Great Kilt worn as formal attire

**tartanartist** · 14th April 12, 09:52 PM

I wore my great kilt to a tartan ball this evening. I would have rather worn a different style jacket but the Prince Charlie was all I had. Nevertheless, I think it turned out looking all right. What do you all think?

**knotty** · 14th April 12, 10:12 PM

Lookin good. Black Watch?

**Guinness>water** · 15th April 12, 06:41 AM

Looks good to me! You did a really good job of getting the pleats to stay.

Since I've read about wearing a great kilt to formal events, it has appealed to me. How did you like wearing it? Was it as comfortable as your tank? Or, did it get in the way? Make you feel "undressed"?

**Woodsheal** · 15th April 12, 08:20 AM

Looks great! Interestingly, in the "old days" when little kilts first appeared on the scene, they were considered as working or fatigue dress, and the full belted plaid ("great kilt") was the more formal of the two garments - being worn for full-dress occasions in the regiments, for example.

**tartanartist** · 15th April 12, 08:24 AM

It is the gunn modern tartan.

Thank you for the compliments. I used a two belt method to get the pleats to stay in nice. I felt as comfortable in it as I normaly would in a standard 5 or 8 yard kilt with a fly plaid. I would encourage anyone curious about trying the formal great kilt look to give it a try at least once.

**Chas** · 16th April 12, 08:24 AM

I will apologise to start with.

Sorry

I do not like the look.

From the side, you look either pregnant or grossly overweight.

From the back, the jacket looks as if it doesn't fit. The tails have nowhere to hang so they bunch up. There is also something going on with your right sleeve that I don't understand; it looks twisted or the jacket is too big across the shoulders.

From the front, all that spare material gives you a "spare tyre" look.

Although it is seen as quite modern, I have never appreciated the black shirt and white tie look. The PC is a black tie garment and that means a bow tie and a white shirt. Personally, I have no objection to club/society/college ties with the PC, but they should be bow ties. A three button waistcoat requires a bow tie. A five button can be worn with either bow or long.

The juxtaposition of the historic kilt with the modern shirt and tie really jars as far as I am concerned.

I appreciate that this might sound brutal, but you did ask what I thought, so I will apologise again.

Sorry

Regards

Chas

**Harold Cannon** · 16th April 12, 08:35 AM

I think that with a doublet you would look great. I understand only having the prince charlie though. The only problem is the tails on the prince charlie coatee.

**thescot** · 16th April 12, 08:53 AM

I like the great kilt/formal attire look, but I have to agree that the PC is the wrong jacket. A short waisted doublet is the best choice, I think. Either a regulation doublet with white tie or a Montrose style doublet works well, and I've used the Montrose with a jabot to good effect. (At least I thought so.

) Your outfit doesn't look bad at all, but it doesn't really look formal either.

Getting the hang in the back is a little tricky, and I have to disagree with Chaz on this: it doesn't make you look fat; it makes you look like you're wearing a great kilt. I have found that if I pull the opposite corners of the left over part toward the rear before twisting and pulling together over the left shoulder, it minimizes the excess material gathered around the waist which admittedly can look a bit odd by modern standards.

Also with a doublet, I prefer a pretty large waist plate/buckle to set off all that black. Sitting above your sporran with the silver cantle will make the outfit shine. With a Montrose, there are little hooks on the outside of the jacket in which the belt sits to keep it just at the bottom of the doublet so it looks very smart sitting over all that tartan.

You rarely see a great kilt worn these days except by reinactors and others of that ilk, but I like the look and have seen it worn to great effect when time and planning go into donning and wearing it. It does take practice.

**MacMillan of Rathdown** · 16th April 12, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by Chas

I will apologise to start with.

Sorry

I do not like the look.

From the side, you look either pregnant or grossly overweight.

From the back, the jacket looks as if it doesn't fit. The tails have nowhere to hang so they bunch up. There is also something going on with your right sleeve that I don't understand; it looks twisted or the jacket is too big across the shoulders.

From the front, all that spare material gives you a "spare tyre" look.

Although it is seen as quite modern, I have never appreciated the black shirt and white tie look. The PC is a black tie garment and that means a bow tie and a white shirt. Personally, I have no objection to club/society/college ties with the PC, but they should be bow ties. A three button waistcoat requires a bow tie. A five button can be worn with either bow or long.

The juxtaposition of the historic kilt with the modern shirt and tie really jars as far as I am concerned.

I appreciate that this might sound brutal, but you did ask what I thought, so I will apologise again.

Sorry

Regards

Chas

I'd agree... sorry, but in my opinion the ensemble just doesn't work.

**Woodsheal** · 16th April 12, 10:02 AM

I agree that a shorter style jacket would work better, but don't quite get the other negative comments. The young fellow has pleated his plaid quite nicely, and the drape of it across his back is done well (NOT sloppily), too. It's weird that those who accept fly-plaids (meant to imitate the belted plaid) disparage the belted-plaid itself.