Culture of Cornwall - Traditional Dress

Traditional Dress

The "traditional dress" of Cornwall for women is a bal maiden's or fishwife's costume which included the wearing of a bonnet known as a "gook" (which were peculiar to a district or community), aprons and woollen shawls. For men fishermen's smocks, Guernsey sweaters (known as worsted-frocks in Cornwall) and long cut shirts are worn. The adoption of the Cornish kilt has recently become popular, and these kilts are available in various Cornish tartans or plain black. The first reference to a "Cornish" kilt is from 1903 when the Cornish delegate to the Celtic Congress, convening at Caernarvon, L. C. R. Duncombe-Jewell, appeared in a woad blue kilt, to impress upon the delegates the Celtic character of Cornwall. Black kilts are proposed by some as the traditional version of the garment, some claiming that the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry wore black kilts on occasions in the 19th century (this may have been similar to the Irish saffron kilt). The most common kilt used in Cornwall is pleated Scottish-style with a leather, Duchy of Cornwall shield-style, sporran.

The Cornish national tartan was designed by E. E Morton Nance in 1963 using colours traditionally associated with Cornwall. Fragments of tartan have been found in Penwith.