Tartan vest/waistcoat opinions in gernral and it's level of formality

[Tobus]

Nathan! Long time no see. Great pics as always, and I have to say, I think the beard looks great on you.

[Terry Searl]

Nice waistcoat! Are your bottons sewn on or held on with onrings or cottar pins? If they are sewn on, I’d reserve this one for wear with a black barrathea Argyll with silver buttons. I swap my horn buttons on for wear with day wear.

I have a couple of tartan waistcoats. I tend to wear my bias cut waistcoat more than my straight cut one but have included examples of both.

You all look very sharp and your photos are proof of that .......well done!

[Manu]

What a great collection of tartan waistcoats we have on display in this thread! I can't wait to have one. Now, I've seen people comment on wearing tweed waistcoats sans the jacket as looking incomplete. Now, I ask those dapper tartanphiles in our forum, would a full tartan waistcoat (front and back) look incomplete without a day jacket? Is this something that is done beyond the US borders? Given climate conditions, a jacket and waistcoat might be a bit unbearable for me most of the year. Thoughts?

[Jock Scot]

Perhaps a few observations from across the pond might be appropriate?

Tartan waistcoats for kilt day wear, might have historical precedent and seem to be quite popular these days when worn with Saxon style trousers and tartan trews, but for kilt daywear I am not convinced that tartan waistcoats are traditional kilt attire . No doubt some one wears one with the kilt in the day in Scotland but in all honesty, it's a rare sight.I seem to recall Lord Sempill wearing one once somewhere in the day.

I can't imagine a tartan all round the body style waistcoat, but a tartan front with a satin or silk back most certainly is the way to go, if you must. To my eyes a waistcoat with the tartan cut on the bias helps reduce the overdose of tartan somewhat too.

However, for the more formal and at preferably the higher end of evening formality then a three button bias cut tartan waistcoat can look pretty sharp, as does a bias cut tartan evening dress jacket with a black three button waistcoat.

In my humble opinion tartan jackets and or tartan waistcoats worn during the day overdoes the tartan and is rather theatrical and frankly looks a tad brash. For the higher end of evening attire a three button tartan waistcoat cut on the bias is not unusual.

Each to their own of course, but overdoing the tartan, particularly during the day, is not a regular aspect of kilt attire this side of the pond.

[lschwartz]

This may have been stated already, but you don't have to wear it with just kilted or highland attire. I think it would look great as a vest:

• under a suit jacket of the right color

• with a long sleeve shirt and a pair of slacks

• with a short sleeve shirt if you like the look

Use it like just another piece in your wardrobe.

Larry

[Liam]

Let me preface this by saying I do not own atartan waist coat..... and I think they look over the top! That being said, sometimes you want to look over the top! I really like the look of the bias cut ones.
PS... I wish I had one even though it would likely sit in my closet with my patent leather buckle brogues and my horse hair sporran just in case I wanted to look over the top!
Slainte

[RichardtheLarge]

Generally I wear my tartan waistcoat which is on the bias like this in a daywear setting. As I read this thread I thought I would leave the matching jacket off for this photo



However more often than not I wear them all together like so



I had the set designed with swappable buttons so that I could go with silver buttons or leather and have worn it for black tie events as well



The tartan waistcoat might not be for everyone, but I find it is simply another piece that people ask about.

No set of clothing elicits as much envy as McMurdo’s wildcat kilt suit with matching hose. For me, anyway.

[McMurdo]

No set of clothing elicits as much envy as McMurdo’s wildcat kilt suit with matching hose. For me, anyway.

Thank you Richard, the glory really rests with the wonderful artists who put it all together, all I did with the help of the community was to design the sett. Of course I did have a kilt suit in mind from an early point in the adventure.

[WillowEstate]

Yes, I was going to mention that the sett size is smaller. This was because they made from different Lochcarron fabrics. The vest is 11oz and the kilt is 16oz. For some reason the sett is smaller. The kilt maker (Kathy Lare) mentioned that in her catalog one was listed as ancient and one as modern, but as you can see they are practically identical in color. I'll admit I like it better than if the sett was exactly the same size. I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can.

Maybe I'm over-simplifying but I would have thought that lighter weight tartan would be made with thinner wool and for a given thread count, the resulting sett would be smaller? Those who know better may like to correct me.

I cannot comment on your waistcoat, although I passed my "three score and ten" a few years ago, I have never owned one and am now unlikely to do so. For what it's worth, all my shirts are various shades of pale blue business shirts and they work fine with my Mackenzie kilts, which have a darkgreen/dark blue background. My formal dress shirt is also pale blue!

I've never been a fan of tartan ties, my "go to" long ties (from quite a large accumulated collection - Christmas - bah humbug!) are a navy blue and red equal 45 degree stripes and a clan crest tie and my graduation silk navy blue tie.

Ultimately, it's all a personal thing, wear what YOU think suits YOU in whatever combinations you feel appropriate.

[Dileasgubas]

Thought I would put these ones out there. Tartan waistcoat and a PC.

The first was for a formal event. The second, for a Burns dinner. (I kind of like the second one where it looks like my sporran is taking a whiff of the haggis...) The kilt and vest are of matching tartan but the set sizes and wool weights differ.

I only wear wear this four-button vest when paired with a black tie and tend to favour it over the three-button vest that came with this PC. I had the PC made in blue with black facings to differentiate it from the masses a little but. I have also worn the vest under a black dinner jacket instead of a cummerbund. Anyway, I find it to be fairly versatile for formal wear.