Evening Attire?

[Jock Scot]

Salient points as always, Jock. As long as one meets the minimum threshold for evening attire, all is well. Anything more is just personal preference or personal flair. It is important for people to recognise what's essential and what's just fluff.
(My answers in brackets between your paragraphs)
( Exactly so.)

I wouldn't necessarily call it one-upmanship, though, or think of it as something that's specific to this website. Highland attire has always had a "peacock" quality to it, most especially when it comes to the higher levels of dress. It seems to me that as Highland culture has been diluted and blended into a more pan-British culture, especially over the past century, the expectations of dress have trended more towards a Saxon-like uniformity. A typical English black tie event, for example, would find men all dressed exactly the same by design. And it is considered poor taste to show any individualism. What a pity to see Highland dress headed this direction! The days of men wearing unique bespoke doublets and ornate hair sporrans have been reduced to them mostly wearing the same generic designs that they all purchased from the same handful of outfitters (or worse, hire-shops!).
( I think on the right occasion you will see Scottish Highland attire worn at its most individual of styles whilst keeping on a theme. Those occasions are not so common these days, nor are they generally publicised to the world at large. Indeed, kilt hire attire does not help individuals to dress individually either.)

I don't know what kind of presence you have elsewhere on the internet for discussing Highland attire, but I can assure you that what we see here on this forum is pretty tame by comparison. I actually credit you for this. Your well-reasoned input over the years has guided a lot of members to refrain from "over-egging the cake" with their outfits (and yes, I borrowed that phrase from you). Or, at least, when they do go for the fancier accoutrements of Highland dress, they have a better idea that they have stepped out beyond a certain line. Some of the other internet discussion areas don't have that kind of gentle moderating voice to guide them, and one-upmanship definitely takes hold.
( Thankyou, I would like to think that some of my advice is helping in keeping you chaps on the straight and narrow!
Actually there were others who assisted in keeping you chaps in line, but I think that I am the last one still contributing here.
I have looked at other kilt websites from time to time, but for various reasons the” climate” on those websites did not appeal.
I very nearly used the term of” over-egging the cake” but I seemed to have upset one member here on this website mightily over using that term, so I have refrained from using it recently. I thought the term described the situation rather well! Perhaps I might start using the term again? )

But beyond that, I think the last few years (perhaps the last decade or so) has seen a renewed interest in making Highland dress interesting again. Personally, I welcome it. Historical jacket styles and sporran styles are becoming popular again. And while there will always be those folks who wear costumish articles to emulate television shows or feel the need to design "fashion-forward" new styles, I see a lot more people these days dressed more traditionally with thought and research put into their choices. I'll take this any day over seeing the masses wearing the same articles from the same catalogs.

(Thank goodness there are more than enough people in Scotland who do know how to wear the kilt properly that the situation that you describe is not likely to happen here on a large scale. If we put aside the hire company situation, then without wanting to cause upset, perhaps it’s the trouble of wearing the kilt outwith it’s natural surroundings where there are so few to gently guide those wanting to wear the kilt? )