What to wear for a Burns Night

Photo of Robbie Burns in public domain from Wikipedia.

Problem
What do we wear for a Burns Supper or Scottish night?

Answers
Looking out your kilts and tartan clothes. If you don't have much, you might already have in your wardrobe:

Scottish Gentleman's Clothes
Cheapest is a tartan tie.

Scottish Lady's Clothes
Tartan dress or skirt.
If you are seated all evening, a skirt will not be noticed except when you arrive. Instead wear a black skirt, a white blouse and a tartan sash or tartan hairband and necklace.

DIY Tartan And Scottish Clothes
Your old tartan clothes are too small? Cut a piece of cloth and make a sash over a white blouse. Or a necktie. Or a bow tie. Or attach to a hair clip.
A stiff hairband - print a tartan and stick the paper over the hairband.
Make a tartan brooch.
Find a badge and stick tartan on it for an instant tartan badge.
Make tartan ear-rings.
A large birthday boy or birthday girl badge, the sort found attached to birthday cards, can be temporarily adapted by sticking on a tartan or a picture of Robbie Burns.

Tartans and Table Motifs
Do you need a pattern? Look online.
Alternatively, buy a packet of Scottish shortbread and cut out the design.
1 Stick it on something you are wearing.
2 Cut out the back of the packaging and stick that on something you are carrying, such as a bag.
3 Make a cover for a printed copy of Burns Poems.
4 Use the cut-out, or a photocopy of it, as the heading or edging of the menu.
5 You could even print a tartan or a map of Scotland as a frame for a tablemat or as the centrepiece for a table.
6 Print three A5 sheets of tartan as a repeating pattern for a table centrepiece or table runner.
7 Set up an ipad on the table with a tartan pattern displayed.
8 Have Burns poems ready on your phone, and Scottish music.

Useful websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_dress

Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.