Sans Peur Scottish Clothing 1750 to 1840
   
A look at Gaelic Clothing of the 18th and early 19th Century
 
The Grand Kilt. Worn only by men, for women
were not to show their legs.
This photo is of Two Hawks.
"The Kilt went to court! Highlanders adapted
their dress to fit even the most formal occasions."
Early text and maps show the Highlanders as
barbarians running around in skins and not much
else, while their lowland counterparts were
shown dressed in the fineary of France and England.
 
Changes to the Grand Kilt
About the beginning of the seventheenth centur the "feile-beag"
or Little Kilt, began to show up. The kilt was designed
to use half the plaid as the grand kilt, and had
to be fitted to fit each wearer. Therefore the
Kilt of Wallace, the grand kilt, would have fit
anyone and the Kilt of Prince Charles, the feile-beag,
of today would not.
One of the back door reasons for this was the fact
that a Scotsman believed that his soul lived in the
family tartan. When the men went into battle they
would follow the tradition of their ancestors the
Pics, or Picture People because of their body tatoos,
who would go into battle unclothed.
Imagine your surprise when a hundred naked men are
running toward you with death on their faces. The
Pics did one more thing, they included women in their
army.
When a family won the battle they would go to where
the losing family left the kilts and gathered up the
cloth to take home. The cloth was a trophy, and
the wearing of mixed tartans showed the glory of
battle victories.
 
Women and Keeping with Fashion
Scottish Women have always taken the trends of
the time and adapted them to fit their unique
style. The wearing of tartan was her first choice
for dress affairs, but the wearing of a petticoat
of "dark stuff" with a bodice or "Corsage" that
doubled as a corset over a Chamise of cotton was
the general everyday dress.

When the styles changed to the Empire dress the
Scottish woman added a Plaid shawl, and then turned
it into a Pellerine during the Leg-o-Mutton era.
All the while the women chose to wear the plaid, or
tartan as a support to the family, and to use up
the cloth the men won in battle.
 
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