'Kilt' Jackets

[DWFII]

While you will find photographs from the mid 19th century showing some gentlemen wearing "sack suits" with kilts (the ghillies of the Balmoral estate and Prince Frederick William of Prussia, for example), I would agree with McMurdo that a "Saxon" jacket worn with Highland attire tends to stand out among jackets tailored to be worn with a kilt.Regards,

Todd

I'm not fond of the look, either. I don't think it works...in either example.

Of course the sack coat eventually evolved into the sports coat but it is my understanding that sack coats were originally a little shorter than a contemporary sport coat or blazer and had rounded rather than square corners. If so they might have worked a little better.

I might add that it was fashionable in the late 1800's to wear the sack coat buttoned at the top button only. Because the style was high gorge this allowed the rest of the jacket to spread in an inverted "V" from the button to the hips. You can see this a lot in photos of Civil War veterans in the 1880's and 90's when there were still enough of them to make photographing a reunion a snapshot of the larger society.

It's actually quite a conundrum because some of the nicest sports coats out there are Harris Tweed and they can sometimes be found for a song at SA or Goodwill, etc.. I have one I got for converting and haven't been able to bring myself to cut it. I had to get another that I liked a little bit less...which, fortunately, had some moth nips right in the area that was to be cut off.

[macwilkin]

One of these drawings from the Northern Meeting thread is a perfect illustration for this thread:



T.

[Bugbear]

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