy both blazers and tweed jackets. The blazers are generally worn with short or long pants. Occasionally blazers are worn with kilts, but it is not very common. Onr school in the 1980s had boys wear their kilt with striking red blazers instead of tweed jackets. More commonly Scottish boys wear their kilts with tweed jackets. Most schools allow the boys to select the tweed of their choice. One outfitter in Edinburgh carries a variety of stock Harris tweeds, including Oatmeal Marl, Blue Marl, Oatmeal Herring Bone, Green Herring Bone, and Brown Herring Bone. None of the schools requires a uniform tartan. Rather the boys are allowed to choose a clan tartan their family is associated with. Boys from England or foreign countries can choose ant tartan they may prefer. A variety of accesories are worn with the kilt. Most schools do not insist on the many accessories. Most boys do wear sporans and kilr pins. There are both day sporans and night sporans for dress wear. At school the boys choose the simple leather day sporans. Special knee-length kilt hose are worn with the kilt. Other kilt accesories are generally not worn at schools. Boys do not normally wear caps with their kilts. The two major styles are Balmorals and Glen?????. The sash worn over the shoulder is also not worn. Other accessories include Sgiandubh, Ghillie Brogues, Kilt Belts, and Clan Crest Badges.

Coed Schools

Many Scottish private schools, largely for economic reasons, have gone coeducational. All schools have different uniforms fior the boys and girls. Rules about the kilt varied. At some schools the girls wore dresses, but at many schools by the 1980s they also wore dresses. The kilt uniform, however, is precisely the same. Some girls even wear sporans.

Pipe Bands

Many Scottish schools, both state and private schools, have pipe bands. The kilt is worn by the pipers and drumers. The bands tend to wear black military-style jackets, but this varies from school to school.

Personal Experiences

Some personal experiences concerning the school kilt include:

Kilts: Scottish school overview

My school kilt: The 1940s (Private school)

My school kilt: The 1940s (West coast village)








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Created: 5:19 AM 9/27/2007
Last updated: 5:19 AM 9/27/2007