The aboyne dress is the name given to the prescribed attire for female dancers in the Scottish national dances, such as the Flora MacDonald's fancy, the Scottish lilt, and others. Male dancers wear the kilt for these dances, the kilt being a male garment. There are two versions of the aboyne dress in use. Some consider the aboyne as quite suited to the graceful movements of the National dances. The AboyneHighland Games, established in 1867, have stipulated this style of attire for female dancers since 1952 for both national and highland dances.
Description
A typical Aboyne dress consists of a dark bodice or elaborate waistcoat, decorativeblouse, full tartanskirt and some times a petticoat and apron. Some have a tartan sash rather than an apron. While appearing to be simple and plain, a properly made, modern Aboyne dress might and can be quite expensive. In one version, a tartan pattern skirt is worn with an over-the-shoulder plaid, a white blouse and petticoat, and a velvet bodice. The alternative is a white dress over a petticoat, together with a tartan pattern sash.
History
The name derives from the Aboyne Highland Games in Scotland where, in the early 1950s the dance committee under games patron Lieutenant ColonelJohn WilmotNicolDSO of Ballogie, dissatisfied with the state of affairs of female Highland dance attire, prescribed new rules governing acceptable and better-looking attire for the female dancers. The problem, as they saw it, was that many felt that the female and male dancers should not be wearing the same outfits and that a separate style for women should be developed. About 1949, the committee banned female dancers from wearing the kilt, sporran or medals. By 1952, they introduced an alternative attire of white blouse, tartan skirt and long blackstockings, then for the September 1954 games, a new attire was introduced for all female dancers. Approved by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, it was a skirt of light-weight tartan worn over a white petticoat, with a plaid of the same tartan material and a tight fitting sleeveless velvet corsage over a white blouse. It was designed from the traditional Scottish woman's dress that was banned after the introduction of the Act of Proscription 1746. The men would continue to dance in traditionally male kilt and jacket, wearing bonnets and sporrans. The original decision of the Aboyne committee applied to both the Highland dances and the National dances. The Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing a few years later modified the dress code so the aboyne dress would be used by women for just the national dances, and a kilt-based outfit for the Highland dances. To this day, however, at the Aboyne Highland Games the wearing of the aboyne by women is strongly 'preferred', except for the Sailor's hornpipe and Irish jig.
