Featured FINE day charity shopping

You know... Looking at vintage photographs of men in kilts... There appears to have been a wide variety of pins worn. They were more of a decorative accessory at the sporran did so much of the work to hold the kilt in place.

Debora

 

And Kinloch Anderson, certainly an expert on the subject, offers a range of options in addition to this:



Debora

 

Woohoo. Result.

 

im not suprised they wore the pins lower down the leg, if all is to be believed

 

Interesting. Wikipedia.org defines a kilt pin as "...a piece of jewellery..." Makes it sound like an ancient tradition but started with Queen Victoria (or at least in Victorian times.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilt_pin

"For Highlanders, their dress provided them with an opportunity to display as much wealth as they could afford. Therefore, ornamentation, such as kilt pins, was very important. Even those who were less well off spent lavishly on these accessories which were ornate and had precious and semi-precious stones set in them. Money spent here was also for practical reasons as if a clansman died the silver accessories on their dress would cover the cost of a decent burial."

"Kilt pins come in different styles and are appropriate for different occasions. The simplest style of pin is a large safety pin. This or a blanket pin is suggested for sports dress, whereas a more ornate pin would be appropriate for formal day wear, and a silver pin with a stone set in it would be expected for evening wear. In this way the kilt pin matches the formality of the dress and occasion."

Debora

 

Same idea as the chain in the seams of CHANEL couture lining or the weights in men's bespoke clothing. To ensure the fabric hangs properly.

Debora

 

Except I'd rather the pins than the fancy seams. Clothing wears out or the person changes size. We can all wear the same size pins we wore in high school/at uni!

 

Great haul Charlie-congrats !

 

I agree wholeheartedly. However, I would have bought it also but it would have been for resale which I hopefully would have been able to do PDQ!!!

 

I don't think any of those feet are eagles..

 

Me neither. I heard Don Henley has 5 toes on each foot.

 

..,,

 

There still is. I used to wear a silver sword kilt pin on my lady's kilt for instance, way back when. The crossguard was decorated with Celtic motifs.
The kilt came with a plain safety pin style, but that was replaced the next day. A girl likes her jewellery.
Kilt pins are generally long and slender (like swords), so it closes the kilt over a longer area, and doesn't catch on anything.
A grouse foot brooch would make walking through brush very taxing, because it would get caught on every branch you pass. It would be fine on the lapel, where it is usually worn, because that is higher up.

The gent in the last photo is wearing a plaid brooch as kilt pin, btw, Tara brooch style. You wouldn't see that later on, but those where the days of the first Celtic Revival, when they were experimenting with how to introduce Celtic elements into their surroundings.
He is also wearing it high up on the kilt. (He probably hasn't had to go for a wee yet.)
With the more recent gent's fashion of wearing kilts the plaid brooch could conceivably make a comeback.

 

Fantastic finds!
I m vegetarian, and no matter how much I love my old jewels, I cant bear the thought to even own something like this. Its way to much 'animal' for me.
I passed up on a rather nice (good price!) pristine Victorian beetle necklace yesterday for the same reason.
Gave its coordinates to a nice jewel-friend though, so it will get a good home

 

I used to wear a silver sword kilt pin on my lady's kilt for instance, way back when.

I have two...

 

I'm pescavegan but am not too fond of hunting trophies in jewellery either.

Beautiful though they are, they gross me out, so not for me either.

 

I woud consider this definitive.

"If you really like the Grouse Claw kilt pin, then by all means get one. They enjoyed great popularity for a time, but gradually fell out of favour because they tended to snag a lady's gown when dancing. Generally speaking the toes of the claw should face down for a gentleman's kilt and up for a lady's brooch (which is why the stag's head appears to be upside down in relation to the claws). For what it's worth you might want to check out Ebay UK and see if you can't find a silver mounted Grouse Claw from the 1930s-50s when these items were exquisitely produced."

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f103/grouse-foot-kilt-pin-61567/

Debora

 

Hm. I think that’s run by some rather romanticised Scots, most of whom aren’t!

 

From what I've seen of that forum you're right.

The poster calls himself MacMillan of Rathdown. Rathdown is in Ireland, of course. The poster lives in Virginia.
I just checked, could only find a MacMillan, Baron of Rathdown, who was from Virginia, but died in 2019. The US way of writing a date is always a bit of a riddle to me, but it seems this could be the poster.

When I looked into the Barons of Rathdown(e) it turned out that the title has been in the Chetwynd family since 1717. Before the Chetwynds the title belonged to the Berkeley family:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscount_Chetwynd
https://rathdown.wicklowheritage.org/new-contributions/baron-berkeley-of-rathdoune

So I don't understand how a MacMillan can be Baron of Rathdown and live in Virginia.
With this question mark, and no Scottish connection, at least not for a very long time, I wouldn't consider his personal opinion definitive.