Today an increasing number of people are becoming interested in their heritage. And one of the very visible signs of that legacy is the proud tradition of Highland Dress. However, since tartan and the kilt become more popular, it looks like the myths about them continue to spread even more rapidly, especially regarding the history of Highland Dress. William Wallace sporting a"great kilt" at Braveheart, stage productions of Macbeth at kilt for sale and plaid, and pipe bands in contemporary army kit acting at"Renaissance" festivals just add to the confusion. This timeline of Highland Dress is meant to clarify some fundamental difficulties.
If you were to return in time and visit the Highlands of Scotland about 1000 years back, you would not see anybody wearing anything that remotely looks like the modern kilt. This is just the Gaelic term for"shirt" as well as the styles varied according to the time period. Initially it was a rather straightforward long tunic, pulled on over the head, worn by the women and either long or to the knee by the guys.
By the sixteenth century the léine had evolved into a somewhat elaborate garment that was very full, having sleeves that hung down to the knees, and styles that were either pull-over or that wrapped around and closed instead as a bathrobe. The most frequent colour was saffron, though other colours were potential and they were quite often undyed.
Over this, such as warmth, a woolen shawl or wrap was often worn. This mantle was called a brat in Ireland, and in later centuries was known as a plaid in Scots Gaelic (the term originally meant"blanket").
Though tartan was much less common in Scotland afterward as it had been later times, these wraps might very well have been of a few tartan pattern, because we have archaeological proof of tartan cloth being worn in Scotland in the fourth or third century leather kilt.
THE BELTED PLAID
It's this tartan wrap which would later evolve into the kilt. As stated previously, the fashion in sixteenth century Gaelic Scotland was to get very full clothing. The thought was that the more cloth you wear in your clothing, the more affluent you have to be! Together with the cost of wool dropping towards the end of the sixteenth century in Scotland, the woolen wraps, or plaids, started to grow larger with all the fashion.