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Objects | Costume

A selection of items of Costume in our collection.

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Oddfellows sash; corded, watered silk sash in white with a blue band, with the letters

Tain Oddfellows Sash

Hand-made bead bag with looped tassels of strung beads around the lower edge. Carved ivory fasteners with ball clip and linked chain handle. Bead colours are green, wine, lilac, rust, gold, cream, black. Bag lined with pink braid fastener. Light brown silk lining. Bag top hand-stitched to the fastener. Stamped inside both fasteners - Made in France.

Woven Bead Bag

A finely embroidered baby's bonnet dating from between 1814 and 1860. These beautiful items were made by women in their own homes to earn some much needed extra cash to support their families. The work was described as floo'rin (flowering) because of the delicate floral nature of the embroidery.

Hand Embroidered Baby\'s Bonnet.

A large fan of cream coloured ostrich feathers set in a mother of pearl frame decorated with silver inlay. The original owner was Mrs Readhead, Pollo House Invergordon. The fan dates from around 1890-1900, a time when national campaigns against the use of bird feathers in women's fashion led to the formation of the SPB the Society for the Protection of Birds, later the RSPB.

Ostrich Feather Fan.

Gold clasp in three sections, hinged at joints. Flower engraving on one side of the middle section. Lines engraved on one side of the other two squares. Small enamelled areas of dark blue at edges and white enamel. The hair is light brown and plaited with five strands or cords of hair. One of four bracelets donated to the museum by Miss Lyon.

Braided Human Hair Bracelet.

A finely braided human hair bracelet. Strands of hair forming an intertwined circle of light and dark hair cords, two dark and two light. Engraved floral design on the clasp. Gift from Miss Lyon.

Braided Human Hair Bracelet.

Seaforth Highlander's khaki Balmoral bonnet lined with khaki cotton and Mackenzie tartan badge patch on the left side. Sewn inside crown lining - Wm Anderson & Sons Ltd. Edinburgh & Glasgow. By Appt. to the late King George V.[Douglas T. Scott of Nigg, 3rd/4th Seaforth]

Balmoral Hat, Seaforth Highlander\'s Uniform

German Helmet with a brass coat of arms. Lion on either side of the oval shield. Brass spike on the crown of helmet and studs on either side at the lower edge. Brass edged peak at the front and black-edged peak at the back of the black painted helmet. Black leather half-lining inside the helmet. Also known as a

Pickelhaub

British Army Seaforth Highlanders Volunteer Battalion Officer's Uniform, 1914-1918. Seaforth Highlanders and Stags head and

British Army Seaforth Highlanders Officer's Uniform, Major I Forsyth, 1914-1918.

A footman's jacket from Balnagown Castle was gifted to the museum by the estate. It is double-breasted with large lapels and long swallowtails. The brass buttons are all embossed with the Ross Clan Crest, a forearm and hand holding a laurel wreath. In the museum collection, we are lucky to also have a photograph of the staff wearing the uniform, taken by William Smith around 1900.

Balnagown Footman\'s Jacket

Green evening bag with strands of alternative green and silver beads giving a fringed effect to the bottom. The green cotton lining is stitched to the silver-coloured metal frame at the top which fastens with two clasps intertwined. A fine chain handle is attached to each side of the frame.

Green Evening Bag

Seaforth Highlanders Officers Dress Jacket dating from about 1911. The jacket is of scarlet wool with buff-coloured facings to the collar and cuffs. It is fastened with 8 silver buttons bearing a stag's head, the Seaforth crest, with further Seaforth buttons and silver braid. The collar has silver elephant insignia to represent the regiment's service in India where they played a key part in the relief of Lucknow in 1857. The then Seaforth Highlanders were formed in 1881 by combining the 72nd and 78th Highland Regiments. The 78th were known as the Ross-shire Buffs because of the colour of their jacket facings. Buff was reintroduced as the regimental facing colour in 1899. The jacket belonged to Colonel Hugh Fraser from Tain.

Seaforth Highlanders Dress Jacket

This Patrol Jacket belonged to Major Ian Forsyth of Balintraid, who was Captain of the Invergordon Company of the 4th Seaforth Highlander’s at the outbreak of WW1. Patrol jackets were worn by officers attending less formal occasions when the full-dress uniform was impractical. Taking part in the Highland Threads project allowed us to get professional photographs of this jacket and many of the other items that belonged to Major Forsyth. The wonderful photography allows us to display these items in great detail for the first time.These images were created as part of the Highland Threads digital exhibition - an online collection curated from fourteen Highland museum collections that tell the stories of their best costumes. you can visit the full exhibition here - www.highlandthreads.co.uk

Seaforth Highlanders Patrol Jacket