Options for smart but informal

[andycwb]

While waiting for my kilt to be made - complete with Prince Charlie and accessories for formal (technically semi-formal) wear, I'm pondering options as to what to wear it with on less formal occasions.

I'm particularly thinking of a family wedding that is going to be pretty laid back. If I were going with trousers I'd have worn a sport coat, shirt and possibly a tie, and dispensed with the tie at the first opportunity.

Assuming the weather is kind, I'm happy to dispense with the jacket all together, so was thinking a plain white cotton shirt. With the red and black predominant colours of the Cunningham tartan, I'm wondering if I can get away with another colour in the tie - black is definitely wrong, white is too formal, and red ... would have to match exactly at least. What are the rules around other colours with a tartan?

I'm definitely going to need a less formal sporran for this occasion as well.

OK, when the groom hears of the plan he might decide to join me (his now-deceased mother was a Scot)... :-)

[piperdbh]

The tie need not be a solid color. Stripes, patterns, even paisleys, all look good with a tartan. A black-and-white checked tie (if such thing exists) would look good with Cunningham. I think I would avoid a red tie. It would look too much like you were trying to be "matchy-matchy", and red can be a hard color to match. Something you might want to try is putting on your trousers, shirt, tie, and jacket, as if you were going to the wedding. Get someone to take a picture of you. Then replace the trousers with your kilt, and take another picture of you. Compare the two pictures, and maybe get the photographer's opinion, then try a different tie, different jacket, until you get the look you want. And post pictures of the wedding cake.

[WillowEstate]

You could try a pale blue tie, something close to cyan, as a kind of mid strength colour between the strong red of the kilt and the pale of the white shirt. Perhaps even a bow tie, a bit "Doctor Who-like"?

[Jock Scot]

You need to remember that the tweed kilt day jacket is really the kilt suit equivalent, but it can be dressed down , by not wearing a tie, or, perhaps by not wearing a jacket and wearing a waist coat with or without a tie. Or, a pullover, or, shirtsleeves and again with the option of a tie. Yes a plain sporran will help the overall look.

I really would not get too wound up about colours having to match. Yes, I know! But , but ,but, that is what those who don't wear the kilt seem to obsess about in this modern world, but with kilt attire it is really not a concern. I am not cleaver enough to advise you how to do it, but if you go to the "search option" on this website, you will find some long and very informative threads on "matchy matchy" colour topics.

Have fun!

[TheOfficialBren]

Aye. I'm with Jock on this.

Also, a polo shirt can look sharp.

I often wear a military-styled fashion shirt for casual kilting on warm days. Here's a thread with that illustrates what I'm talking about:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...daywear-79368/

Remember...without pics it didn't happen!

[Lodrorigdzin]

I tend to approach it from the other end: informal but smart. I do a lot of long distance walking, mostly in my kilt. I love how functional that is, even in cold weather. And wearing a kilt makes me look smart among the fjallraven trousered multitudes. But it has been a real quest to find a good wind breaker, an nice matching wool sweater, good hose and stockings etc. I want it to be "in style", vaguely reminiscent of field sports. For me the answer were short field coats (of which I found a perfect example in a Ralph Lauren coat, who would have thought) and safari shorts by craghoppers (khaki, grey, very comfortabe) My hose are old hunting stockings I had lying around, for which I've bought real garter ties, and a pair of gaiters if I'm really in the field. Now that I've put it together it's a set I don't have to think much about: it's sharp, it's comfortable. I really never wear my kilt formally, only for walking. (and a spot of ceilidh dancing at festivals and such) I think I aspire to the functional gentry look: I even own a Barbour Bedale jacket, hehe.

[creagdhubh]

You need to remember that the tweed kilt day jacket is really the kilt suit equivalent, but it can be dressed down , by not wearing a tie, or, perhaps by not wearing a jacket and wearing a waist coat with or without a tie. Or, a pullover, or, shirtsleeves and again with the option of a tie. Yes a plain sporran will help the overall look.

I really would not get too wound up about colours having to match. Yes, I know! But , but ,but, that is what those who don't wear the kilt seem to obsess about in this modern world, but with kilt attire it is really not a concern. I am not cleaver enough to advise you how to do it, but if you go to the "search option" on this website, you will find some long and very informative threads on "matchy matchy" colour topics.

Have fun!

I agree. Also, what the heck is "semi-formal" and why do people keep using this term? To me, it makes no sense whatsoever.

[andycwb]

I agree. Also, what the heck is "semi-formal" and why do people keep using this term? To me, it makes no sense whatsoever.

Yeah, I basically have 4 levels of dress: jeans or shorts + t-shirt, shirt + chinos, suit, black tie.

I've come across this (co-incidentally from where I've ordered the kilt): http://www.hector-russell.com/Produc...ls.aspx?Id=420

I think that will suit my style with a less formal shirt for this occasion. I don't go for the earthy brown and green tones very much, and plenty of my existing shirts will work with this at different levels of formality.

I'll give them a bell and get it added to the order, I think.

Andy

[Nathan]

I agree. Also, what the heck is "semi-formal" and why do people keep using this term? To me, it makes no sense whatsoever.

Kyle is right. These words don't appear to be standard around the English speaking world. That having been said, here is the system in which I was raised. I don't use these terms for kilt attire as it seems they a) aren't universal and b) don't really apply. These appear on party invitations and office dress codes all over Canada, so they're worth knowing. Anyone else familiar with this nomenclature for orders of dress?

1) Come as you are - Anything goes so long as you're covered. Punk rock, hip hop and other street fashion welcome. Sometimes this comes with the caveat of "no colours or flags" meaning no gang symbols can be displayed.
2) Beach wear/swimming attire - again, self-explanatory.
3) Shirt and shoes required - pretty self explanatory. This is all that is required to be served at most restaurants in Canada. This typically precludes sandals.
4) Casual - Almost whatever you like including jeans, shorts, t-shirts, cords etc. Shirt may or may not have a collar and this is a most relaxed form of dress. Even when an event is "casual", there is often an expectation that clothing will be clean and that there will be no rude or offensive text or logos on shirts, no large holes in the jeans or nothing overly revealing. You can step it up to a sportscoat and still be casual but a tie, unless worn loose or ironically is probably overdressed.
5) Business casual on casual Fridays - chinos/khakis and a collared shirt. This includes short sleeve casual button down shirts (often prints with soft collars) and polo/golf shirts. In winter, a sweater/jumper can be worn over this but the collar and cotton trousers are the key to this mode. Again, the key here is no necktie.
6) Business casual - usually a sport coat and non-matching trousers with collared shirt. The tie is optional though usually avoided. The idea of business casual is that you will also fit in at the pub or on the golf course after work.
7) Club wear - This means a collared shirt, dress shoes and trousers/no jeans. Club clothing is often designed in shiny synthetic fabrics and closely tailored to distinguish it from office attire. Shirts are often designed to be worn untucked. Headwear is not permitted.
8) Semi-formal - Jacket and tie of any combination required. This includes sportscoats, blazers and business suits. It implies dress shoes either lace up or loafers.
9) Formal - Tuxedo. (I know, in the UK "formal" is white tie and a tuxedo is called a dinner jacket and is considered "semi-formal" when people use the term. We don't have monarchs and Lords and Ladies walking about here very often so white tie is so extremely rare here that the top level of dress for most people is a tuxedo. Often, dances are called "formals" especially in school and females wear ball gowns while males wear tuxedos. I could say "black tie" but that leads to some confusion since many people wear matching coloured bowties and waistcoats/cumberbunds and other wedding rental attire to formal to black tie funcitons. If you've got satin on your lapels and trousers and a shirt with studs down the front, you're probably good to go. Black is always better. Most use the term "black tie" and "formal" interchangably.

Here's what you almost never see/hear in my neck of the woods:

1) Morning Dress - I've only seen it worn in association with a Royal visit. People typically get married in suits or tuxedos even before 6pm. Traditionalists scoff but someone who wears a suit to work might feel the need to "step it up" for their wedding and the wedding rental industry doesn't push morning wear; they push tuxedos.
2) White Tie - almost never happens, again it would be a Royal visit. It does exist but is simply called "white tie".
3) Country/hunting/stalking wear - In the UK this can mean nice tweed. Here country wear is the same as Western wear and means a Stetson and jeans. This mostly applies to people attending the Calgary Stampede. Hunting wear is camo or orange and you buy it at Canadian Tire.

There is one other level of dress colloquially referred to as the "Canadian Tuxedo". This includes either:
a) A thick wool or flannel plaid "work shirt" usually in a red tartan like Rob Roy MacGregor and jeans or;
b) A blue denim jacket worn with blue denim jeans.

[OC Richard]

If I were going with trousers I'd have worn a sport coat, shirt and possibly a tie, and dispensed with the tie at the first opportunity.

In my opinion the starting point is a high quality kilt and sporran. Once you have that you have a wide range of options that will look smart.

The kilt equivalent of the trousers-dress you mention would be kilt, leather "Day" sporran, plain hose, ordinary brogues/Oxfords, collared shirt, and tweed "Day" kilt jacket. This dress can be simple, comfortable, but very smart if all the items are high quality and fit correctly. You can dispense with the necktie and/or jacket if it gets too hot and still look fairly smart, especially if you wear a waistcoat.

This is just the cover of an old 1950s Highland Dress catalogue I have, but it shows Day Dress with the kilt quite nicely



About hose colour, as people here know my method is to avoid any of the kilt's major colours, and also, since I love colour, to avoid black, white, or grey. So with Cunningham, with vast expanses of red and black, I would avoid those two colours, and for Day Dress go with Lovat Blue or Lovat Green. For Evening Dress, if I didn't have matching tartan hose, I'd probably go with Royal Blue or even yellow.

EDIT: I had actually written "yellow or claret" and added the mention that a deep claret and bright scarlet can go very nicely together, though one wouldn't think so. But I thought that "clash" too much for people here and I edited it out.

But then I Googled "Cunningham kilt" and saw dozens of people wearing white hose and black hose with Cunningham kilts... snooze... but our own Alex came to the rescue, wearing the very claret I had been thinking of



(well actually I had been thinking of an even darker shade of claret, Maroon to be exact)