I've been on the hunt for traditional tweed daywear Argyle jackets and waistcoats that are in the affordable range. Ebay has been a pretty good source for me, especially since jackets in my size are not in high demand (I'm a small guy).

So I snagged this tweed waistcoat and jacket for a very reasonable price from a seller in Scotland. They are 1960s vintage, or so I'm told. I will likely have some minor alterations done, since it was a bespoke set for someone who was close to my size, but not exactly my size. Anyway, it is a lovely brown/green/white tweed, which has an overall colour effect that comes off as a greyish-green. It goes great with my civilian spats!

The waistcoat:




Waistcoat with jacket (with a closeup):




And a more extreme closeup, showing the interesting colour combinations of the tweed, as well as a better look at my pocketwatch chain. I found a wonderful 3-dimensional thistle charm at the Highland Games a few weeks ago that goes great with it.




I had also been wanting a decent antler-handle sgian dubh with a Damascus blade. I've been wanting to have one made custom for me, but the price of custom work will require me to save my pennies for a while longer. In the meantime, John at Keltoi Gaelic Clothing had a model that I just had to have.

He told me ahead of time that they don't put much of an edge on these, since they're mostly for decoration and not functional use. But I'll be darned if I'm going to carry a knife that can't actually be used as such, so I spent about 4 hours of careful re-profiling and honing of the edge. It now passes the Tobus minimum standard for sharpness, meaning it will shave the hair off my arm when tested.

What I like about it is that it has the antler 'button', but it's not the raw edge turned outward like you usually see. This one angles back, in line with the blade, so it's not sticking out like a knot off the side of my knee. It has been worked down somewhat flat on both sides and the bottom was smoothed out. So it still has the overall charm of the button, but in a more functional and wearing-friendly shape. It fits my hand perfectly and has a nice indentation for my forefinger. IMHO, it's the best of both worlds: functionality and aesthetics.