Outerwear over the kilt

[MacLowlife]

I see that nobody has posted ANYTHING on this forum in a couple of days, so here goes... Last night I went to our local St Andrew's Tartan Brawl ( not the official name, no,) and we were having cold weather. There was only a short walk from the car into the party venue and I could have managed, as my date did, with no coat at all, but 40 degrees F is a little chilly for me. My new velvet Montrose doublet is warm, as we all know any Montrose will be, but it is not THAT warm.

I own several coats that might have worked- a waxed cotton coat, a covert coat, a long wooly dress overcoat, puffy down jacket, etc. I am eagerly awaiting the delivery of a military cape ( not an Inverness cape, sadly ) but I opted to wear a duffel coat, which just seemed to be more appropriate than any of the others.

My question: When you need something over your kilt jacket, what do you wear? Can you show us a picture?

And if you said you wear a plaid, how do you manage driving a car, etc. with said plaid in place?

Am I the only one who thinks a regular dress overcoat somehow doesn't work with a kilt?

[davidlpope]

I have two Inverness capes that I use as kilted outerwear. One is green lovat tweed and the other is waterproof black nylon. The black one came in very handy for bad weather when piping with a band.

I've seen photos of kilted men wearing wearing longer-style wax jackets and this looked pretty good. I think if the jacket hem falls below the hem of the kilt it looks best.

Cordially,

David

[Bigkahuna]

I usually wear a Trench coat if a coat is needed. The military cut of the coat goes well with kilts imho.

[Bugbear]

I would guess a dress overcoat with the Montrose doublet...

Probably gray leather gloves and a white silk scarf along with that.

None of which I have.

I do have a tan, classic London Fog overcoat, but I've never worn it with a kilt.

I'm not sure I ever will either.

[skauwt]

i wear a duffle coat im 6ft tall and it goes to just above my knee caps its spot on with the length of my kilt ,i dont have pic though to show though sadly ,
im 31 so i think the duffle looks good for my generation and my style of dress as much as i think capes look cool i dont think id suit the cape somehow

[Jordan]

I recently bought a black nylon inverness cape, I was wearing it this weekend. I think I look quite cool and I like it, others think I look a little daft tho but that doesnt bother me

[Sir William]

I don't think it much matters if all you're doing is going from the car to the event. I'd say where whatever is comfortable, warm and dry. In which case, your overcoat, duffle coat, or even the waxed coat should work well. Doesn't really matter as you'll just be taking it off once you're inside.

However, if you're doing something outside that requires you to wear a coat with the kilt, such as I did yesterday at our local annual Scottish Christmas Walk, then I'd recommend an Inverness cape. I have one in wool that I wear for cold weather, such as in the snow yesterday, as well as a black nylon one that I wear when it rains at the Games. I noticed quite a few of these in evidence yesterday and they look much better with a kilt than other styles of coat. However, for less formal occasions, the duffle or waxed coat would equally do the job.

Your military cape should do quite nicely as well once you get it.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Ideally, I think a nice tweed cape is the answer to your question.


However, these aren't always easy to find, and they do cost a pretty penny. So I think for most folks, the proper outer covering to wear with your kilt, if your main concern is to keep warm in cold weather, is "the warmest coat you own." I wouldn't worry too much about whether it "goes" with the kilt or not. If you are cold and need something warm to wear, function trumps fashion.

[NewGuise]

I very recently posted (in another thread) re my first experience wearing a day plaid in temperatures well below freezing, with some wind. The plaid kept me warm - warmer than most overcoats could have done - and was far less inconvenient to deal with at my destination than a coat would have been. And I don't see that driving would have made it any less convenient. I've driven a jeep over treacherous mountain roads in southern Africa wearing a heavy wool Sotho blanket, pinned at the shoulder, as my overcoat; the plaid is bigger, but thinner, and more easily draped or folded to keep the arms free. So I'm all for the plaid.

[Hothir Ethelnor]

Here you go.

This is an East German military overcoat that I picked up online for $25. I dyed it with inexpensive RIT dye to a charcoal/brown colour.