Chapter I

Introduction Dress is a natural extension of one’s identity due to the personal nature of clothing, accessories, and body modifications. According to Roach-Higgins and Eicher (1992), “dress of an individual is an assemblage of modifications of the body and/or supplements to the body” (p.7). Dress would, by this definition, include garments, jewelry, accessories, headdress, hairdress, mutilation, and scarification. Dress is both an individual and a societal means of communication. The dress of an individual must be understood within its socio-cultural and historic (time) boundaries. Understanding the meaning of dress within a society, culture, and specific time period can aid researchers in understanding the social, political, and economic events and changes that take place in dress. Dress is just one feature that can distinguish subcultures from society at large. Subcultures are small groups that share common values and behaviors that distinguish them (Evenson, Eicher, & Lutz, 2000; Horn & Gurel,1981). They often can form for various reasons including opposition to the dominant culture (Brake, 1974; Waugh, 1999); however, subcultures may also exist as a result of isolation (physical or social) from a dominant culture (Issenman, 1997; Jirousek, 1996). For example, the Comlecki people during the 1960s lived in an isolated Turkish village and wore traditional Turkish garments while urban Turks wore Westernized dress in the early 20 century (Jirousek, 1996). The Inuit people from various arctic regions continue to wear traditional garments due to their strong ties to tradition and their geographic isolation. The Scottish Highlanders, like the Comlecki and Inuit people, were a group of people living in an isolated portion of Scotland and maintained their traditional way of life, while the rest of Scotland (known as the Lowlanders) and Europe continued to evolve as a society through contact with other people. The Scottish Highlanders were considered a subculture within Scotland, and Britain as a whole, due to their geographic isolation and traditional dress. The study of subcultures, such as the Highlanders, can provide a greater understanding of the evolution of the dominant cultures and the events that shape the development of civilization. The Scottish Highland culture has held the fascination of people worldwide for several centuries due to its unusually dressed inhabitants and their way of life. The tartan, plaid, and kilt of the Scottish Highlanders have been studied by numerous researchers (e.g., Bennett, 1980; Cheape, 1993; Freilinger, 1981; Norman, 1972-73;