Highlander Dress

Highland dress is the traditional, regional dress of the Highlands and Isles of Scotland. It is often characterised by tartan (''plaid'' in North America). Specific designs of shirt, jacket, bodice and headwear may also be worn along with clan badges and other devices indicating family and heritage.

Men's highland dress typically includes a kilt or trews of his clan tartan, along with either a tartan full plaid, fly plaid, or short belted plaid. There are a number of accessories, which may include but are not limited to: a belt, sporran, sgian-dubh, knee-socks with a cuff known as kilt hose, garters, kilt pins and clan badges.

Women's highland dress is also based on the clan tartan, either that of her birth clan or, if married, that of her spouse's clan if she so chooses. Traditionally, women and girls do not wear kilts but may wear ankle-length tartan skirts, along with a colour-coordinated blouse and vest. A tartan earasaid, sash or tonnag (smaller shawl) may also be worn, usually pinned with a brooch, sometimes with a clan badge or other family or cultural motif.

Modern Highland dress

In the modern era, Scottish highland dress can be worn casually, or worn as formal wear to white tie and black tie occasions, especially at ceilidhs and weddings. Just as the black tie dress code has increased in use in England for formal events which historically may have called for white tie, so too is the black tie version of highland dress increasingly common.

The basis of all modern men's and women's highland dress starts with the tartan, either as a kilt, trews, earasaid, sash or tonnag. Tartans in Scotland are registered at the Scottish Register of Tartans in Edinburgh, a non-ministerial department and are usually aligned to a clan or branch of a clan, however tartans can also be registered exclusively for an individual or institution. For instance, the King has a personal tartan called Balmoral, while a tartan was recently registered for the Scottish Jewish community.

Historically weaponry formed a common accessory of men's highland dress, such as the Mattucashlass and the Dirk. However, due to the UK's knife laws, small Sgian-dubhs and sword shape Kilt pins are more commonly seen today.

For men's and women's shoes, Ghillies are thin, foldable turnshoes, now used mostly for indoor wear and dancing. The sole and uppers cut from one piece of leather, wrapped around the foot from the bottom, laced at the top, and seamed at the heel and toe. Ghillie brogues are thick-soled welted rand shoes. In both, the laces are wrapped around and tied firmly above the wearer's ankles so that the shoes do not get pulled off in the mud. The shoes lack tongues so the wearer's feet can dry more quickly in the typically damp Scottish weather.

Formal day wear ("Morning dress")

The Highland dress may also be worn as folk costume option at events requiring morning dress. As such, for formal day wear use it generally consists of:

Men:
*Plain superfine wool or barathea black, charcoal or tweed Argyll-, Crail-, and Braemar-style kilt jacket
*Belt and buckle or five- or six-button waistcoat in matching grey, putty, complementary or tartan material in matching colour
*Kilt
* White shirt with turndown collar, French cuffs, and cufflinks
*Long tie in a single colour or striped regimental style
* Black brogues (according to some views, brown shoes should never be worn with highland dress, although such are worn by the royals)
*Tartan, Argyle, diced, or plain coloured dark hose (white and off-white hose should be avoided)
*Flashes or garter ties
*Day or horse hair sporran
* Morning dress sgian-dubh (less intricate than for the full dress and typically made of horn or antler).

Formal evening wear ("White tie")

The traditional white-tie version of Highland dress consists of:

Men:
*Formal kilt doublet