Tartans

One of the things Caroline Siedle became known for was her understanding of the use of Scottish tartans in fashion, and on the stage. The tartan grew in popularity in the early 19th century, due in part to novels romanticizing Scottish history as well as the British royal family’s visits to Scotland. When Queen Victoria and Prince Albert built Balmoral Castle in the Scottish highlands in 1853, the interiors were covered in tartans. Victoria was a trendsetter in her choice of tartans for everyday wear, and the style remained popular into the 20th century.

One of Siedle’s early costuming jobs was Rob Roy, in 1894. When interviewed for the Washington Times, published April 21st, 1895, she discussed the difficulties in presenting tartans on the stage for that production:

That was the most difficult thing I have done yet, because, if you know anything about the tartans, you know the Scots never designed them with an eye to stage effects, especially the plaids of the most important clans that figured in the opera. Those plaids were too somber. They didn't light up well on the stage, and, if you would believe it, there was hardly more than one containing white, which is so necessary a color and gives value to all color combinations. 

Another article, in the Maryland Frederick Citizen of January 11th, 1895, discusses the current worldwide popularity of tartans in fashion. Once again Mrs. Siedle's name is mentioned, and misspelled:

Paris began the wearing of silks and velvets in tartan patterns six months ago and New York has followed suit by decking itself gorgeously with the plaids of the Scotch clans. Every woman whose name is Stewart, Macpherson, MacGregor or anything that has the faintest smell of the heather walks abroad in the big checks of "our tartan, you know." Men on Broadway wear neckties of the solid red and black of the famous outlaw Rob Roy, women display it in velvet sleeves, and now and then in crossing a muddy street the dainty lifted dress reveals a glimpse of Rob Roy hosiery.

Not all tartans are effective in dress materials. "They don't light up," said Mrs. Seidle, the young English woman who designed all the costumes used in the opera Rob Roy. She adds anent the present craze for family tartans that women are often disappointed because they aren't prettier, and advises if a plaid be dull or complex with small lines that it should never be worn in woolen stuffs. It will be far richer and handsomer in silk. Mrs. Seidle is the New York authority on tartans and is kept busy just now helping the hunt of the fashionables for family plaids to sash small girls and kilt little boys and be worn by grown-ups in a dozen different ways. 

Tartans pop up in two of Caroline Siedle’s most famous shows. In the 1903 production of The Wizard of Oz, the Tin Man appears in full Scottish dress during the “Songs of all Nations” segment of the second act. Later the same year, Tom-Tom, the Piper’s son, was dressed in full highland gear in Babes in Toyland.