Highland Dress: A Guide to Traditional Scottish Clothes

The Highland dress is the traditional regional dress of the Highlands and the isles of Scotland, but aspects of the dress have since spread into other parts of the nation. It can now be considered as the traditional Scottish clothing.

The Scottish wardrobe has various unique components and accessories that add richness to its traditional look.

In this article, you’ll discover details about items like sporrans, Balmoral bonnets, ghillie brogues, and other lesser-known elements that contribute to the beautiful traditional attire in Scotland.

Let’s get started!

The Highland dress is the traditional clothing worn in the Highlands and Isles of Scotland. It typically includes items such as kilts, which are knee-length skirts, along with jackets, shirts, bodices, headwear, and badges that represent their family, clans, and heritage. The dress is often characterized by specific tartan patterns associated with different Scottish clans.

Men’s Highland attire typically features a kilt or trews in the tartan of their clan. Additionally, they may wear a tartan full plaid, fly plaid, or short belted plaid.

Various accessories complement the outfit, such as a belt, sporran, sgian-dubh, knee-socks, garters, kilt pins, and of course clan badges.

In Women’s Highland dress, the choice of the tartan pattern is based on either their birth clan or, if married, their spouse’s clan if they prefer. While kilts are not traditionally worn by women and girls, ankle-length tartan skirts are common. These are paired with a color-coordinated blouse and vest.

Women may choose to wear a tartan earasaid, sash or tonnag (small shawl), typically fastened with a brooch, and occasionally adorned with a clan badge or other family or cultural motif.

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Note that these type of dresses are no longer for everyday use – Traditional Highland dress is now reserved for ceremonies and special occasions, but that hasn’t always been the case, as we’ll consider in detail throughout this article.

But first, you can’t learn about the traditional Scottish attire without knowing what tartan is.

Tartan is a distinctive textile pattern of colored stripes intersecting at right angles, forming a checked design. It is closely associated with Scottish culture and is often used in traditional Scottish clothing.

Tartans can vary in colors and designs, and they are woven into various fabric types, including wool. Each tartan pattern is associated with a specific Scottish clan or family, and it serves as a visual identifier of one’s heritage or affiliation.

It’s most famous for being used on kilts, but any old garment can be bedecked in tartan from neckties to ribbons to bags to trousers.

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Beyond clothing, tartan patterns are also used in a variety of Scottish products and accessories from flags to clothes to Scottish souvenirs, contributing to the rich cultural symbolism associated with this unique and recognizable design.

You’ll see tartan everywhere when you’re in the country.

But though tartan is tied to Scottish history and heritage, it’s no longer a mainstay of everyday clothing. On a trip to a supermarket, you won’t see countless individuals adorned in tartan, engaging in traditional activities.

Modern Scottish life has evolved, and while tartan remains a symbol of cultural pride and is still worn on special occasions or formal events, the everyday scene is more likely to feature people dressed in contemporary, everyday attire.

The rich history and traditions associated with tartan persist, but its presence in daily life has shifted to more specific and ceremonial contexts.

Some examples of famous tartans are:

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The Black Watch Tartan is a specific pattern of colors and stripes that originated around the time of the formation of the 43rd regiment, later known as the Black Watch, in 1739.

This tartan became associated with the Campbell clan in the early 19th century and is now worn by the present Duke of Argyll, who has approved its use.

The Black Watch Tartan is essentially the same pattern as the Campbell Tartan but is dyed in darker shades. It holds historical significance and is often worn as a symbol of Scottish heritage.

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The Royal Stewart tartan is a distinctive and well-known tartan pattern associated with the Scottish royal family. It features a bold red background with a pattern of green, blue, black, and yellow crisscrossing lines.

This tartan is often used to represent the Scottish monarchy and is worn by members of the royal family, especially during formal or ceremonial occasions.

The Royal Stewart tartan is one of the most widely recognized and widely used tartan patterns, and it holds historical and cultural significance in Scotland.

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The Baird tartan is a pattern of fabric that belongs to the Baird clan, a Scottish family that originated from the word ‘bard’ meaning poet.

The Baird tartan has shades of green and blue with a triple stripe of purple or red. It was first recorded in 1906.

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The Douglas tartan, also known as Wilson’s No.148, is the recognized tartan pattern for the Douglas Clan/Family. It first showed up in Wilson’s 1819 list as number 184 and had the name ‘Douglas’ associated with it by 1880.

It’s occasionally referred to as Douglas Hunting. The pattern of the tartan is confirmed by a threadcount mentioned in DC Stewart’s ‘Setts of the Scottish Tartans’.

A kilt is a traditional garment worn by men in Scotland. It is a skirt-like cloth that wraps around the waist and covers the legs up to the knees. It is usually made of wool and has a pattern of lines and colors called tartan. A kilt is worn with a belt, a pouch called a sporran, a knife called a sgian-dubh, and special shoes called ghillie brogues.

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There’s your simple answer.

But there’s way more history and heritage tied to the Scottish kilt.

Gaelic in origin, the kilt first appeared in Scotland in the 16th century, but not in its current form. In the 16th century, it was known as the great kilt.

The Great Kilt, or Féileadh Mor in Scottish Gaelic (sometimes also called the Belted Plaid), is a traditional Scottish garment that consists of a long piece of tartan fabric that is wrapped around the body and secured with a belt, it sometimes featured a hood. It was worn by men in the Highlands from the 16th to the 18th century.

If you’ve seen Braveheart, you’ve seen the great kilt in action.

Sometime in the early 18th century (or maybe even a little earlier), a smaller kilt was invented, and its popularity quickly eclipsed that of the full-length option.

At one point in time, kilts were even banned, but you’ll learn more about that later in this article.

Like I said, kilts aren’t worn for everyday use in Scotland. Or at least not anymore.

Kilts are now usually worn for four reasons:

• Weddings: at Scottish weddings, it’s quite common for both the male wedding party and male wedding guests to wear kilts. It’s pretty likely in particular that a Scottish groom will wear a kilt on his wedding day.
• At traditional Highland games: these strange sporting events are held in Scotland during warmer months, and involve celebrations and recreations of bizarre traditional Scottish sports. Ever wanted to watch a big fat man throw a giant tree around? Now you can! And as an added perk, that big fat man will be wearing a kilt.
• At ceilidhs: these traditional Gaelic dancing events are popular throughout Scotland and Ireland. The Scottish ones involve lots of kilts.

Highland dress isn’t all kilts. And it’s not all tartan.

Men and women wear many different types of traditional Scottish dress:

From top to bottom here are the basics and some extras of the traditional Highland dress for men, plus an illustration to clarify some of the items below:

• Tam o’ Shanter: a traditional cap, the Tam o’ Shanter’s name comes from an iconic poem penned by Scottish hero Robert Burns. A flat bonnet usually made of wool, tam o’shanters are now more commonly known for being covered in ginger hair and sold in joke shops. Because of that, they’re (unsurprisingly) no longer very popular in Scotland.
• Jacobite shirt: an informal traditional shirt with criss-cross lacing at the chest.
• Kilt shirt: a slightly more formal and tidy version of the Jacobite shirt
• Argyll jacket: often worn with a vest, the Argyll jacket is like a suit jacket.
• Prince Charlie jacket: pretty much like an Argyll jacket, but a little more formal.
• Kilt: if you don’t know what a kilt is by now, I don’t know how to help you.
• Kilt pin: a small decorative pin which keeps the kilt in place. No-one wants their skirt falling off.
• Sporran: a small pouch strapped around the waist in the middle (though they’re often moved to the side). Some sporrans are plain leather, some have animal hair, and some have other decorative elements. They usually all have three tassels. Unsurprisingly, ‘sporran’ is the Gaelic word for ‘purse’.
• Kilt hose: knee-length socks which are worn along with a kilt.
• Flashes: now we’re getting fancy. A relatively rare part of the Scottish man’s wardrobe, flashes are decorative pieces of fabric placed into the kilt hose (the long socks I mentioned earlier).
• Ghillie brogues: the most strangely-named part of the traditional Scottish wardrobe, ghillie brogues also look pretty odd. These shoes have no tongue, but include lacing which ties halfway up the lower leg. Usually crafted from leather, they sometimes have metal heels for tip-tapping away on a long night of dancing.
• Fly plaid: particularly formal, a fly plaid is like a cape for Scottish men.

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• Kilt: women don’t traditionally wear kilts, though they do on occasion for ceremonies and other special occasions. Typically, women wear a kilted skirt instead of a kilt.
• Kilted skirt: see above!
• Tartan sash (or shawl): Scottish people seem to like capes. Maybe they should form a team of ginger superheroes.
• Great kilt: remember those now-obsolete great kilts I talked about above? Women often wear tartan dresses, which are sometimes referred to as ‘women’s great kilts’ and they don’t have a hood.
• Ghillie brogues: women wear these too! For women attending dances, these are very popular.

Compared to the men’s Scottish wardrobe, the women’s Scottish wardrobe is very standard, and not at all removed from the clothes which most women wear throughout the world.

In this phenomenal music video of the Braveheart theme song, you’ll see an example of a traditional Scottish dress for women.

Aside from all of this traditional dress, modern Scotland offers many other garments and accessories liberally doused with large servings of tartan. While the above are examples of traditional Scottish dress, there are now way more options, with tartan hats, tartan trousers and other tartan accessories.

There are also lots of other small decorative items which adorn Scottish dress, some of which are traditional and some of which aren’t. These include brooches, small swords, badges, pins, jewellery and more.

Traditionally, Scottish people wear clothes which are associated with their ‘clan’ (or in other words, ‘family’). Many of Scotland’s families have their own iconic colors.

Different types of tartans are related to different clans.

But that’s not always been the case. Until the middle of the 19th century, different tartan patterns were associated with different regions and areas, rather than specific families or clans. That’s because different regional tartan crafters would specialise in crafting their own specific patterns with their own specific colors.

Now, things are a little different – specific family names are associated with specific types of tartans. Depending on your very own family name, there might be a tartan pattern which is associated with your family.

Interested in finding if there’s a tartan pattern related to your last name? Check out this site.

That said, lots of dumn tourist stores like to lie to customers and tell them that they should buy a certain type of tartan. If someone in a store in Scotland tells you that they can sell you some of your clan tartan for a low price, be at least moderately sceptical.

You don’t want to come out of the store dressed like an extra from Highlander, only to realise you’re wearing the tartan of another clan.

Some of the most famous clans have their own catchy slogans, such as ‘Hold Fast’ and ‘Forget Not’. These clans have their own traditions, their own dress and even their own castles.

For more details, get this highly detailed compilation of maps showing hundreds of tartan, arms, official insignia, and crests of the Scottish clans.

… there’s your introduction to traditional Scottish clothes!

From kilts to sporrans to tartans to clans, Highland dress has a storied history – and it’s still a big part of many traditional Scottish events.

Though you’ll rarely find people walking around Edinburgh in head to toe tartan, you’ll notice an abundance of the stuff throughout the nation. From flags to tourist stores to countless amounts of garments, tartan is still liberally dotted around much of Scotland. And now, you’ll know why.

Want more information about Scotland?

• Like things you should never say while you’re there? Or never do?
• Or guides to Edinburgh and Glasgow?
• Or my report on the nation’s iconic North Coast 500?
• Or the reasons why Scotland has 2 flags?

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