Jacket quandary, opinions wanted!

[chasem]

So, I picked up a sport coat at work today that I think will make a decent kilt jacket when modified. I'm not sure though, so I'm looking for opinions.

So, here's the jacket on me (of course, it still needs modification)

and here's the material it's made from

Main thing was would it look okay, or was I off?

and if it would, would it look better with black or brown accessories? I'm thinking it might work with either, though better with brown. But I suck at accessorizing.

and yes, I intentionally left my head out of the picture, it was late, and I look like crap this late

[MacWage]

As there seems to be both brown and black in the hounds tooth jacket pattern, it goes either way. I'd go of the kilt. A pattern such as Blackwatch (esp in modern) and those based on it (including my own MacNeil). An ancient toning usually goes either way (again depending upon pattern and coloring). As for the kilt in the pic, I'd say either way.

Of course actual colors may vary due to monitor setting, camera settings, and eye perception. Use other's advise with wisdom and discresion. Results may vary, etc. . .

In other word, use common sense: If much black, use black. If much navy and no black, use brown. Otherwise, do as you like.

[chasem]

That's what I was thinking. I thought it could go well with either brown or black, but I wasn't sure. Thanks for the confirmation.

Any other input?

[Alan H]

That's going to be a bit of a challenge for a non-professional to adapt.

The material is good, but look where the lapels hit you, in relationship to the top of the kilt. You are going to have to move the lapel crease a LOT to make this work. That's a problem. Lapels are set in place with a lot of interfacing and a lot of steam and pressure and moving them is tricky. Moving them an inch or two is one thing. Moving them six inches is something else entirely. The issue is how they're shaped behind your neck. To do it right you'd have to take apart the center seam of the lapel and change the angle......what a pain!

Also, patch pockets are a lot easier to work with than slash pockets. I mean, you can make gauntlet pocket flaps from the extra material and just put them over the slash pockets, but I bet those pockets are too low for anything near correct placement.Hmmmmmmmmmmm..... actually the picture is kind of dark and now I'm not sure where the pockets are.

Look at it this way. The bottom of the jacket is going to be about 2-4 inches HIGHER that the sleeve length. If the pockets are lower than that, they'll get cut out and then it's a non-issue.

Hhow about the back? Are there side vents on the back or a central vent? Having a central vent is not the end of the world, but it's "better" (as in mor elike a "real" kilt jacket) to have side vents.

No one of these issues would cause me to look elsewhere for a different jacket to alter, but all of them taken together would probably send me searching.

Let us know what you decide!

[chasem]

Thanks Alan. I hadn't considered... well, most of that. I don't plan on doing the modifications myself, as I'm not confident in that.

I'll keep those points in mind when asking around, and see what I'd be looking at.

Thanks again.