English Traditional Dress

What you know about English traditional dress

Despite England's folklore and traditions, there's no absolute definition of its 'national' dress. The Morris dancers wear the most recognizable national costume in England. Folk dances are performed in many villages in the country during the summer months. These dances were once ceremonial and are associated with the recovery of the earth, and are believed to contain magical powers.

The national costume varies from dance group to dance group, but basically consists of a pair of white pants and a white shirt, a pair of gauntlets tied around the calves with bells, and a felt or straw hat decorated with ribbons and flowers. The bells and ribbons are said to ward off evil and bring abundance. Morris dancing was originally a men-only tradition, although today some teams include female dancers. Join me below to find out more about traditional British dress.

Scotland

Britain's most famous `national dress is probably the kilt, with its characteristic tartan pattern. The kilt is a piece of tweed that is pleated except at the ends. People would wear it around their waist, with the pleated part behind them, and the ends of the tweed crossed in front of them, held in place by a pin.

Each Scottish clan or family has its own distinctive tartan pattern in different colors.

The traditional Scottish Highlander costume is the dress code of the clansmen and the military in Scotland. The kilt forms part of it. In addition to the kilt, the Scots would wear a tartan cloak over their shoulders and tie a goatskin pouch or fur pouch to the front of the kilt. Although plaids are used in many clothes and the kilt is worn by Scottish women, they do not have an exclusive national dress.

Wales

The national dress of Wales derives from the peasant clothing of the 18th and 19th centuries. Because of the distance between Wales and the rest of the UK, many of the characteristics of the clothing and materials of that time have survived in Welsh dress, despite their early demise in other parts of the UK. Unlike Scotland, the characteristic national costume of Wales is worn by women, and consists of a tunic (Welsh: betgwn) or skirt, worn with a classic crimson petticoat (Welsh: pais). A scarf is also worn over the gown. The Welsh would fold it into a triangle over their shoulders so that one corner would hang down and the other two corners would be fastened to the front with pins. Often they also wear an apron, some of which are simple and some of which are colorfully embroidered.

The most distinctive part of the Welsh costume is the towering black "Welsh cap", also known as the "beaver hat". It is thought to have originated in France in the late 18th century. These hats are tall, wide and cylindrical or conical. They are usually trimmed with a circle of silk or crepe de chine.

Northern Ireland

Early Irish dress was derived from Gaelic and Norwegian clothing. Men wore tight tartan pants and a tasseled cloak or short tunic for both sexes, and women wore tasseled cloaks. This style of dress was prohibited by a 16th-century saving ordinance. The Act of Settlement was intended to suppress distinctive Irish dress and to deal with an Ireland that did not want to be united with England.

Although there is no longer a strong tradition of wearing national costume in Northern Ireland today, folk music and folk dancing still have an important place in the country.