Figure 1.--These two brothers were photographed in Chicago, probably in the 1880s. Note the younger boy wears a skirt while the older boy wears a kilted garment with a front pannel. Otherwise their outfits are identical. HBC is unsure if their mother chose the two skirted garments to reflect the older boy's age or if the difference is random. Note that the younger boy also has a hairbow. Click on the image for more details about the outfits. |
The kilt or kilt skirt for a kilt suit was normally the same color and material as the jacket--a significant difference from traditinal Highland kilt outfits. Many boys wore kilt suits where the skirted gartment actually had kilt styling, a front pannel often decorated with buttons. The skirted garment in other cases was actually was not a kilt, but a skirt. It was, however, commonly referred to as a kilt--perhaps to make the outfit more palatable to boys. Many assume that a kilt is simply a plaid skirt. A kilt certainly is a skirted garment but it is not simply a plaid skirt. There are other significant differences. A proper kilt is a wrap around garment with a front facing folding over the other end of materaial. It is worn at knee level while women's dresses in the late 19th century covered even the ankles. In additiin, a kilt was always worn with a sporan and various other accompanying Higland regalia. The skirted garments worn by boys in the late 19th century were in many ways more skirts than kilts.
The trur kilt was not worn with kilt suits. Normally the jacket and kilt skirt were made in the same material and color which as never the case in a trye Highland kilt outfit. Also the colors of the kilt suit were usually dark, muted colors, never the brigt colors used in many Highland kilts. Many boys wore kilt suits where the skirted gartment actually had kilt styling, a front pannel often decorated with buttons, it was then normally pleated at the sides and back. The kilt suit was also not worn with a sporran, although boys might wear it with a floppt Tam O'Shanter.
Some kilts, mostly in America, were worn essentially as skirts. These were worn with no Highland regalia like sporans, dirks, and tartan kneesocks. We still have limited information on this style, but we have begun to collect basic information. The skirts do appear to be mostly tartan. They were also not worn with as part of the kilts suits that were so popular with American boys in the late 19th century. We are not sure about the chronology. Available images are available from the 1880s, but they may have been worn earlier. Rather they are in essenmce simply tartan skirts. Nany of the skirts do not appeasr to be pleated. These skirts were worn as part of a large number of different outfits. Usually they were worn with long stockings. The boys wore many varied headgear and had diverse hair styles.
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