Woman's Highland attire
Basic women’s garments
from the late 1500’s through 1746 are displayed on these
pages. Typically, the Highland woman of that period wore an
undergarment called a chemise, over the chemise she wore a skirt,
and some sort of bodice (jacket or vest). The chemise was made
either of linen or muslin and the neck and sleeves were fashioned
with a drawstring for size adjustment. With its convenient
’inches past the knee’ length, the chemise doubled as a
nightgown. A simple "A" line skirt was worn over the
chemise. The skirt also gathered at the waist with a drawstring.
The skirt had no pockets, as they were considered indecent, and
was usually made of wool dyed a solid color from plants that were
available. To complete her outfit, the Highland woman wore a
bodice. The bodice was most likely a jacket styled one, with
sleeves for warmth. It would either be pinned in the front or
have wood or bone buttons. The jacket would fall about three
inches from the waist and it too had no pockets. A vested bodice
was also worn by women of the period, though it was not as
prominent as the jacket bodice. The vested bodice had no sleeves
and could be buttoned as the jacketed bodice or laced up the
back. Highland women usually had but one each of these items, as
they were very poor and clothes were for function only.
Footwear was scarce (as you can see from these photos) and if our
ancient Highland ladies owned shoes, they were reserved for Kirk
(church). Shoes were made from tough hides of animals and the
soles were attached to the upper-shoes with laces. Due to the
lack of pockets, Highland women often carried pouches which,
similar to the men’s sporran, were tied about the waist and
were made either from animal hides or wool. In these pouches a
woman might carry her Sgian Dhu (black knife) for eating, wool
for spinning while out of the house, or perhaps a keepsake or two
as women today do in their purses.
On their heads, single
Highland women wore no covering. The married women wore a kertch
made from one yard square of the whitest linen. The kertch was
often a gift to a new bride from her mother on the day of her
wedding and was a treasured article. Women of means had more than
one kertch. Finally, as an outer-garment, the highland women wore
their answer to the great plaid: the arisaid. It was made of wool
and was often light in color due to the need to save dyes for the
men’s plaids (the men needed the camouflage more than the
women). It was 2 ½ to 3 yards long and 54"-60" wide.
It was worn lengthwise to the ankle, belted at the waist, with
the rest of the length of material either pinned at the breast or
brought over the head for protection from the elements
Copyright 
1999 Historic Highlanders