Irish Dancing costumes / Dresses

The Irish dancing costumes /Dresses worn by today’s Irish dancers are so very different from the traditional costumes of years gone by .  The dresses / costumes are very much lighter and far more glitter and diamantes are used in the making of today’s Irish dancing dresses / costumes.  Copies of the traditional Celtic designs based on the Book of Kells are still used but to a much lesser extent. Copies of the famous Tara Brooch are very seldom worn on today’s costumes / dresses

In fact in  the early 1900s there was very little Celtic design on the costumes but as more dancing schools were established, each one endeavored  to design their own distinctive class costumes.

A Class costume/dress is like a uniform each dancers dress is identical , but when they progress to a higher grade they have what is called a solo costume/dress and can be of any colour and design , and there is such a huge range of fabrics and colours to choose from .

Not so in bygone days when Baunine (which is a type of wool) would have been the fabric of choice.  The interlocking lines in the Celtic design denoted the continuity of life. The most popular colurs were green and white. Red was avoided because of its relevance to England. The ancient Irish were fond of bright colours, in fact it was a mark of high social status in the community to be allowed to wear more than one colour. From around the twelfth century gold thread embroidery was an important item on women's clothing. Lace collars came into vogue around the eighteenth century when Carrickmacross  and Limerick Lace were first manufactured. All though These aspects of Irish culture are not so visible in today's Irish dancing costumes / dresses .

The male's costume was less embellished back then , ( but not so today) and no less steeped in history - they wore a plain kilt or pants and jacket and a brat, a  brat ( pronounced broth )is a folded cloak hanging from the shoulder. Brat means "cloak" or "mantle" in Irish. The cloak or brat was a symbol of rebellion during the suppression since it enabled the rebels to endure the worst weather while holding out in the mountains. There is evidence that the kilt was worn as far back as the fifteenth century. When Shane O'Neill was presented to Queen Elizabeth he wore a kilt and brat, as did his followers. His appearance is said to have pleased the Queen enormously.

The currant males Irish dance costumes are much more decorative, they now wear black pants , waistcoat and shirt , the shirt can be any colour and it seems the brighter the better , and their waistcoats are highly embellished with embroidered Celtic designs  and diamantes . 

In the early 1800s female dancers wore dresses that resembled peasant dresses. The girl's crimson homespun skirt that reached down to her ankles over which she wore a simple black bodice. Unlike today’s Irish dance dress which is much shorter and lighter and filled with sparkle . From the late 1800s pipers wore the kilt, and from about 1910 male dancers began to wear this form of costume. During 1800s  the typical female dance costume consisted of a hooded cloak over a white dress with a sash.

The dress of some of the set dancers of today reminds us of the dance at cross-roads in bygone days. The boy would normally have been a farmer's son dressed in his Sunday best, high-buttoned waistcoat which showed off his cravat, knee breeches and brogues.