Hounds Kit
Kit. As in "the old kit bag". This is what morris dancers call their costume. Each team's kit is distinctive and (hopefully) unique. The Hounds' kit is especially unique: as usual, we've gone to extremes.
The Hounds kit consists of
- rag coat (or tatter coat)
- white shirt
- white trousers
- floral (garish) cabbie cap
- ribbon covered bell pads
- black shoes
Other clothing optional.
Accessories
- Hankies, 18" square is good
- Short sticks
- Long sticks
- Beer mug
Our rag coat is worth mentioning: we use old lab coats to which we sew strips of cloth so that the coat is pretty densely covered. You really don't want to get these wet. [Can you say heavy? I knew you could.]
Some people may remember us by another kit that we wore several years ago when we danced the Cotswold morris. Then, instead of the rag coat, we wore a royal blue vest ("waistcoat" as the English call them) with armbands of blue, yellow and white ribbons. See our photo album to get a better idea of what this kit looked like.