Sporran Selection

[BlueSkye]

OC's pictures are a useful guide.

The difficulty a good many people have with Highand dress, is understanding what level of formality it equates to in more widely understood terms.

The black-and-white pictures show men very neatly attired, but the tweed jackets and sporrans are the same things that they will wear to relaxed, informal events such as a Highland games. They look smart, right enough, but are they right and proper to do justice to the effort the bride has made?

What we see is the tweed suit equivalent, not morning dress or even lounge-suit. Tweeds, sartorially speaking, are leisure-wear or 'country casuals' despite how expensive they might be, or sharp-looking. The tweedy kilties look like they are wearing just what they wore the previous weekend at their local Games.

If the bride is going to be in a ball-gown style of dress, it is the duty of her groom, her father and ushers to match their outfits to compliment hers, so the day-time tweeds seen in the pictures must have been a bit of a let-down for the respective brides.

We can imagine the conversation in the car as bride and groom drove away. 'You said you would make the effort,' she might say. 'You've only worn your normal clothes, when I've got my lovey new dress, and veil, and flowers and everything. You could at least have tried to make the effort.'

Come on, lads. We all know the tone of voice that would be said in - it's the you-had-one-chance-and-you-blew-it tone of enduring disappointment. Don't go there..!

When so much of life is lived in jeans and t-shirts, many people now think dressing smartly (even for a wedding) is simply putting on a clean pair of jeans and a shirt with a collar, and the old conventions now seem wildly extravagant.

True, the tweed combos will get a lifetime of use after the wedding, so seem justifiable as a choice, but that is what the going-away outfit is for. If you don't already have them, buy the tweeds and hire a black Argyle with silver buttons - as soon as the toasts have been drunk and the music is playing, the Argyle can be relagated to the back of the chair and never worn again. Your going-away tweeds - the things you really want - will be with you for ever.

And so will your bride's gratitude.

Thanks Trog! - Great advice! It is an afternoon ceremony (on the cusp of the evening) at the peak of summer where it will be daylight until late into the evening. I am wearing black argyll with silver buttons. My hope was to put my groomsmen in grey jackets/waist coats to differentiate us. My bride trusts my decisions and choices for my attire as well as my groomsmen, however i dont want to let her down. Here in the states, there aren't as many knowledgeable folks that would be able to know right from wrong on an etiquette scale. They'll be impressed with the fact we've got many gents in kilts and wont know any wiser, although i aim to hit the mark. I'm into the details. Selecting the right/appropriate accessories is important to me. I honor my bride and my heritage and not only want to represent my clan well (although they weren't kilt wearers), i want my Scot cousins to give me a nod on a job well done for my first event.
Stay tuned for more adventures of the kilted newbie!

[Troglodyte]

Thanks Trog! - Great advice! It is an afternoon ceremony (on the cusp of the evening) at the peak of summer where it will be daylight until late into the evening. I am wearing black argyll with silver buttons. My hope was to put my groomsmen in grey jackets/waist coats to differentiate us. My bride trusts my decisions and choices for my attire as well as my groomsmen, however i dont want to let her down. Here in the states, there aren't as many knowledgeable folks that would be able to know right from wrong on an etiquette scale. They'll be impressed with the fact we've got many gents in kilts and wont know any wiser, although i aim to hit the mark. I'm into the details. Selecting the right/appropriate accessories is important to me. I honor my bride and my heritage and not only want to represent my clan well (although they weren't kilt wearers), i want my Scot cousins to give me a nod on a job well done for my first event.
Stay tuned for more adventures of the kilted newbie!

This is good to hear!

As you're into the finer details of your outfit (I guess you mean the little refinements that only you, yourself, will know about, and those with a discerning eye will notice) I would suggest a grey silk tie, and linked double-cuffs (French cuffs) on your shirt.

They were once 'the thing' until the swivel-bar style became more convenient, but chain-inked cufflinks in silver (not expensive and easy to find early 20th century vintage of excellent quality) would compliment the silver buttons on your jacket perfectly. These are also ideal for having a crest or monogram engraved on one of the links, and also serve as evening-wear, too.

And, as you have the 'silver' elsewhere, having a silver cantle sporran and matching chain is perfectly correct. Although some people like to think of the fur-front-metal-cantle sporran as evening wear (which they are, too, of course) they are be no means strictly that, and can do day-time wedding duty just as well. You have endless options for cantle style and furs here - your own taste and budget will guide you. Tomo's pics show a very good turn-out - tasteful, with nothing too fancy or fussy.

If you are lucky enough to have an heirloom sporran of this type, you couldn't ask for a better opportunity to wear it into action, and the popular oval style is probaby the best option - but you are by no means limited to this.

Thinking about what the photos will look like, I would sugguest avoiding black, or dark coloured, hose. With black shoes, the detail of dark hose is lost in a photo, so something like the main colour of your kilt will do the job. If you can get a patterned turn-over in the colours of your kilt, then so much the better. Best of all would be diced-hose in those colours, which some will tell you are the only 'true' kilt-hose anyway.

Your bride will look the most beautiful of her life, so everything you can do to dress to match will be admired - and appreciated by all. You might just get a momentary squeeze of the hand, and have her whisper thank-you into your ear, but the value of that will be remembered for ever.

Most importantly, being dressed-up is not the same as being stiff-and-starchy, so remember to relax and enjoy the day. Entering into the spirit of the thing (dress included) is all part of the fun.

Good luck..!