Dangers of chain straps

A kilt wearer recently posted this photo on X Marks the Scot, illustrating what his sporran chain did to his kilt after one hour of wearing.


His strap is admittedly a less expensive one, however the best way to avoid this situation at all is to go with an all-leather strap, which is what I have always recommended.

People sometimes ask me if chain straps really damage the kilt. Well, here's proof that in at least some cases they do!

Telling Documentary

Seems like I've been all about posting videos lately. I can't help but share this very telling documentary with you, filmed behind the scenes at a struggling Scottish sporran maker's shop.

I can't embed this one in my blog, so you'll have to follow the below link.

http://www.scottishdocinstitute.com/films/sporran-makers/

Sporrans old & new

I promised in my last post to give some email on my newly revamped brass cantle sporran. If you remember, this is the sporran that I got about a year ago, seen pictured here. It was a very nice sporran, and I was very happy with it. But I was so impressed with the Ferguson Britt sporrans that we've been offering in the museum gift shop, that I asked the maker if he could fashion a new bag to fit with the metal top, and he was more than happy to oblidge.

I got the result just after the Stone Mountain Highland Games, and am very happy with it. The bag is a bit longer than the original, and is made from a heavier elk hide. The braided tassels are fastened at the two sides and one in the center in true eighteenth century fashion (as opposed to three on the front as in most modern sporrans). Like all Ferguson Britt sporrans, this one is fully lined with elk suede.

I'm such a fan of his work now that I also commissioned him to make me a lighter brown sporran. I have a few kilts that I thought would look better with a light brown, and thought that a sporran in this color would round out my collection. So I commissioned an Invernan style, which is similar to the beaver fur Glengyle that was my first sporran made by Britt. The main difference is the Invernan style has a much wider opening. I call this one my "large mouth bass" sporran. The first pic below shows you the sporran, made with light brown elk hide with dark brown elk details. Then the second shows you just how large the opening is. Believe it or not, I have my wallet, cell phone, work keys, car/home keys, and a bottle of eye drops (from my lasik surgery), and I can still fit my whole fist in on top of all of that!

Obviously, I am extremely happy with my Ferguson Britt sporrans. I've never encountered a better sporran anywhere than the ones made by this master craftsman. The only down side is how addicting they are!

New Beaver Sporran

The above lovely critter is my new sporran from the Ferguson Britt collection. It was hand made by L. Adron Britt, master sporran maker. Some of you who have attended some of the Highland Games here in the American southeast may have seen some of his creations.

We are now carrying his line of sporrans through the Scottish Tartans Museum gift shop. Click here to see his sporrans. The introduction of his line represents a continuation of our efforts to showcase the finest examples of quality Highland dress. In this case we are especially proud not only to carry the work of a semi-local artisan, but also to make available to our clients the best that hand crafted tradition has to offer. Adron's leatherworking skill is apparent to anyone who has the good fortune to handle one of his unique creations.

The sporran above I just had to have for myself! The fur is beaver from Quebec, which is naturally dark in color (almost black). It is paired here with black deer hide for the all-leather cantle and black elk braids. I've dealt with sporrans in many different furs, including rabbit, seal, badger, fox and muskrat. But I have to say that nothing in my experience compares to the softness of beaver.

When I bought this sporran my initial thought was that it would be reserved mostly for formal occasions. But I've found myself wearing it casually quite often. It helps had a certain "flair" to my standard daily kilt wearing. Maybe it's because it's the newest sporran in my collection... or maybe it's the irresistible feel of the beaver fur. But I find myself reaching for this one most often in the mornings getting dressed.

The Ferguson Britt collection features many different styles of sporrans, all historically inspired. Some are all leather, some incorporate fur. This one is called the Glengyle, and can be had with or without fur -- and he has some nice furs to offer right now, including some unusual varieties such as bobcat, and even (for a limited time) Japanese fallow deer! Most of them sell in the same price range as one expects in a high quality dress sporran. But unlike most commercially available dress sporrans, one can instantly tell that these were made by an artists, and not spat out by a factory.

Below are some thumbnail images showing different shots of my new sporran. I keep saying to people that you just have to see these in person to appreciate the quality of them, so these close-up shots are my attempt to convey that. If this post sounds like a Ferguson Britt commercial, it is! I'm just really impressed with the quality of this item, and when I find something as nice as this I want to pass it on to the rest of the Highland dress community.

The back is made from deer hide.


The cantle is all-leather. I forget how many layers he said are in it, but it is thick! Very solid, and the elk hide braid detail is especially nice.


The inside is lined with elk suede.


And the pouch itself is more than ample. I normally carry my wallet, work keys, home/car keys, cell phone, and spare change with ease. When I need to add my checkbook (with it's thick leather cover), it easily fits in, as well.


All in all, I recommend any sporran from this line to someone who wants something unique, historically inspired, suitable for casual or formal wear, historic or modern, and who can appreciate true hand crafted quality (which is getting harder and harder to find these days!).

Web Page Updates

Hi gang! I've been busy adding some new products to the Gift Shop catalog on the Scottish Tartans Museum web page.

First offering are our new Lewis Kilt Hose, from the House of Cheviot in Hawick, Scotland. This is the company that made the hose I was raving about in an earlier blog post. They have the widest range of color of any line of kilt hose I've seen, and they are all very nicely toned to match just about any tartan. They also have an available line of traditional garter ties that come in the same wide color range (and just to clarify, you can wear these garters with any kilt hose).

Another great selling point is that these hose are half merino wool and half man-made fibers, making them not only soft and comfortable, but machine washable (cool water, gentle cycle; air dry please) with no worry of shrinking.

The hose sell for $45 and the garters for $24.
Click here to check them out!

Also, we just learned this week that our supplier of fine dress and semi-dress sporrans had ceased trading and so we took this loss as an opportunity to add another fine supplier to our Highland Dress line, L & M sporrans from Nova Scotia. We now are proud to be able to offer the full line of sporrans from this company to our clients, including leather, fur, and full mask sporrans. Following the previous links will take you to our on line catalog where you can order right on line. However, this is only a sampling (albeit a large one) of L&M's total sporran line. If you'd like to browse their own web site, you can contact the Scottish Tartans Museum to order through our gift shop. We'll be happy to quote a price and work out all purcahse details.

Black v. Brown

When selecting accessories for Highland dress, one is always advised to match your leathers (sporran, belt & shoes). The recieved wisdom has always been brown for day wear and black for evening wear. You can also think of it as brown leather for casual wear and black leather for formal occasions. I have repeated this advise often myself, and by and large this is a good rule of thumb. Follow it and you will never go wrong.

However, like most rules of fashion, it is permissable to bend or break this one so long as the general principles are understood. I have, within the past recent months, acquired for myself a black casual kilt belt and simple black leather sporran, and have been occassionaly wearing them as part of my daily dress with great success.

Some of the kilts in my wardrobe, I concluded, would look better -- even in casual wear -- with black leatehr accessories. For instance, one of my kilts is the Mull tartan, which has a large black stripe as one of the pivots. The other two colors in the tartan (green and azure) are both rather light, so the dark black really stands out as a visual feature of this kilt. Another kilt I have is modern Armstrong. The main colors of this tartan are black, dark green, and navy blue. A red stripe is the only bright feature of this otherwise dark tartan. I also have a kilt in a dark charcoal grey Harris tweed. While brown leather looks fine with any of these kilts (especially a darker brown on the dark green of the Armstrong), I couldn't help but think how nice black leather would go with all three of these.

So now I have in my wardrobe a black leather sporran, belt, and sporran strap as seen in the picture at right (worn here with the Moffat tartan). These work great, in my opinion, for casual daily wear. And they also allow me to wear certain accessories that I wouldn't otherwise with my brown sporran and belt. For instance, I now have a pair of black garter flashes that look stunning worn on either lovat blue or green hose with my Mull kilt. I have a lovely black casual short sleeve button shirt that goes great with many of my kilts, but matches the black leather much more than the brown.

When selecting black accessories for casual wear, here are some guidelines to keep in mind. You are looking for casual wear and not formal wear. Black is the color for formal wear and so a lot of the black leather accessories being sold will be for formal wear. I would avoid what is marketed as the standard kilt belt (black leather kilt belt with a separate rectangular buckle, usually nickel plated). This is the style seen most often worn with the kilt (the top belt on this page, and the buckles shown beneath it are examples of what I am talking about). You'll find that this is the most common style of belt seen at Highland Games, worn even with very casual wear. I've seen this style of belt worn frequently with t-shirts and other ultra-casual wear. So if this is the only belt you have, you won't be out of place wearing it to the Highland Games or other Scottish festival. Still, I'd like to see this style belt reserved for more formal occasions.

For casual wear, a belt like I am wearing above (listed as a "clansman" kilt belt on our gift shop page) is more suitable. Something with a traditional buckle like this is ideal. A lot of belts sold for re-enactors, colonial era, Revolutionary War, and the like, will work for this purpose.

As far as sporrans go, something simple and plain like you see above is what to look for. Any of the ones shown on this page will work. For daily wear, you don't want fur, silver, or anything flashy. Some ornamentation is fine, but don't go over the top. The simpler sporrans shown on this page will work fine for casual wear, but keep it as simple as possible.

Some fur might be ok, so long as the rest of the sporran is simple, like this model:

Likewise, some silver decoration might be fine, so long as it does not go over the top. The below one would be acceptable, in my opinion:

This one, however, I would deem too much for casual wear:

And sporrans like the ones listed here (example below) are strictly designed with formal wear in mind.

Little things like wearing an all leather black sporran belt instead of the more usual chain also help to keep the overall look of the outfit toned down, and thus more suited for daily wear. And that is the goal in casual Highland attire. Keep it neat. Keep it simple. Keep it understated.

Welsh sporran?

Ok, so back to the Welsh Tartan Centre. They write on their history page:

There is no evidence of the Welsh wearing a sporran. The Welsh used to wear a leather wallet called a 'sgrepan'. A 'sgrepan' is a very important part of the regalia serving to decorate and protect the wearer. It is made from leather, Welsh goat hair, Welsh cob hair and has leather straps.

One thing to keep in mind here is that sporran is simply the Gaelic word for a pouch. So to say that the Welsh did not wear sporrans is like saying they didn't wear pouches. Which only leads one to ask, "Where did they keep their stuff?"

And what of this "Sgrepan" that they are talking about? Well, I don't speak Welsh, but I would suspect that this is simply the Welsh word for a pouch or purse. If you look on their product pages you will find a listing for an Ysgrepan (one has to assume the same item is meant, though I don't know the reason for the different spelling). And what is it? Well, it looks an awful lot like a Scottish sporran... no surprise there.


The verdict. I have nothing against non-Scots, be they Welsh or Irish or Austrian or Iranian, wearing tartans and the kilt. I am flattered that they think highly enough of the Scottish national dress to want to adopt it. And if people want to design new tartans specifically for non-Scottish groups and families, go for it. But please, please, do not debase yourself and insult the intelligence of others by making false historic claims for these new designs.