Scotland

Basic elements of men’s Scottish costume still include the Leine (a shirt like that worn in the rest of Europe at this time, which did NOT lace up the front in fantasy pirate shirt fashion), the Plaid (previously might have been called a ‘brat’, or cloak; this word has changed in modern Gaelic to mean a rug or carpet), Trews, a jacket, and shoes.  They also wore knee-breeches like the ones worn in the Lowlands or in England.  Women are not well-portrayed in Scottish art until the end of the 1700s, but it should be assumed based on what little evidence there is that they were wearing what most country women were wearing in the British Isles: a shift (also called a ‘sark’ — the term ‘chemise’ isn’t used for this basic undergarment until the 1800s) similar in cut and construction to those worn in the rest of the British Isles, several petticoats (skirts), the arisaid (woman’s form of the plaid), stays, and a jacket or bedgown, as well as a head-covering known as a kertch if she were married. 

Trews and Breeches:
Trews were worn in Scotland from the medieval period through the end of the 18th century, usually by men wealthy enough to own and/or ride horses.  They are descended either from early Celtic braccae/broc, or from footed hose common throughout Europe in the middle ages and worn elsewhere in the British Isles through the 17th century for casual wear, or both.  I’m inclined toward the latter derivation, since the cut of Highland trews is very much like the cut of footed hose.  Knee breeches were also worn in the Highlands, but presumably were not remarked upon very often since they weren’t unusual.  Three bodies have been found in bogs in Caithness, Lewis, and the Shetlands from the late 1600s/early 1700s, and two are wearing knee breeches, while one (a boy) is wearing a long coat that isn’t typical of the short coats we think of Highlanders wearing during this period.  He may have been wearing linen breeches, but if he was, the acidity of the bog has eaten them away since linen is a plant material, leaving the protein fibers of his woolen garments untouched.

Jackets/Coats:
Both men’s and women’s outerwear seems, as far as we can tell from period portraits, to mirror that worn in England at the time, with the exception of men’s coats when they are wearing the belted plaid, in which case they are shorter than usual, reaching only the top of the hip.  This is a practical consideration, since it would be impossible to wear a knee-length coat with a belted plaid — the skirts of the coat would interfere with the belted plaid.  Men also wore waistcoats under their coats, either with sleeves or without sleeves (waistcoats in this period often had sleeves, which could be either sewn in, or tied on with lacing).  Men would NOT have worn their waistcoats alone without their coats, unless they were engaged in hard physical labor.

Women in Scotland, as in England, seem to be wearing either a jacket like a feminized version of the man’s jacket, or (by the mid-1700s) what is called a ‘bedgown’ — a more shapeless, mid-hip to knee-length gown.  It’s possible that women also sometimes wore a sort of waistcoat (over their stays), with sleeves that tied on, like men’s waistcoats.  However, they did NOT wear these waistcoats as outer garments.  Currently circulating in the 18th century reenactment community are two bodices called the ‘French Bodice’ and the ‘English Bodice’, which women sometimes wear alone without stays or a coat as their sole upper garment apart from the chemise.  The cut of these bodices is loosely based on 18th century jumps and waistcoats, but is generally not accurate, and they certainly should not be worn alone, without stays.  You’ll never see anything like either of them in period illustrations.

Stays:
Women would have worn stays.  Also worn at home would have been lightly-boned stays called ‘jumps,’ worn for very informal occasions such as during the confinement after childbirth; they aren’t considered proper wear for public, however (there’s a reference in a poem from 1762 referring to a woman being one day ‘a shape in neat stays’ and the next ‘a slattern in jumps’ — Waugh, ‘Corsets and Crinolines’, p. 65).  Research indicates that women in all strata of English society, from milkmaids to princesses, wore stays, the difference being in the cut and quality of the materials (working women’s stays were cut so as to be much easier to move in than stays made for the rich).  Working women’s stays were often of rough linen canvas or of thick leather, which would be scored along the lines where boning goes on a cloth corset; this scoring helps the leather to bend properly around the torso.  If the stays were of cloth, the boning could be of materials such as straw (like broom-straw), caning, or other cheap and available stiffeners.  Stays could also be purchased secondhand.  Contrary to popular opinion, stays were not just worn as a fashion statement; they were considered so essential to the proper dress of women that charities and local governments responsible for the welfare of indigent women and children provided them with stays, which they would not have done if they were not considered absolutely necessary.  One writer identifies prostitutes in London by (among other things) their lack of stays; hence the origin of the term ‘loose woman’.  A final reason for the wearing of stays is the prevalence of rickets and other diseases causing curvature of the spine — stays were seen as one way of keeping the body from becoming deformed due to illness.  A modern,  practical consideration for wearing stays is that they make great back support, especially when one is working around camp, lifting heavy pots, firewood, and other things.  Properly constructed stays are actually as comfortable as a modern underwire bra. 

Country women did not consider their stays to be intimate garments — in other words, they were not embarrassed to be seen working in their stays.  It’s unlikely that they would have gone to church, or to the town fair, in their stays, any more than a man of the period would have been seen in only his waistcoat, but there are depictions of peasant women working in their stays and shift-sleeves.  (See article on stays cited in bibliography)

Bonnets:
The Highland bonnet does not seem to have been worn earlier than 1600 CE; the Highlanders are invariably described and depicted as bare-headed with long hair. However, the bonnet seems to have gradually made its way into the Highlands by the mid-to-late 1700s.  It is a direct descendant of the soft-crowned, brimmed hat worn during the 16th century, which over time lost its brim and became the Scottish bonnet we all know today.  There are other hats with similar or identical shapes, including the Basque beret, (possibly) the Monmouth cap worn by sailors throughout the middle ages, and a beret-like hat worn by the very early Celts, but apparently this shape died out in the Highlands and was reintroduced.

Shoes:
It’s hard to know exactly what they were wearing, apart from a few references.  Here are a few possibilites, from Marc Carlson’s Historic Footwear web site:
Ballyhagan shoe (the ‘gathered’ type of pampootie)
Aran Islands Pampootie (more like a ballet slipper) 
Drummacoon Bog Shoe