|
Our Scottish HBC reader has provided a detailed description of the kilts worn by Scottish boys in the 20th century. While the kilt itself has changed little, some of the conventions associated weith wearing the kilt and the popularity of the assessories have changed. While the kilt is the principal and most well-known garment associated with Highland dress, many other garments makeup a complete Higland outfit. As the 20th century progresses, some of the other items such as headwear and the plaid have become less popular.
Kilts for boys can contain anywhere between 2 and 6 yards of tartan. For comparison, a regular mans kilt is made of either 6 or 8 yards. The amount of material needed for a boys kilt depends on the waist size and the purpose for which the kilt is being bought. Small boys with small waists do not look good in kilts which have too much material but, on the other hand, only a fully pleated kilt will swing properly during display highland dancing.
For boys up to the age of about 6 or 7, the kilt will generally be made of 2 or 3 yards of lightweight saxony tartan. This is a soft tartan which will hang reasonably well in short lengths. The pleats of a heavier, stiffer tartan would tend to stick out at the back when the boy bends over. A kilt for a boy of 6 or 7 will generally be provided with a bodice since a boy of that age is unlikely to have sufficient waist to hold up a proper kilt. The bodice was / is generally made of white satin.
Boys aged 7 or above can be expected to have a regular buckle kilt. The kilt wraps over at the front with an under-apron and the apron proper. Kilts for schoolwear or scouts would probably have between 2 and 4 yards of material, most likely lightweight worsted. The worsted is harder wearing and holds a pleat better than saxony. Saxony might be used for a kilt that is only going to be worn occasionally for Sunday best or as a cheaper alternative to worsted.
Kilted boys will normally wear either a jacket or pullover. Only occasionally, e.g. for parties in a heated environment will a boy go with just a shirt.
The normal kilt jacket is made of green or brown tweed, is shorter than a normal jacket such as would be worn with trousers. The front is cut away to allow the sporran to hang unobstructed. Buttons are usually of bone and there are decorative buttons on the cuffs of the sleeves and the pockets. Until the second world war it was common even for boys jackets to be provided with a waistcoat but during the war, due to shortages and rationing, any jacket was acceptable and the waistcoat was dropped. These jackets would suffice for Sunday wear and most other formal occasions.
If something more formal was required, the jacket would be made of black barathea and would often be in the Prince Charlie style, that is with a flap at the back decorated with silver diamond shaped buttons. These and other formal styles were generally necessary for the more serious Scottish country dancing competitions.
Ordinary white shirts were worn with the normal buckle kilt. Until the second world war the shirts usually had detachable collars. Bodice kilts required a blouse since it was not possible to tuck in the shirt tail. Girls blouses were normally purchased and worn for this purpose since it was not economic to make blouses specially for boys and they would not, in any case have been different. Scouts wore brown or green shirts with their kilts.
For dancing and special occasions a boy might wear a jabot (lace frill) instead of a tie. This might be permanently attached to a separate shirt of might be worn as a tie with a normal shirt.
There was/is a distinction between everyday and dressed up occasions. The normal everyday kilt shoe is The Brogue which is an open topped shoe tied with laces going round the ankle and knotted there. Not every casual kilt wearing boy was able to get such footwear and ordinary shoes, such as would be worn with short trousers, sufficed. The poorer boys, some of whom wore kilts to school as an economy measure, often had what were called 'tackity boots'. These were ordinary boys boots, again as worn with short trousers, coming up above the ankle, and with the toes and heels liberally dotted with 'tacks' which were steel 'protectors' intended to extend the life of the leather. The sound of these on a road or pavement or indoors on concrete carried far in advance of the wearer.
In summer, out of school, kilts were often worn bare legged with open leather sandals and without socks. This was regarded by mothers as 'healthy'.
For parties and dressed up occasions a well dressed kilty boy would be likely to wear Mary Jane shoes - black patent leather with an ornamental buckle on the toe cap and a single strap across the ankle to hold the shoe on. If the boy had been to dancing classes, and many were forced to, dancing pumps might be substituted for the Mary Jane shoes.
The normal kilt hose (socks) come up to just below the knee. They were/are made of knitted wool. They are long enough to be turned over at the top. They are held up by elastic garters but before 1940, the garters were just coloured material wound round and tied.
The normal headgear for wearing with the kilt is either a Balmoral (round beret with a pom pom on top, sometimes called a Tam-O-Shanter) or a Glengary such as is worn by some Highland regiments. Up to the second world war it was normal for boys to wear one or the other for dressed up occasions. Most state schools required a cap as would be worn with trousers. After the war, headgear for boys became less common.
Most kilted outfits included a sporran which is a leather pouch with an integral flap closed with either a leather loop or pop fastener. Although you can get them to clip to the waist belt, a normal boys sporran is worn on the front of the kilt, about the middle of the apron. It is used as a pocket, since the kilt itself does not provide one. The sporran is probably the one item of Highland Dress which has changed with time. At the beginning of the century the normal sporran (boys' as well as mens') consisted of a leather pouch to which was attached long horsehair, coming down to the edge of the kilt or even further in some cases. Nowadays such sporrans are out of fashion and almost impossible to obtain. I suppose that the change happened about the time of the war when the more elaborate sporran was difficult to obtain. The substitute, the basic leather pouch, was quite accepted and indeed became the norm. For those who wanted something more elaborate the front would be covered in short soft hair and in some cases was made to look like the head of a small furry animal.
The kilt pin is worn on the lower right side of the front apron. It is usually a blanket pin for everyday wear but for special occasions it can be a grouse claw or a tiny imitation sword. This is purely for decoration. It is reputed to be pinned through both aprons to prevent them blowing apart but this would require re-pinning every time the kilt was taken off and on and would damage the material. Most boys clipped it in once and left it there.
Up until the second world war, most kilts, even boys kilts, were made to measure and most came with one or more pairs of matching tailored undershorts. These undershorts or kilt drawers, were often wrongly referred to as undertrews. (Trews are full length tartan trousers worn by some Highland regiments cut on the bias for a close fit). Kilt drawers were rather like modern day Bermuda shorts, with a high waist and reaching down the leg to about mid thigh. Most had a button fly front but later designs had a zipper. They were made in the same tartan as the kilt or else in a plain colour to tone with it, like green or red. The undertrews were generally made in a lighter weight of tartan, often saxony tweed rather than worsted. They were usually lined for additional comfort. Normal underpants were often worn beneath, as for regular trousers, to reduce the frequency of laundering the kilt drawers since the woollen material was difficult to wash. Kilt drawers were guaranteed to preserve a boy's modesty if his kilt blew up, he was horsing around, or just sitting carelessly, since it was the same colour and therefore there was no great difference between kilt and kilt. Such an undergarment was rather restrictive and uncomfortable and boys often wore black football or rugby shorts instead. In those days these garments came almost to the knee and had to be shortened to about mid thigh for wearing under a kilt. Remember that coloured briefs for men and boys did not appear in Scotland until about the 1970's or 1980's and that white or cream coloured underpants were rather eye catching under a dark coloured kilt.
Even before World War II, many mothers bought schoolgirl gym knickers for sons to wear beneath the tartan instead of kilt drawers. During the war, when kilt drawers became unobtainable or cost too many clothing coupons, these became the undergarment of choice for kilted boys. They were very suitable with elasticated legs for full modesty however carelessly the boy sat or allowed his kilt to rise up. Schoolgirl knickers were cheap and readily available in just the right dark colours like bottle green, navy blue, maroon, red and other kilt colours. Schoolgirl knickers were underpants rather than the knickerbockers referred to in other pages. All girls wore them as part of their school uniform under gymslips, skirts, and kilts, and took gym and even games in just vest and knickers. The elasticated legs permitted them to be worn high on the thigh. Girls generally wore them all the time, even outside school under skirts and kilts although they were not very glamorous. Many boys were teased for wearing a girls undergarment but schoolgirl gym knickers could be found under many a boy's kilts well into the late 1970's.
Strange as it may seem for such a short, pleated garment, the traditional Scottish kilt is worn without any underpants. This is called going unbreeched, wearing the kilt 'True Scot' or just 'True'. It was not usually practical to allow very young kilted boys to go unbreeched although there were some exceptions. Just as the transition from bodice to buckle kilt signified a first step on the ladder to manhood, so the unbreeched kilt signified a second and more important step. I should make it clear that not all boys left off their underwear --far from it. Many older boys and even men continue to wear briefs or even knickers under their kilts to this day.
The transition between being breeched and unbreeched usually occurred between the ages of 13 and 17. In the protected environment of a 'boys only' boarding school kilts were usually worn unbreeched even by boys as young as 8, and any boy caught wearing trews or knickers was teased and hounded. So it was usually easier to conform. Not that the unbreeched kilt was officially condoned--most school clothes lists did specify undertrews although knickers were an acceptable substitute. Nowadays, with almost all boarding schools being co-educational underwear is required and usually worn.
