Matching jacket and waistcoat?

[Micric]

Greetings, Gentlemen!

In another thread, I have read that the waistcoat should match the jacket.

This has me thinking (!) ....since Highland daywear is essentially a 'country' look.
My granfather was a Yorkshire farmer, of the school who always wore a tie and "weskit" whilst working. He was always smart (It didn't rub off!...)
Though smart, he very often wore a (tweed) waistcoat that didn't match his tweed jacket.
Now, you may say,..."That's Yorkshire...not the Highlands" and you'de be correct. But is there that much difference between the two?

The ulterior motive for this question being that I have a nice Argyle, ...and no matching weskit! weskits yes!...but more a contrast than match!


Any insight most welcome!

R.

[piperdbh]

From what I've read and seen here, I'll offer the following:
If attending a white-tie event, the waistcoat may be of tartan or a solid color, usually matching the jacket/doublet.
If attending a black tie event, the waistcoat is usually black to match the jacket/doublet. If the jacket/doublet is not black, then the waistcoat is usually the same color as the jacket/doublet, but can be black to match the tie.
If attending a formal evening event, then a black Argyll is usually recommended here and the waistcoat is usually black, but if it's a different color, that's alright.
If attending a non-formal "day" event, then the jacket is usually tweed and the waistcoat need not be the same tweed, the same fabric, or even the same color as the jacket, but if it is, then that's alright, too.

What I've gleaned is that day wear, especially in the Highlands, is not known for matching colors and such. Historically, Highlanders wore what they had, and accumulated bits and pieces of their kit over time, not all-at-once-from-a-shop-selling-matching-stuff like a lot of folks do it today. See some of Jock Scot's pictures for a better example than I can write.

I'd like to see pictures of your grandfather working on the farm in a waistcoat and tie.

[Jock Scot]

Hello there, how is life on the farm? To answer your question, for less important events for kilt day wear then no, I don't think it matters one jot if the jacket and waist coat match. I think it not unreasonable for them to match as the importance of the occasion rises though.

It is not usual to see with the kilt those wonderful, red, or, creamy yellow, or my favorite creamy yellow with a tattersall type check waist coats seen out on the hunting(horses and hounds) field, or at market, like "down south" though.

[Zardoz]

This is an interesting thread. Since I only have the one charcoal argyll and waistcoat so far, I have been toying with the idea of some colored waistcoats to mix-up and brighten my daywear options.

[auld argonian]

I remember having a wonderful deep mustard yellow vest back in my youth...went well with almost everything...as did those in deep red. Was a look back in the sixties...so go for it.

Best

AA

[Jock Scot]

This is an interesting thread. Since I only have the one charcoal argyll and waistcoat so far, I have been toying with the idea of some colored waistcoats to mix-up and brighten my daywear options.

I think many would consider that the kilt, perhaps with a regimental style tie, was quite bright enough, for day wear, without adding more "bright" colours to the overall look.

By "down south" I mean the English country style day wear where the clothing is fairly low key with greens and browns(apart from some hunting kit with horse and hounds) so a brightish waist coat can work well on occasion.

[MacRobert's Reply]

Piperdbh seems to have summarised it well. Strange that the most formal (white tie) and least formal (tweeds) are where waistcoats that don't match the doublet or jacket are most often worn. I have seen tartan and contrasting solid colours worn with both and have done so myself.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Piperdbh seems to have summarised it well. Strange that the most formal (white tie) and least formal (tweeds) are where waistcoats that don't match the doublet or jacket are most often worn.

Actually, unless one is wearing a Sheriffmuir doublet, a white waistcoat is de rigueur for wear with a regulation doublet or Prince Charlie coatee. When dressing for black tie there is more latitude, and both tartan and a variety of solid colours, as well as black, may be worn.

[Zardoz]

I think many would consider that the kilt, perhaps with a regimental style tie, was quite bright enough, for day wear, without adding more "bright" colours to the overall look.

To be clear Jock, by "brighten my daywear options" I did not mean "bright" as in "loud" colors! On the contrary, I just meant add some color!
I've been thinking mostly of dark or jewel-tone shades of red, green, maybe blue.

[Downunder Kilt]

I have a number of waistcoats that I wear with my tweed kilt jackets, some of them match, some of them don't. Of the non matching ones, they tend to be doeskin or harris tweed, in greens or browns. As has been said, I think that the need of matching of your jacket and waistcoat increases with the level of formality of your event. Apart from scottish attire it is very rare to see any gentlemen wearing a waistcoat with a jacket these days, at least in Australia that is.