My New Rob Roy Kilt

[Hamish]

............................Suit coats, for example. ............................ They actually look okay if you leave them unbuttoned, .............

No, no, UB! I am sorry, but suit coats, or suit jackets, when worn with a kilt tend to make you look deformed! They give far too much heavy emphasis to the upper body and, especially from behind, make you look "all body and no legs"! They are too long. They also restrict the swing of the pleats! A kilt jacket should be no longer than to the hip, or where the sewn-down part of the kilt's pleats finishes.

........ but then the Suit Purists will tell you that you should button at least one button.

Somehow, kilt jackets seldom look right when fastened, which is why, I think, we tend to have waistcoats which ARE fastened under them. Day wear jackets nowadays are usually worn unfastened and without a waistcoat - but a wide kilt belt IS worn. Tweed jackets AND tweed waistcoats are seldom seen worn together, but they were popular and 'correct' 70 years ago, much as waistcoats were 'correct' with tweed trouser suits or plusfours.

Maybe the only way to go truly formal is with a Prince Charlie jacket, but I'm interested in finding a lower-cost and flexible alternative.

The Prince Charlie is only one of several styles of formal, evening wear. There are Montrose doublets, Kenmore Doublets, Regulation jackets and vests, and Sherrifmuir jackets available from most Highland outfitters. Geoffrey (Tailor) has also very smart Mess jackets and GT Doublets.

To my mind, although I wear one, the Prince Charlie has become so much 'standard formal wear' that it is almost a uniform to be worn by all kilted men at formal events. In the same way that the ubiquitous Dinner Jacket (or Tux) has in trousered society. Let's try to break away from this restrictive style and show a little individuality! 8) My heart is set on a GT Doublet!

I regret I cannot help you with "a lower-cost and flexible alternative", although I've heard of some of your fellow countrymen buying up waiters' monkey jackets and having them altered! I hae me doots, however!

[philibeg]

Thanks, Hamish, for your eloquence. You have made me realize that the only reason for wearing a kilt pin is that you have one you really like! It took me more than a year to find a kilt belt buckle i liked, so I shall be patient and keep my eyes open for a pin...part of the trouble is that my buckle and the cantle of my dress sporran are brass...do I need a brass kilt pin as well??

While I have your ear, may I ask a few trickey questions? When wearing a waistcoat with the kilt should all the buttons be buttoned or must the last one be left undone? Also, UB, in the RR kilt pix, is not wearing a belt with his waistcoat (as far as I can tell) which I think looks good. Any thoughts about belts and waistcoats?

I bought red garters (not elastic flashes) to keep my hose up the last time I was in Embro, but they seem impossibly long...is there some fancy way of tying them that will keep their tassled ends from dangling down by my ankles? Or must I simply wrap em round and round till I lose all circulation and my feet go numb?

I bought loose toggles for my ghillies, but can't get the blasted things onto the laces! any advice?

Thanks a Million,

philibeg

[Hamish]

Wow! Philibeg, you certainly want your moneysworth!! I usually charge by the question, not the posting but, since 'tis the season of goodwill ..............

Thanks, Hamish, for your eloquence. You have made me realize that the only reason for wearing a kilt pin is that you have one you really like! It took me more than a year to find a kilt belt buckle i liked, so I shall be patient and keep my eyes open for a pin...part of the trouble is that my buckle and the cantle of my dress sporran are brass...do I need a brass kilt pin as well??

Not necessarily. However, if you are able to find a brass, or brass-coloured, kilt pin (rare!) that you like, then go for it! Alternatively, look for a silver pin with a golden/yellow stone (topaz perhaps) set into it. But don't worry about such minute details - any pin you like will be perfectly acceptable, and will look good.

While I have your ear, may I ask a few trickey questions? When wearing a waistcoat with the kilt should all the buttons be buttoned or must the last one be left undone?

That depends upon the waistcoat! In my book, the waistcoat of a Prince Charlie, or any other 'dress' jacket, should be fully buttoned. That is because there are generally only three or four buttons and the shape of the waistcoat differs from that normally worn with a suit or a day jacket.

If we are talking tweed day jackets and waistcoats here, then I would suggest you follow the niceties that apply to a trouser suit: in that the bottom button will be left undone.

Also, UB, in the RR kilt pix, is not wearing a belt with his waistcoat (as far as I can tell) which I think looks good. Any thoughts about belts and waistcoats?

Yes, belts should not be worn with waistcoats! Not only is it a social faux-pas (if you are bothered by such things!), but I personally think the 'look' is too cluttered if both are worn together. The bottom of a waistcoat fitting snugly to the kilt looks so neat; a belt destroys that.

The only time I might wear a belt with a waistcoat would be if I were wearing the latter worn very casually: open and without a jacket, say on an early summer walk in the country!!

I bought red garters (not elastic flashes) to keep my hose up the last time I was in Embro, but they seem impossibly long...is there some fancy way of tying them that will keep their tassled ends from dangling down by my ankles? Or must I simply wrap em round and round till I lose all circulation and my feet go numb?

A couple of points here, Philibeg! First, garters are the elastic part and the flashes are the coloured 'tags' hanging from them! These are, of course, the modern representation of the long, fabric or knitted garters you purchased in ..... Embo. (Embro? Embro? Please, the name is Edinburgh or, if you must, Edinboro', but Embro? ) These are, in themselves, seldom found nowadays, but they are the closest you will probably find to the original garters which were strips of fabric wound around the upper calf to keep the fabric 'hose' up - before hose was knitted and therefore slightly stretchy. The flashes were nothing more than the ends of those strips, which hung down after being tied.

If you prefer the long, knitted garters then, yes, you will have to wind them around your leg several times, under the hose turn over, so that only some two or three inches of the ends (the flashes) show, on the outside of your leg. You do not have to tie them; folding and tucking the ends behind the wound lengths should be sufficient to hold the garters in place.

I bought loose toggles for my ghillies, but can't get the blasted things onto the laces! any advice?

None, I am afraid! I cannot abide the look of Ghillie brogues (well, the shoes are fine, but all that stupid lacing, which many guys do not know how to tie correctly is totally OTT!). Not caring for the look of the things, I do not own any, and so have not seen the laces or toggles close up! I wear polished, black brogues when in full dress 'rig'.

Thanks a Million,

philibeg

You are welcome - but I don't charge anything like that amount!

[philibeg]

You are a gem! Thanks for the brilliant advice!!

[Casey]

UB,

Thanks for posting the pic of the Rob Roy. I have been toying with the idea of heading in that direction myself. Loks good. I think I might go for the Ancient.

Casey