upcoming Burns dinner...what to wear, what to wear?

**DWFII** · 18th January 09, 10:08 AM

Just received a beautiful Matt Newsome box pleated kilt in a special tartan that he designed (or redesigned) for me...a take-off of the MacQueen tartan. It will be registered with the Scottish Tartan Authority as a Black MacSween. It is a black and grey tartan with red striped and is a very dressy and conservative kilt. It fits very well and is very well made.

The first photo is of this new kilt and a new Locharran Ettrick tweed Argyll jacket. I am thinking of wearing this to our local Burns supper on the 24th. Of course I will add a collar and a tie.

The second photo is of my 10 yard Scotland's National with the tartan hose my wife made for me for Christmas. They are so beautiful. They fit perfect. And they are soft--I think they are 85% merino and 15% nylon...a yarn called "Superwash," if I recall correctly.

And the third photo is of the same kilt and hose but paired with a WPG P-37 battledress for a little more informal look. The "Haggis Master" (??) said that this supper will be kind of informal and he wasn't even planning on wearing a jacket.

So...I'm all in a dither...what to wear? What to wear?

**McMurdo** · 18th January 09, 10:17 AM

I'd say pic number 2 with some changes, I'd wear the dress sporran from pic 1 with that outfit, and the waistcoat. They all look good though. Those are my first thoughts, I would like to see the outfits with the shirt and tie you plan on wearing.

**Kilted Craanen** · 18th January 09, 10:57 AM

I agree that the picture McMurdo votes for is the most impressive combined with his ideas. I vote however, for the first picture (because it's your new kilt! you should wear it

). with a charcoal or dark red tie. In the case of the dark red tie I'd consider a black or charcoal shirt. (if you have any of what I mention. T'is just ideas). without the waistcoat (looks good - but for this occasion which is 'not too formal' I'd leave the waistcoat out). You might want to consider less formal shoes, but I think those look awesome so I wouldn't change em myself.

Hope t'is of any help

Daniel

**BEEDEE** · 18th January 09, 11:24 AM

Darn - choosing between one and two is almost impossible. # 1 gives you a chance to show off a new kilt and exclusive tartan, # 2 highlights your wife's workmanship in the hose. Burns may have penned "Nine inch shall please a lady" but I think wearing your wife's hose will please her more.

So on reflection, my vote is for #2.

Brian

**Tatonka** · 18th January 09, 11:34 AM

My humble opinion is for the new kilt. It is a beauty!

JT

**Jack Daw** · 18th January 09, 12:00 PM

I like the kilt and hose from pics 2 and 3.

**DWFII** · 18th January 09, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by McMurdo

I'd say pic number 2 with some changes, I'd wear the dress sporran from pic 1 with that outfit, and the waistcoat. They all look good though. Those are my first thoughts, I would like to see the outfits with the shirt and tie you plan on wearing.

Glen,

Do you really think the light grey waistcoat would look OK with the green and black kilt?

One of my first thoughts was to wear the Scotland national, the tartan hose, the dress sporran, the argyll jacket and a black belt. I thought that would look fine but I ran up against a somewhat unsurmountable problem in that I have no black belt.

Actually I have the belt but I have no buckle...until my birthday several weeks away.

But if I wear the grey weskit I'll probably wear a black tie or maybe a red cravat.

Thanks for weighing in

**DWFII** · 18th January 09, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by BEEDEE

Darn - choosing between one and two is almost impossible. # 1 gives you a chance to show off a new kilt and exclusive tartan, # 2 highlights your wife's workmanship in the hose. Burns may have penned "Nine inch shall please a lady" but I think wearing your wife's hose will please her more.

So on reflection, my vote is for #2.

Brian

Yeah, I agree. And I cannot tell you how much I cherish the tartan hose.

I posted a number of times here on Xmarks about tartan hose...looking for a "recipe"...and searched the Internet looking for a pattern. There's almost nothing out there. And the commercial tartan hose is very expensive...way more than I want to spend on socks!

(although now that I have a pair of tartan hose I really value them--I think they take the whole kilt image up about five notches.)

My wife...bless her heart...put a lot of time into figuring out the pattern and the yarn was probably a little more than the price of a pair of standard solid colour kilt hose. But the results are, in my eyes, spectacular...and they feel so good!!

**McMurdo** · 18th January 09, 02:46 PM

I think it should look fine, I do try to match up what I'm wearing most of the time. However there are times, and more recently I've been of the mind that we put far too much stock in matching everything when it comes to Highland wear, as you said yourself it is not a truly formal event I think the gray waistcoat would work, the upside is you need not worry about a belt black or otherwise. Of course as I said in my original post I'd like to see a picture of the proposed ideas as well. One other thought that comes to mind is the Gray Waistcoat will help to pull your lovely dress sporran into the outfit, were you to wear both.

**DWFII** · 18th January 09, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by Tatonka

My humble opinion is for the new kilt. It is a beauty!

JT

Thanks, it is really nice. My family tartan...or the closest thing to it ...is the MacQueen tartan. This is the same sett but the original was red where the black is, black where the grey is, and yellow stripes/rakers instead of red in the present iteration.

I wasn't ready for a red kilt. This variation makes for a nice grey kilt that has clan/family associations, is dressy and conservative.

It looks good with the light grey waistcoat although I have enough of the dark charcoal Ettrick tweed to have a matching vest made...notch lapel, of course.