Advice on wearing the fly plaid

[Mark Stephenson]

I recently wore my fly plaid for the first time.
I will be going to another formal dinner this weekend, and wish to wear it again. However, I had a lot of trouble with it pulling open my Prince Charlie jacket. Does anyone have any suggestions on wearing the fly plaid?

[JSFMACLJR]

I do not like fly plaids.

That being said, might I ask where you are pinning the plaid? All too often the plaid is worn pinned to the front of the jacket front, rather than at the shoulder. That could cause the jacket to open.

My suggestion would be to skip the fly plaid.

[Jock Scot]

I would not bother with it, if I were you.

[Woot22]

I agree with the advice already given, just skip it all together. You're already in a kilt, why wear something that draws attention away from that and makes it look like a costume.

[figheadair]

I've never seen one worn at a formal dinner in Scotland.

I know you've bought it and so natuarally want to wear it but have to agree with others on this thread. Don't bother with it.

[ForresterModern]

IMHO, three options work best with the fly plaid:

First, don't bother as there are fewer situations where it really is appropriate than most folks think.

Second, as Sandy above suggested, put your plaid through the epaulet of your jacket and pin through the epaulet and the fly plaid together at the shoulder.

Third, put the fly plaid pleated corner through the epaulet and pull it down tit it reaches your breast pocket, then attach your brooch only to the fly plaid itself, not through the plaid and jacket together. Attaching the brooch to the corner of the plaid alone will act as a bit of a counterweight to the weight of the plaid over your shoulder and back, but not pull up on the jacket itself.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I've never been a fan of the fly plaid myself, either. One reason is that everyone I have seen wearing one here in the US seems to always having to adjust their jacket and the plaid constantly pulls it out of kilter (ha!).

Once at a Burns Supper I saw a gentleman wearing a fly plaid impeccably. His jacket hung perfectly, and I never once saw him having to make readjustments. So when the opportunity arose I asked him about it. "Everyone else I see wearing the fly plaid seems to always have trouble with the plaid pulling their shoulder of their jacket back, but you don't have that problem. What's your secret?"

He just smiled, and opened his jacket front -- I could tell just by the sound it made what his secret was. He had sewn a large patch of velcro to the inside of his jacket and his shirt underneath.

That's one solution! :-)

[Chas]

Third, put the fly plaid pleated corner through the epaulet and pull it down tit it reaches your breast pocket, then attach your brooch only to the fly plaid itself, not through the plaid and jacket together. Attaching the brooch to the corner of the plaid alone will act as a bit of a counterweight to the weight of the plaid over your shoulder and back, but not pull up on the jacket itself.

I would agree with Jeff on this, but go one step further.

Round the back, get your assistant to slightly lift the weight, so there is a small amount of slack and pin the plaid to waist of the jacket. Any pulling is then from the waist and not from the shoulder. You will need to experiment before hand, to get the right amount of slack, too much and it looks like a Great Kilt on a bad day, too little and you are back to square one. I would recommend good quality, chrome, heavy duty safety pins - about 2" long. You might need more than one at the waist to spread the load and take the weight.

OR

The other method is to ensure that you are born with the right shape of shoulders. The flatter or straighter the shoulder the better. Too much slope leads to fly plaid hell. This is also seen when men wear a Laird's or day plaid over one shoulder. On some it will sit there and others spend the whole day holding the plaid in place.

Good luck with what you choose.

Regards

Chas

[davidlpope]

I think it's a clever marketing ploy designed to bilk Americans out of their money by overcharging them for a yard of tartan cloth.

Ditch the fly plaid and turn it into a bias-cut tartan waistcoat!

David

[artificer]

I think it's a clever marketing ploy designed to bilk Americans out of their money by overcharging them for a yard of tartan cloth.

Ditch the fly plaid and turn it into a bias-cut tartan waistcoat!

David

This may be the best suggestion yet! I think ANY board member would be hard pressed to throw stones at a beautifully crafted bias-cut waistcoat.

ith: