A young Highland dancer wearing the Aboyne dress prescribed for females for the Natioanl dances

The Aboyne dress is the name given to the prescribed attire for females in the Scottish national dances, such as the Flora McDonald, the Highland lilt, and others. There are actually two versions of the Aboyne dress in use. A young highland dancer demonstrates her form in the sword dance at the 2005 Bellingham (Washington) Highland Games Highland dancing is one of two basic types of Scottish dancing which can be seen at nearly every modern day Highland games event. ...

In one, a tartan pattern skirt is worn with an over-the-shoulder plaid, a white blouse and petticoat, and a velvet bodice. This is shown in the photo at right. The alternative is a white dress over a petticoat, together with a tartan pattern sash. A tartan is a specific woven pattern that often signifies a particular Scottish clan in the modern era. ... A skirt is a traditionally feminine tube- or cone-shaped garment which is worn from the waist and covers the legs. ...

The name derives from the Aboyne Highland Gathering in Scotland where, years back, the dance committee, dissatisfied with the state of affairs of female Highland dance attire, prescribed new rules governing acceptable 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 females should be developed. The men would continue to dance in kilt and jacket, wearing bonnets and sporrans. Scotland (Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is a country in northwest Europe and a constituent nation of the United Kingdom. ... The kilt is seen as an item of traditional Scottish Highland dress, although the origin of that tradition is more recent than is commonly believed. ... Semi dress black leather sporran A Sporran is a pouch made of leather or fur that is worn on a chain around the waist on the front of a kilt. ...

The original decision of the Aboyne committee applied to both the Highland dances and the National dances. This was modified by the Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing (SOBHD) a few years later so that the Aboyne dress would be used by females for just the national dances with a different, kilt-based outfit (though with no bonnet or sporran for females) for the Highland dances. To this day, however, the wearing of the kilt by females is strictly forbidden at the Aboyne Gathering.