Addition to our forum...

[al' Sporrano]

I've just taken delivery of a Jacobean shirt from www.tartanwear-direct.com. I have to say that it looks fantastic with the tartan kilt I've got (I also got that from tartanwear-direct).

Tops were a problem for me at first. I found a number of my shirts just didn't look right with the kilt. I've got some "ribbed" tops (short and long-sleeved) and they look good and I've bought other tops/t-shirts specifically to go with the kilts.

One definite no-no, as I've found, is wearing a coat which extends below your bottom. Looks awful (especially if its very cold and you have to do it up)!

Question : I have one or two tops that I prefer to wear without tucking them in - I also dispense with the belt for these (as the buckle bulges underneath the top). Is this bad form? Should tops always be tucked in?

Cheers
David.

Hi David

My view:-

Outside of formal wear there are no hard and fast rules.

I think a black t shirt tucked in is good. Or a plain colour from the kilt. Likewise I have a black rugby shirt which I wear tucked in and out. Polo shirts look good also.

I have a bottle green jacobite and a swordsman leather waistcoat which look great but a bit too 'heritage' for casual wear. I don't see me wearing it much but I like the look.

The upshot is IMHO:-

- not too many different colours; use your kilt colours to guide accessory choice.

- Keep away from highly patterned shirts; they tend to be hard on the eyes and draw the attention away from the kilt. I've worn plain dress shirts and tie with my kilt and it looks good. Again the colours were carefully selected and complimented those in the kilt.

- keep to plain socks or hose (the tartan ones are goddam awful)

- a chunkier shoe or boot is better than dress type shoes for casual. Brogues, standard or ghillie, are best for a more formal look.

- Get yourself a good fleece. Looks great with the kilt and keeps you warm without having to resort to a long overcoat.

- I wear a belt most of the time, except with a PC jacket. That's a protocol no no. The belt divides the kilt from the shirt if tucked in and gives it a boundary/line. When wearing a rugby shirt outside the kilt, I would still wear a belt.

How's about a picure of kilt/jacobite shirt for the forum?

Al'

[Blu (Ontario)]

David E. Question...: I have one or two tops that I prefer to wear without tucking them in - I also dispense with the belt for these (as the buckle bulges underneath the top). Is this bad form? Should tops always be tucked in?

I have to second Al's points...follow those guidelines and you can't miss. I've tried "untucked" shirts a couple of times and it just looked Baaaad...looked sloppy rather than casual. Now I always tuck in and I always wear a belt. The sporran, on the other hand, is something I typically don't bother with unless I need the pocket space. For me, the sporran is not a decoration and, no, it doesn't look "fem" without it as I think was aluded to a while back elsewhere.

[David E]

Thanks guys. I do prefer the "tucked-in" look so will probably favour it from now.

Totally agree with the other points you make Al. As far as hose is concerned, I currently only wear white/cream. I tried wearing a pair of plain blue football (soccer) socks that I already owned with my plain blue kilt. Although the colour matched pretty well, somehow it just didn't look right (although different colour hose does seem to work for you other guys out there, judging from pics I've seen, so don't know what's wrong with me!!). I'll probably just stick with white/cream - at least for now.

Al wrote:

How's about a picure of kilt/jacobite shirt for the forum?

More than happy to oblige. However, I'm off on holiday tonight for 10 days - going to Canada skiing (Banff to be precise) - so it'll have to wait until I get back. Sorry to let the side down but I won't be taking my kilts with me - they're only light-weight casual kilts and I've just looked at the weather report from Banff and the high is -7C (low is -17C!!). I'm a wimp I know - but that's just a little cold for the old knees!

Cheers
David.