Burns Night is coming. Formal on the cheap.

[Alan H]

Lots of guys absolutely ABHOR what I'm going to write here, but I'm gonna do it anyway.

So you're going to Burns Night and you have to dress to the nines. You don't have a lot of money and there's no convenient place to rent the usual stuff. You have a nice kilt and a pair of dress shoes. You have a nice sporran and a nice pair of kilt hose. Whatcha' gonna do for the rest of it? Well, here you go.

http://www.uniformalwearhouse.com

This place sells formalwear to people like waiters and hotel staff. Is their stuff the be-all end-all, tailored wool la-de-dah? No. Do they sell stuff which is clearly waitstaff stuff, like canvas vests that guys wear at the local bistro? yes. However, is that ALL they sell?

No.

So here's what you do.

1. Dress shirt. Do you like a standard collar or a wing collar? You pick. $13.
http://www.uniformalwearhouse.com/ap...rts_index.html

2. That dress shirt is going to need studs and cufflinks. You pick, black or gray. $3
http://www.uniformalwearhouse.com/ap...edojewel1.html

3. a bow tie. Solid color, please to match your tartan. Get the "unisex bow tie" which is available in about a flumptillion colors. $2
http://www.uniformalwearhouse.com/ap...cces50col.html

4. The jacket. Of course you want a nifty Prince Charlie, but you don't have $230 to drop on one of those babies. So go look at the Single Button Eaton Jacket with the shawl lapel. THE SINGLE BUTTON, not the three-button Eton. The three-button looks like a grownup version of the little kids Eton jacket that was popular in the 20's. Price, $37

http://www.uniformalwearhouse.com/ap...ojackets4.html

The Eton jacket is shortwaisted, it look quite nice with a kilt.

5. A three-button vest. Prince Charlies are worn with vests, not cummerbunds, so you can get really close to that look by getting the three-button, backless tuxedo vest.

http://www.uniformalwearhouse.com/ap...sts_solid.html

Now, how to really finish this off? Go buy some nice pewter buttons like these:



or these...



and replace the black satin buttons on the jacket and waistcoat with some of the pewter ones. It's only an hour or 90 minutes work to replace the buttons. You could buy extra buttons and add them to the jacket, rather like how a Prince Charlie has extra buttons.



Total cost should be about $48 for the shirt, tie, cufflinks/studs, jacket and vest. Add in another $12 for the buttons and you are set.

Again, this is NOT the same as the full-on wool deal Prince Charlie and waistcoat, but I promise you that it looks a whole, whole lot better than most of the nay-sayers are probably going to come in here and tell you that it will look. I've seen this stuff in person, I've worn a lot of it and it looks pretty darned good, especially for wearing to one or two black-tie events per year.

Caveat: If you go to 6-7-8+ black-tie events each year, then it's probably worth your while to spring for the wool PC and all the kit. ---- but if you DON'T....

[Mickey]

Thank you good sir! I'm all about a bargain and it will probably be better than my modified tails jacket, even though it is wool. I like to dress up once in a while, black tie event or not, so this looks fun.

Also hitting a major sale from a higher end bridal shop rental store here this weekend for some more conversion possibilities and other accessories.

[Alan H]

Thank you good sir! I'm all about a bargain and it will probably be better than my modified tails jacket, even though it is wool. I like to dress up once in a while, black tie event or not, so this looks fun.

Also hitting a major sale from a higher end bridal shop rental store here this weekend for some more conversion possibilities and other accessories.

Panache wore a converted tails jacket for quite a while as his formal rig and I thought it looked great. The conversion didn't seem to be difficult to me and the end result is pretty darned similar to a PC. You probably look great in it.

[Scout]

eBay can also be your friend when looking for inexpensive formal wear.

I don't own and don't want a PC. I bought a very nice, wool, 1 button, shawl tuxedo jacket on eBay for $27. A talented local seamstress converted it to a kilt jacket for me for $15 (and many of you I'm sure have the skills to make that a DIY project). I added a 3 button tux vest from a local formal wear shop for just a few dollars more (probably could have found that on eBay too). Traditional Highland attire? Absolutely not! And not something I'd wear where traditional Highland attire was expected. However at most I'll attend one or two "black tie" events a year where I'll be the only one kilted anyway and my on-the-cheap conversion looks just fine.

My $.02 worth.

[scratchy]

Caveat: If you go to 6-7-8+ black-tie events each year, then it's probably worth your while to spring for the wool PC and all the kit. ---- but if you DON'T....

I don't. Haven't been to a one. But feces happens when you have WAY too much hard cider, & the seller has a lovely assistant...

[Friday]

www.myowntuxedo.com often has high quality used tuxedos and tail coats for a reasonable price. There have been a number of threads on converting tail coats to PC in the past. I converted a grey tails coat to a very nice PC in a week end.

You may also want to look at the Spenser Jackets, similar to a Eaton Jacket, like a tails coat without the tails.

Interesting comment about the kilt in the Spenser jacket description:

"his tuxedo spencer jacket is also a great option for any kilt enthusiasts who are looking to convert a tuxedo coat into a Prince Charlie coat, the formal coat traditionally worn with kilts!"

[Nik]

Alan, thanks much. I haven't been to any black tie events and can't justify the cost of a PC. So thanks very much. I'll be using this advice if I'm ever in the situation.

Cause clothing is expensive!

-Nik

[Panache]

Panache wore a converted tails jacket for quite a while as his formal rig and I thought it looked great. The conversion didn't seem to be difficult to me and the end result is pretty darned similar to a PC. You probably look great in it.

Truth be told I preferred my converted tail coat to the Prince Charlie I finally forced myself to buy last year. It had round buttons and solid rather than braided epaulettes. It stood out as just a little bit different in the sea of regular Prince Charlie coatees. Sadly it was a vintage coat and after several years of Scottish Country dance formal balls it started to disintegrate.

Cheers

Jamie

[CMcG]

Lots of guys absolutely ABHOR what I'm going to write here, but I'm gonna do it anyway...

I absolutely ADORE what you've written here

My only objection is that the Uniformalwearhouse jacket is polyester, which tends not to breath and looks extra "waiter-ish". For the same price, one can find a (used?) wool Spencer or Eton jacket, which IMHO would look and feel better.

[Glen]

eBay can also be your friend when looking for inexpensive formal wear.

I don't own and don't want a PC. I bought a very nice, wool, 1 button, shawl tuxedo jacket on eBay for $27. A talented local seamstress converted it to a kilt jacket for me for $15 (and many of you I'm sure have the skills to make that a DIY project)...

Another option I have thought about is using a velvet jacket, again ebay source, and having that cut into use with a kilt. Usable for both formal and day events...