Scottish Commonwealth Games kits through the years

The Commonwealth Games uniform due to be worn by Team Scotland at the Glasgow 2014 opening ceremony has prompted a lot of reaction.

Team Scotland 1998 managed to combine tartan AND floral patterns. Picture: TSPL

The clothing has split opinion, with athletes and organisers said to have given a “favourable reaction” but many people continue to ridicule the outfits on social media.

We’ve delved into our picture archive and unearthed the Team Scotland uniforms from previous Commonwealth Games. How many do you remember?

Designer ‘didn’t expect everyone to like’ outfits

Jilli Blackwood, who designed the uniform to be worn by Scottish athletes in 2014believes she would have “got it wrong” if everyone liked the uniform.

Team Scotland describes the male uniform as a “turquoise, fuchsia, navy blue and caramel” tartan kilt with a blue shirt, while the women will wear a “flowing wrap-around dress”, said to be inspired by the Saltire flag.

A shawl-like wrap and a stone-coloured leather bag complete the women’s uniform.

Ms Blackwood, a textile designer and artist insists she “didn’t expect everyone to like them”.

‘A pair of curtains’

Comments on Twitter compare the outfits to “a pair of curtains” or “something a 70s dance troupe would wear”. Some people did voice their support for the designs but the majority of the reaction poked fun at them.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s John Beattie Show today, designer Blackwood said: “Everyone’s allowed their own opinion and I didn’t expect everyone to like them.

“This has been a long process and has been talked about. The athletes have been included all the way along. The brief said they wanted a ‘high-impact statement’.

“I understand that this is a celebration; this is a parade uniform and this is when you do turn up the volume and it’s to work at a mass group.”

The designer said the uniforms have been fully created in Scotland and that the colours were picked as they will show up well on television during the opening ceremony.

In our picture gallery

1962: Louise Martin, left (who later became assistant team manager to the 1998 team) and an unidentified team-mate model the Team Scotland uniforms in 1962

1970: Sue Boughton and David Ramsay model the official Edinburgh Commonwealth Games uniforms in June 1970

1986: Team Scotland march through Meadowbank stadium during the 1986 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony

1998: John Lindsay, Julie Nelson, Vikki McPherson, Stuart Yule, Sarah Gourlay, David Gourlay and Louise Martin model the 1998 uniform

2002: Claire Bentley (Table Tennis); Jamie Quarrie (decathlon); Karen Cusack (judo); Donald McIntosh (shooting) and Linda Clements (hockey) show off the 2002 outfit

2010: Team Scotland pictured during the opening ceremony at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi