Several outfits of mainly male clothing (coats, waistcoats and breeches), including garments for both day and ceremonial purposes were part of the exciting historical hoard. Most of the items were well preserved, although some silks were beginning to split due to compression. The precious items were subsequently conserved in acid free tissue paper and transferred to acid free costume boxes. A small proportion of the clothing is suitable for display, including Bonnie Dundee’s leather jerkin, which can be seen in the Family Exhibition Room.

Many of the items were used by the children of the family for dressing up, including a mixture of original clothing and custom made dressing up clothes. Both Countess Frances Dora and Countess Cecilia (wives of the 13 th & 14 th Earls of Strathmore) were fine needlewomen, with 11 and 10 children respectively, so some of the
items were possibly made by them. The larger of the trunks was unlocked in 2022 to reveal contents of clothing, including coats, waistcoats, breeches, stockings, skirts, bodices, blouses, capes, and various accessories and other textiles.

The image of a painting by Dutch artist, Jacob de Wet, shows Patrick, 3 rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, in Romanesque flesh coloured armour. This was an artistic fashion of the day for noblemen, perhaps to display the subject’s power and physique. Note that the 3rd Earl’s wife and two daughters are not in the painting.

Gentleman wore more tightly fitting coats and breeches were tighter and fastened below the knee. Shirts were frilled at the cuff
and around the neck were knotted muslin or lace cravats. For formal occasions a powdered wig tied back with a bow would be worn, and coats and waistcoats would be of patterned and embroidered silks. In 1795, a tax was imposed on hair powder by William Pitt, which failed as people simply abandoned wearing powdered wigs.

There was great interest in ancient Greece and Rome around
1800, when style became based on the drapery of classical
statues. This was translated into ladies’ fashion with high waists,
and materials light in colour and texture, such as muslin, cotton
and silk, familiar to us in TV adaptations and films of Jane
Austen’s novels. Muslin was handwoven by skilled craftspeople
in Dhaka (present day Bangladesh) and imported to the UK by
the East India Company. By the 1810s muslin made in British mills was cheaper and more readily available. Cotton was easy to wash, more affordable than silk and could be beautifully printed or painted. Buying ready-made clothes was not an option; women of means would purchase fabric and have it made up into the latest fashionable styles by a dressmaker.

George (Beau) Brummell, the famous dandy of his age, started a fashion for well cut and fitted clothes instead of colourful ostentatious ones. He usually wore a cut-away cloth coat with brass buttons, stiffly starched cravat, plain waistcoat matching his pantaloons (which replaced shorter breeches c.1805), and riding
boots. He is credited with introducing the modern man’s suit worn with a necktie.

In 1866 skirts became straighter and narrower, sometimes with looped-up skirts over a trained petticoat or underskirt. Women embraced their curves with the aid of the bustle, but by 1876 it had disappeared, and the skirt was tied back tightly by ribbons, so that the front was stretched flat, often trimmed with flounces or fringes.

In 1880 Viscountess Harberton founded the Rational Dress Society ‘to promote the adoption of a style of dress based upon considerations of health, comfort and beauty.’ The S bend corset was worn by women, but it began to fall out of favour, allowing for a more natural shape.

WWI drastically impacted the fashions of the period. Simpler, utilitarian styles became popular as women began to take over the jobs of men, and overalls and trousers were worn, with corsets replaced by girdles. The 1920s saw fashions remain simple and the use of more economically friendly fabrics remained. The flapper dress with its dropped waistline and rising hemline became commonplace.

From the late 19 th century onwards, the butler and footmen’s high visibility and active role at dinner required tasteful uniforms, known as ‘livery’, that reflected the status of the family.

Dress livery would include knee-length breeches and a long knee-length coat, worn open to show the waistcoat, and silk stockings, as below. Female servants upstairs wore a black uniform with a white apron, and white lace cap.