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THE RIGHT TO GO LEFT!
On what shoulder should ladies wear
the sash?
©2007 Matthew A. C.
Newsome, GTS, FSA Scot.
published in the Scottish Banner, March
2007
Most of
what gets written concerning Highland attire is geared towards the men. This
is just a fact of life. There is nothing that can quite compare with the
romance, mystique, tradition, uniqueness and flare of the masculine kilt. The
kilt is synonymous in many people’s mind with the traditional Highlander. And
then there are all those accessories that go with it, most of which are
utterly foreign to typical men’s clothing. We have the sporran, the hose, the
garters, the sgian dubh, the kilt pin, the bonnets, the crest badges, the
special belts, special jackets, fly plaids, doublets, and on and on. No
wonder books have been written about the subject!
But
when it comes to the ladies, it seems they don’t get to have near as much
fun. Or at least that is one way of looking at it. I like to remind the
lassies of their relative freedom when it comes to donning the tartan. They
can wear a tartan skirt, if they like. Unlike the men’s kilt, it can be
pleated or not. It can be knee length, or any length they like, from
micro-mini to full length hostess skirt. Or they can wear a plain skirt,
dress, or even pants with a simple tartan sash.
Which
usually leads to the next question – how does one wear the sash? My answer is
always the same. Wear it however you like, depending upon what looks good
with your particular outfit. Now I will admit that my answer has not been the
norm for the past several decades. Many would consider it downright
heretical!
Let’s
examine for a moment the advice given by J. Charles Thompson in the standard
reference, So You’re Going to Wear the Kilt. Written originally in
1979, he writes that the Lord Lyon has “recently” adopted this code for women
wearing the sash. All women should wear their sash pinned on the right
shoulder with the following exceptions. 1) Ladies who are chiefs or
chieftains in their own right. 2) The wives of chiefs or chieftains. And 3)
women who are married to colonels of Highland regiments. Thompson then goes
on to explain the different ways the sash may be draped depending upon whether
a woman is married outside of her clan or not, but frankly I’ve always found
these instructions too complicated to remember, and unpractical to say the
least!
The
question at hand is whether or not these restrictions on who may wear the sash
on what shoulder are binding at all. It is my assertion that they are not.
According to the above instructions, the vast majority of women would wear
their sash on the right. However, the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society
has always instructed female dancers to wear their sash on the left, and
Thompson acknowledges this exception to the rules in his chapter on the
subject. The reasoning seems to be that dancers need their right arms more
free for movement. My thought is that if dancers can make an exception to the
rule for the sake of utility, why not all women?
The
Lord Lyon that Thompson makes reference to is most likely Thomas Innes of
Learney, who was Lord Lyon from 1945 to 1969. Our present Lord Lyon makes the
statement on the Lyon Court web site that there are no strict rules concerning
with wearing of tartan. And, as we pointed out in a recent column, the Lord
Lyon’s jurisdiction is over heraldry in Scotland, and tartan is not heraldic.
Thompson himself even admits in his book that the Lord Lyon’s opinion in this
matter is not binding.
My
personal theory is that the idea of there being a “proper shoulder” for women
to wear the sashes on is a very modern innovation. Here is my logic. For a
good part of the twentieth century (and even continuing on today) male
Highland attire was thought to be fraught with rules and regulations – shoulds
and should nots dictating the “proper” way for a man to wear the kilt. This
was by and large a product of the Victorian era, and the adoption of much
military fashion in civilian Highland dress.
It is
telling that we first start seeing books written on “how to wear the kilt”
beginning in the late nineteenth century. Since when has a man needed a book
to tell him how to dress? But the wearing of the kilt had grown more
complicated. And while many kilt wearers today are freeing themselves of many
of these burdensome restrictions, the idea of propriety has a certain
attraction.
To put
it colloquially, it’s rather “neat.” We only have rules about things that are
important, and the notion of a special set of rules for wearing the kilt made
the kilt wearer feel that he was really taking part in a very special
tradition. It is not surprising, then, that the idea of prescribed rules for
wearing the tartan should bleed over into female attire, as well.
But, as
with any such made-up rule, one has to ask if it makes sense. And I believe
this restriction on how to wear the sash fails the common sense test. For
one, it has no historic precedence. It seems to date from the middle of the
twentieth century and no earlier. For another, it forces most women, who are
right handed, to wear the sash on a shoulder that is not comfortable for
them.
When
men wear the fly plaid, it is almost always worn pinned at the left shoulder.
This is a fashion of function, as most men are right handed, and this leaves
the right arm more unencumbered. So why doesn’t the same logic apply to the
ladies?
It
would seem that it originally did. One of the first references to be found on
women wearing the sash is from The Kilt: A Manual of Scottish National
Dress, written by Loudon M. Douglas in 1914. He writes, “It is desirable
that ladies who wish to encourage the Scottish National Dress should wear
sashes of tartan, with evening dress. These should be preferably worn over
the left shoulder and fixed by a circular brooch. Other applications of
the tartan in connection with ladies’ costume must be left very largely to
personal taste.”
And I
think it should be left at that. When women ask me whether someone might
criticize them for wearing their sash the wrong way, I always ask what boar
would dare tell a lady how she ought to dress! Truth be told, at Highland
Games and other Scottish events (at least in the American southeast where I
live) one sees women wearing their sashes in all manner of ways, depending on
personal taste and fashion. And that’s just fine by me!
