Yet Another Jacket Thread

[Kilted Rogue]

With all the talk recently about what jacket is "this" and what to wear "there". I started wondering, What about wearing jackets of different material than the kilt? most suits the pants are wool and the jacket is wool or linen top and bottom. As far as fashion goes i have always understood that your dress to match your fabrics. Like i wouldnt wear wool pants and a linen jacket just as an example.
I know I am picking on wool and Linen.There are other fabrics out there, they are just an easy example as thats what most suits i have experience with are made of.

So what say you Kilt Fashion Aficionado



( i just received 7 suit coats from a deceased relative and i am trying to figure out what i am going to do with them all. 2 tweed, 1 silk, 1 camel hair, a blazer,2 wool . )

[The Wizard of BC]

In our current world of Fashion it is usual to call it a "Suit" if a Jacket and trousers are of the same fabric and designed to be worn together.

But fashion has always had room for wearing a Jacket that does not match the trousers.

This not only applies to color and pattern. A Tweed Wool Jacket paired with Cotton Cord trousers has been a very nice look for quite a while now.

The same goes with Wool and Linen. A pair of light "Tropical" Wool trousers paired with a Linen Coat has been worn, and in style, since the British started to hang out at the Raffles Hotel.

The "Rules" only come into effect as far as fashion is concerned when it comes to the pairing of some patterns and some color combinations.
You don't usually wear trousers with a Horizontal pattern with a Jacket that has a Vertical pattern.

You don't usually wear a Blue Jacket with Brown trousers. Not that it can't be done and sometimes is but in very general terms Blue colors go with Grays, & Blacks while Browns go with Reds and Greens.

But then again, no hard and fast rules.

This whole matching thing is overrated in my opinion. While it is common to try to pull a color out of the Kilt to match the hose, flashes or shirt with It is also common to use the Kilt as a stand alone while matching the other parts of the outfit to each other regardless of the color of the Tartan in the Kilt.

The bad part of allowing everyone to do as they please regarding color is that very few men have been taught the basics of color sense. Hence we end up with the "Golf outfit". 53 different colors in 32 different patterns all in the same outfit. Think of any outfit in the movie "Caddy Shack". That stuff really happens and can be see almost any day.

When in doubt, ask your wife. Then look in a mirror.

[ChattanCat]

With all the talk recently about what jacket is "this" and what to wear "there". I started wondering, What about wearing jackets of different material than the kilt? most suits the pants are wool and the jacket is wool or linen top and bottom. As far as fashion goes i have always understood that your dress to match your fabrics. Like i wouldnt wear wool pants and a linen jacket just as an example.
I know I am picking on wool and Linen.There are other fabrics out there, they are just an easy example as thats what most suits i have experience with are made of.

So what say you Kilt Fashion Aficionado

( i just received 7 suit coats from a deceased relative and i am trying to figure out what i am going to do with them all. 2 tweed, 1 silk, 1 camel hair, a blazer,2 wool . )

First, there really is no rule for wearing a jacket with a kilt. You might want to wear a Prince Charlie to black tie engagements but the kilt doesn't have to match the jacket fabric.

As far as you recent acquisition of jacets, I would modify them to make them kilt jackets.

Cheers,

[Kilted Rogue]

When in doubt, ask your wife. Then look in a mirror.

Very True on that note, and that is what lead me to ask this question.

my wife always tells me that the fabrics have to match, or it doesnt look "right"

[Laird O'the Cowcaddens]

Common sense, to some. A refreshing glimpse to others. Good idea about converting them to kilt jackets; I* have read a few threads posted by a laddie in CA (Panache), of course that presumes that they fit you somewhat to begin with. Anyway, thanks for stirring the pot a wee bit.

[Kilted Rogue]

As far as you recent acquisition of jacets, I would modify them to make them kilt jackets.

Cheers,

Well i dont want to mod all of them, and i dont have but one tartan kilt(bw) and 2 UK's. so i will probly mod 1/2 of them and see.

I do have a suit that i dont wear and it has a waist coat with it..... but i digress

[Twa_Corbies]

The general rule of thumb with jackets and kilts (from a traditionalist point of view) is that tweed jackets are worn for ordinary casual day-dress and these can be either solid or a distric-check/glenplaid pattern; while a finer woolen fabric such as barathea or a plain twill weave in a solid color is worn for a more business-like look, black being the most formal for daytime or "morning" dress (not to be confused with mourning); other colors for dressier day wear that are fairly common in kilt jackets are navy blue, hunter green, charcoal grey, etc.

The ubiquetous Prince Charlie coatee is really the Highland equivalent of a dinner jacket, suitable for black tie evening affairs where a tuxedo might be worn; but there are so many other styles of doublets that can be worn for either black tie or white tie occassions, that the Prince Charlie isn't really a necessity since it isn't suitable for full dress occassions, where a Regulation doublet, a Sheriffmuir, Montrose or Kenmore doublet would serve equally well and give a better appearance. For ultra full dress, these styles of doublets could be made in either black or colored velvet, or tartan cut on the bias (diagonally).

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

With all the talk recently about what jacket is "this" and what to wear "there". I started wondering, What about wearing jackets of different material than the kilt?
So what say you Kilt Fashion Aficionado

Both Ted Crocker and I are aficiondos of kilt jackets made from corduroy. There is a great picture of him, kilted with corduroy, linked to most of his posts. Check it out.

I'm also a big fan of duck and linen kilt jackets, especially now that I live in the hot (and sometimes humid) South.

[Carolina Kiltman]

All the above is good advice. I currently have only one kilt that I can wear. (The one that was made for me in 1949, has shrunk in the closet. (I am saving it for a grandson who is built like I was at that age -- bean pole!)

My tartan is mostly red, with green, light blue and yellow overcheck. I have three jackets, one Braemer, which does double duty as dressy morning/day wear with a solid colour four-in-hand tie. Sometimes with a vest (5 button)., "Semi-formal" (tuxedo) with a Prince Charlie style of vest and black bow tie.

A converted sport jacket in a light, plain weave navy blue wool with pewter buttons, and a black polyester twill "Ike Jacket" converted from a western style short jacket.

My next kilt is going to be the "old sett" of my clan which is mostly blue with a red and yellow overcheck. The three jackets will go well with it too. IMHO, colour is far more important than fabric in this case.

As mentioned before, just make sure the jackets are a reasonable fit before trying to modify them into kilt jackets.

[Bugbear]

I wear a 100 percent cotton corduroy jacket and waistcoat for my daywear jacket. Works great.

I would worry more about the interfacing etc inside the jacket than whether it is all wool.

* The jacket is shown in the "Dignity" album link in my signature, but there are bigger versions of those pictures in the gallery. Don't click on the Shame link in my signature unless you want to laugh at me. *