Dress code in Scotland

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.

I will also upload a picture of what our ties looks like.

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)

 xxx Oda


Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_dress (28.01.2014)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_uniforms_by_country#Scotland (28.01.2014)
http://www.larkhall.s-lanark.sch.uk/index.html (28.01.2014)
http://www.stjohnspark-h.schoolwebsites.com.au/Sites/sjphs/Cms/PictureGalleries/1864/a3.jpg (28.01.2014)
http://www.macgregorandmacduff.co.uk/history-of-the-kilt (28.01.2014)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Ghillie.JPG (28.01.2014)
http://stella81.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/gizmokat.jpg (28.01.2014)