How do you dress?

[Flogging Jason]

I generally dress in something vaguely Celtic. At sessions I like wearing Irish-esque shirts with my tweed driver hat. I'll wear a vest, button up shirt, and a green blazer for performing. I just like wearing green....compliments my eyes and red hair.

[Nanohedron]

Just street clothes, here. If it's a more special occasion, then it's basic black in some way shape or form.

[pancelticpiper]

Yes it is a major hassle to get into all that stuff. That's why I don't have any of that any more. Just a kilt and a normal sporran and a plain jacket and plain socks.
Back in the 80's when I had that kit I charged clients an extra $100 to wear Full Dress (as opposed to the plainer Day Dress). Quite often they would pay it!
To buy that kit nowadays would be something like:
feather bonnet $400 (yes it's hollow inside)
doublet $800
kilt $500
full plaid $300
tartan hosetops, custom knit to match kilt $200
waistbelt and crossbelt set $300
dirk $1000
sgian dubh $200
plaid brooch $100
I paid a LOT less for this stuff back around 1980.
Nowadays most all pipers dress like this (the footwear consists of plain white socks, no spats)

[Gordon]

I generally dress in something vaguely Celtic. At sessions I like wearing Irish-esque shirts with my tweed driver hat. I'll wear a vest, button up shirt, and a green blazer for performing. I just like wearing green....compliments my eyes and red hair.

I'm not Irish, but isn't this a tad patronizing? Do you fake a brogue, too? But then, my son is a red head, so while I dress pretty low-key myself, I do dress him up as a Leprechaun and make him dance beside me while I play.
Guess I shouldn't talk...

[Montana]

I'm not Irish, but isn't this a tad patronizing?

I think it depends on the intent. And the tact. Jason did say that he wore something "vaguely Celtic". I think subtlety is the key. He's not there dressed as a leprechaun (no offense - but I think a child can get away with it easier).

Every group has their "uniform". I have seen Sons of Norway events where many are wearing Norwegian sweaters or decorative skirts even if they aren't from Norway. I have seen white people at pow-wows wearing Native American shirts or jewelry. There are any number of examples where people wear a particular thing that comes from the heritage.

I see it as a form of identification with the group. It should be taken as a sign of support, I would think. Granted - just wearing a piece of clothing doesn't make you a part of something if you don't bother to go further to learn about and respect the culture. I can understand the skepticism and derision that might be prompted by some doofus wearing a green shirt but using slurs like "Mick" or something. But I should think that people of a culture should appreciate others wanting to identify with them and I think that is the intent of most people who wear certain pieces of clothing.

[Gordon]

I'm not Irish, but isn't this a tad patronizing?

I think it depends on the intent. And the tact. Jason did say that he wore something "vaguely Celtic". I think subtlety is the key. He's not there dressed as a leprechaun (no offense - but I think a child can get away with it easier).

Every group has their "uniform". I have seen Sons of Norway events where many are wearing Norwegian sweaters or decorative skirts even if they aren't from Norway. I have seen white people at pow-wows wearing Native American shirts or jewelry. There are any number of examples where people wear a particular thing that comes from the heritage.

But I should think that people of a culture should appreciate others wanting to identify with them and I think that is the intent of most people who wear certain pieces of clothing.

First, I was joking about my son. Apparently, my sense of humor does not translate to text. My son neither dresses as a Leprechaun, nor dances at my side while I play. He does have red hair, and I have caught him dancing off by the pinball machines in what can only be described as post-modern step dancing. I try to pretend someone else brought the 11 year old to a bar.

Secondly, I suspect - based on the many Irish I know - that dressing in green and tweed will not be as appreciated as you seem to imply. You might as well go in a green plastic bowler hat that says "kiss me, I'm Irish" on it. This is very different than a performance uniform, which is part of the show. Pretending ethnicity is not.

Respect for the music itself, well played, and properly done, will probably suffice. Playing Irish music is not joining the ethnicity (unless you are already Irish, of course), it's appreciating the culture. Trying to mimic an ethnicity's imagined tastes is patronizing. My opinion, of course, but there you have it.

Now -- just to be fair -- there are many Irish articles of clothing that are simply nice to wear. If it's part of your style, and you're pulling it off naturally, it's not patronizing at all. But - again, in my opinion - if you're dressing up to play Irish music simply to appear more "Celtic", well then there's that "tad patronizing" thing again.

[Montana]

Secondly, I suspect - based on the many Irish I know - that dressing in green and tweed will not be as appreciated as you seem to imply.

I probably chose the wrong word there.
I did not mean the Irish should "appreciate" such actions, as in "they should be pleased with".
I guess rather than "appreciate", I should have used "understand". As in understand that the intent is probably good-hearted, however misdirected one might consider it.
It is so easy for people to get offended these days and to scoff at other's behavior without trying to understand the intent behind it. That was my only point and it was probably badly put.

[Gordon]

Secondly, I suspect - based on the many Irish I know - that dressing in green and tweed will not be as appreciated as you seem to imply.

I probably chose the wrong word there.
I did not mean the Irish should "appreciate" such actions, as in "they should be pleased with".
I guess rather than "appreciate", I should have used "understand". As in understand that the intent is probably good-hearted, however misdirected one might consider it.
It is so easy for people to get offended these days and to scoff at other's behavior without trying to understand the intent behind it. That was my only point and it was probably badly put.

Nah, I got you... just bustin' your chops..

[tim-hart]

Can't go wrong with basic black, especially on stage. I'd echo the earlier comment about dressing well out of respect both for the audience and for the music. Nothing I hate worse than paying $20 for a trad band I've been waiting months to see and they show up in ratty t-shirts and sandals (and you know who you are!).

[Flogging Jason]

I generally dress in something vaguely Celtic. At sessions I like wearing Irish-esque shirts with my tweed driver hat. I'll wear a vest, button up shirt, and a green blazer for performing. I just like wearing green....compliments my eyes and red hair.

I'm not Irish, but isn't this a tad patronizing? Do you fake a brogue, too? But then, my son is a red head, so while I dress pretty low-key myself, I do dress him up as a Leprechaun and make him dance beside me while I play.
Guess I shouldn't talk...

No fake accents...although some tunes can only be sung using proper gaelic accents in order to rhyme properly. I also dress as I described just for the hell of it....not just for sessions or busking. Sometimes I'll show up with my biker jacket and combat boots! I'm an eccentric dresser.

[Gordon]

I generally dress in something vaguely Celtic. At sessions I like wearing Irish-esque shirts with my tweed driver hat. I'll wear a vest, button up shirt, and a green blazer for performing. I just like wearing green....compliments my eyes and red hair.

No fake accents...although some tunes can only be sung using proper gaelic accents in order to rhyme properly. I also dress as I described just for the hell of it....not just for sessions or busking. Sometimes I'll show up with my biker jacket and combat boots! I'm an eccentric dresser.[/quote]

That's fine - I can be too. There's personal style, and then there's dressing to pretend you're something you're not. In VT, where I live now, it's quite cold - I dress almost daily in an Irish sweater I got back in college some 30 years ago. Wear it in pubs, too, not to look Irish, but because it's warm.

[brotherwind]

Mostly, people who listen to Irish music want to hear good music and see friendly faces, not check out accessories.

That's one of the main reason's, why I like this music and the people playing it so much.

[talasiga]

I generally dress in something vaguely Celtic. At sessions I like wearing Irish-esque shirts with my tweed driver hat. I'll wear a vest, button up shirt, and a green blazer for performing. I just like wearing green....compliments my eyes and red hair.

I'm not Irish, but isn't this a tad patronizing? Do you fake a brogue, too? But then, my son is a red head, so while I dress pretty low-key myself, I do dress him up as a Leprechaun and make him dance beside me while I play.
Guess I shouldn't talk...

No fake accents...although some tunes can only be sung using proper gaelic accents in order to rhyme properly. I also dress as I described just for the hell of it....not just for sessions or busking. Sometimes I'll show up with my biker jacket and combat boots! I'm an eccentric dresser.

Actually potatoes are my main source of starchy carbohydrates. I don't eat bread at all and very little rice. I go through at least 2 to 4 pounds of murphs a day.

I reckon I am pretty much nutritionally fit for ITM. I simply exude potatoes.

However, I try to avoid highland grown potatoes. I dont have a kena you see.

[Cubitt]

When I play paying gigs, it's usually for organizations or people who have money. I like to look like I belong there, and I also like to have a bit of personal flair that stamps me as a performer. Nothing outlandish, just something of a "look."

I stopped standing on one leg while playing, though, after I saw Ian Anderson doing it.

[PNB]

I find this interesting. I also use to play the bagpipes. I was a member of a band here in Montana. At the time, I was in the process of "separating" for a variety of reasons. One evening, some members of said band played an event here in Billings, Mt, that ended up on the evening news. Lets just say the dress was way to casual for a public event, in my and to find out, others opinions. Instead of kilt hose and brogues, it was no socks and sandals on about half the people playing. Kilts looking like they had not been pressed, some with bag covers on the pipes, some not.
I received a couple of phone calls. One from a very dear friend of mine that was born in Scotland. She was very irate and heartbroken. Her comment was, "if you are playing the pipes and wearing the kilt, have the decency to look presentable. You are representing my culture."
I had to agree with her.
I don't play the pipes very often anymore, but if I do for a public event, I dress as if my friend was going to be standing beside me.
If playing ITM with friends and such at a pub or a paid gig, I dress accordingly to the event.