Evening Attire?

[TNScotsman]

I thought this would be helpful to get on the forum for future reference. I just saw an invitation from a local Scottish Society for a Saint Andrews Day Dinner defining the dress code as "evening attire (dressy or Scottish) is encouraged".

While I won't be attending the event I am quite curious. Is evening attire equivalent to black tie? Does it align more with cocktail attire? If I was attending I would of course contact the sponsoring group and ask what they mean, but it seems unnecessarily complicated to come up with new terms when there is a standard set of terms to define the type of dress for an event.

Point being, for the sake of the rabble having a thread to find when they search for the question, what is evening attire?

[Jock Scot]

For me, I would wear a black(bow)tie, and appropriate evening attire, taking care not to overdress.

[McMurdo]

I would echo what Jock has said. Take a look at the 1 kilt 10 looks thread here:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-attire-46888/

I would say the Black Tie versions of each would be the best for the event.

[FossilHunter]

I’ve observed that dress codes for many Highland events in the US are a wandering target and often unclear. I was just at a local ball with a dress code of “Full Dress (vests & Argyle Jackets)” which I feel means black tie without the clarity of just saying black tie and resulted in a predictable, and unfortunate, mishmash of formalities.

In the absence of more direction on the invitation, I would interpret “evening attire” as black tie. I think Jock’s suggested dress is appropriate.

[Jock Scot]

Alright, let’s take our attire a few steps further. So the black bow tie seems to meet approval so what else? A white formal shirt with a turn down collar, should not raise too many eyebrows, what about hose and footwear? For me I would go for single coloured hose say, burgundy/claret with well polished black Oxford type shoes. The jacket? Well, a black barathea silver button argyll (BBSBA) would be my choice, but a black prince charlie(PC) would also do perfectly. A black waistcoat with either jacket would be fine, or, no waistcoat at all.

As we are keeping our attire in this instance at the lower end of the formal attire scale , I would not consider tartan, or, patterned hose, silver buckled shoes, fancy sporrans or, tartan waistcoats etc., as that may overdo things a tad. AND no medals or military insignia UNLESS the invitation specifically requires them.

Of course as time goes on, attire judgements can be adjusted with experience of attire for that particular event, but what I have suggested will get you on the bottom rungs of formal attire without making an *** of oneself.

[OC Richard]

I'm the historical/traditional guy, and our modern traditional Highland Evening Dress evolved to its present state around World War One.

In Victorian times Evening Dress was loaded down with accessories. By 1920 or so these had become oldfashioned-looking, and fashionable men wore the new sleek pared-down outfits which are still worn today.

Here are my Evening outfits. The one on the right shows the fully-evolved post-WWI Evening Dress with the then-new small seal-fur Evening sporran. In this outfit I could appear at an event from 1920 to the present day and not look out of place.

The one on the left likewise, showing the long hair sporran which never quite went out of style, and is still worn in Evening Dress today, though not as common as the small seal-skin sporran.

Tartan or diced hose with buckled shoes have been expected in formal Highland Dress since the 18th century, if not before.

[JPS]

Richard, I'll not let this opportunity go by without telling you again how much I adore that goat hair sporran of yours.