Hey!
Fitting in a new society
and school can be hard, especially when you are from another country and don’t
know how the rules for everything is.
When I first came to Scotland
I thought the difference between Norwegian and Scottish dressing culture would
be really different from each others. I thought that Norwegians would dress a
lot more challenging, and that the Scottish teenagers would dress in more
traditional clothes. I was totally wrong. I actually feel that it is the opposite.
All the girls here in
Larkhall are wearing hot pants and mini skirts, and when it’s cold they only
put a pair of dark tights under. Some of them also put on platform soles! For
me is this like entering a time warp.
How they dress is very much about which social rank they are in. People
in Larkhall are not the richest people in Scotland, and I think that has
a big effect on how they dress. They are lower middle class. People in a higher
social ranks dress more classy and traditional, probably to show others that
they aren’t por.
School uniform
Scottish law is not
specific on the question of school uniform. Basically it depends on what the
policy on clothing and uniforms in every municipality says about it. Some schools don’t forces their students to wear
a uniform, but it’s normally on most of the schools in Scotland. A student can
not be disciplines for not wearing a uniform if their parents don’t want their
child to wear it, but the student can be disciplined by the school if they
refuse to wear it and the school thinks it cause problems.
How the uniform are
depends form school to school. Some uniforms may include shirt and tie when
others can be so simple as a jumper and pants. It is very rarely accepted to go
with jeans at school.
At our school
(Larkhall Academy) we have a uniform who is mostly the same as all the other
High Schools in Scotland. It includes a shirt, tie and a blazer with our
schools badge. The girls use skirts while the boys use pants.
Larkhall Academy has
published what their uniform includes at their website:
·
Blue
blazer with school badge
·
Plain
white school shirt (not polo)
·
Blue
plain v-neck jumper or cardigan or tank top (no fashion labels)
·
Blue
plain trousers or skirt (avoid cargo styles or similar)
·
New
tie
This is a picture of
us in our school uniform. Since it was our first day at school we didn’t know
we had to wear a tie, but we have used it every day since the photo was taken.
Highland dress
We just had about Highland
dress (which is the traditional dress in Scotland) at school. It was very interesting
to learn about the history and how to use it.
Historically wasn’t
the highland dress as popular as it is today. In 1947 did the British
government ban the wearing and the bagpipes, which were seen as an instrument
of war. This remained in force until 1783. During the ban, the only people
who were legally allowed to wear the highland dress were pipers in the
military, and then only in their regimental tartan.
Male highland dress
includes kilt, sporran, sgian dubh and ghillies (shoes with thick sole, no
tongues and long laces).The laces are wrapped around and tied above the ankles
so they don’t get pulled of.
Female highland dress
includes ghillies (with thin soles for indoor wear and dancing). Women and
girls don’t wear kilts, but they wear ankle-length tartan skirts or a tartan
dress.
Ghillies
Highland dress
Since the highland dress is a formal wear do they have different types of it. I’m going to describe three different types of the highland dress.
Morning dress:
·
Black
(or charcoal) semi-formal kilt jacket in superfine wool or barathea.
·
Five-
or six-button waistcoat in black, grey, putty or tartan
·
Kilt
·
White
shirt with turndown collar, French cuffs and cufflinks
·
Tie in
a single colour
·
Black
brogues
·
Tartan,
argyle, diced or dark hose (white and off-white hose should be avoided)
·
Flasher
or garter ties
·
Day Dress
sporran. These have less intricate designs and are often black leather.
·
Day Dress
sgian dubh. These are typically made of horn or antler
·
Dirk
Black
tie:
·
Black
barathea jacket with silver buttons—Regulation Doublet, Prince Charlie
(coatee), Brian Boru, Braemar, Argyll, and black mess jackets are suitable.
There is some contention about whether the Duke of Montrose and Sheriffmuir
doublets are too formal for black-tie occasions.
·
Matching
or tartan waistcoat
·
Kilt
·
White
shirt with shirt studs, French or barrel cuffs, and a turn-down collar (wing
collars are reserved for white tie in most locales)
·
Black
bow tie or white lace jabot
·
Evening
dress brogues
·
Full-dress
kilt hose (Off-white hose are often seen but are deplored by some, such as the late
David Lumsden of Cushnie)
·
Silk
flashes or garter ties
·
dress
sporran with silver chain
·
Black,
silver-mounted Sgian dubh
·
Dirk
(optional)
·
Highland
bonnet with crest badge (only suitable out of doors)
White
tie:
·
Formal
kilt doublet in barathea or velvet— the regulation doublet, Montrose doublet,
Sheriffmuir doublet, and Kenmore doublet are suitable in a variety of colours.
Velvet is considered to be a more formal material. Tartan jackets are also
seen.
·
Waistcoat
in white marcella, tartan (usually to match the kilt), red, or the same
material as the doublet; no waistcoat is worn with the Kenmore doublet
·
Kilt
with formal kilt pin
·
White
stiff-front shirt with wing collar and white, gold, or silver studs and
cufflinks for the regulation doublet, or a white formal shirt and optional lace
cuffs for the Montrose, Sheriffmuir, and Kenmore doublets
·
White
lace jabot; a black silk or white marcella bow tie may be worn in place of the
jabot with the regulation doublet (highland wear often includes a black bow tie
even at white-tie events)
·
Black
formal shoes or black buckle brogues
·
Tartan
or diced kilt hose
·
Silk
garter flashes or garter ties
·
Silver-mounted
Sporran in fur, sealskin, or hair with a silver chain belt
·
Black,
silver-mounted, and jeweled sgian dubh
·
Short
belted plaid with silver plaid brooch (optional)
·
Scottish
dirk (optional)
·
Highland
bonnet with badge (only worn out of doors)
