Maybe I'm just getting older but when is casual TOO casual

[bigdad1]

I have no desire nor do I feel a need to convince you that you are wrong. Your opinion is your opinion. I feel that kilting, just like any other mode of dress is up to the individual. There are lots of people whose style of dressing doesn't appeal to me but that doesn't make it wrong nor is my style of dressing and kilting necessarily right. It is just a reflection of my personal likes and sense of style. Such as that is.

[dfmacliam]

Dressing for the occassion, should be appropriate. I Also know that other peoples standards should not affect your own.
But from what I believe I saw was a comment on your style of dress in a casual mode, and a need even subconciously to cover your gut with a loose fitting top of some sort. Correct me if I am wrong, but I reconize that behavior from my past. I have learned that a big guy can dress well, with a properly fitted shirt, and look good. Polo shirts look good with a kilt and give you a more preppy look, a nice starched button down looks good too.
If the gut is too much of an issue wear a compression t shirt underneath and then the button down. The rugby shirts do have a place in your wardrobe, but with a little confidence you might find there are other options of taking your casual kilted look and expanding them.

[Dan R Porter]

There are millions of people in the world who think the kilt is a costume, or a casual garment. SO it is all relative.

If you go to a fancy resturant all dressed up and kilted smart, the guy next to you might think "Wow this guy is wearing a costume in this fancy place, I sure would like to go out dressed up without some *#&$%@ wearing a costume."

[ccga3359]

There are millions of people in the world who think the kilt is a costume, or a casual garment. SO it is all relative.

If you go to a fancy resturant all dressed up and kilted smart, the guy next to you might think "Wow this guy is wearing a costume in this fancy place, I sure would like to go out dressed up without some *#&$%@ wearing a costume."

I'd agree that many see the kilt as costume I don't think anyone would consider it casual, quite the opposite in fact. It is only since joining here that I've seen a kilt as a viable option in a casual environment. Having said that, the most formal event that I've worn a kilt is a couple of Burn's nights at a Masonic temple. Most other nights it would be at a pub and although dressed casualy in a kilt I've tended to be on the dressy side of casual it just somehow seems right.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

There are millions of people in the world who think the kilt is a costume, or a casual garment. SO it is all relative.

If you go to a fancy resturant all dressed up and kilted smart, the guy next to you might think "Wow this guy is wearing a costume in this fancy place, I sure would like to go out dressed up without some *#&$%@ wearing a costume."

Good point Dan. The thing is, at least from my perspective of better than 40 years kilted (as an adult), I've never had anyone say that to me in a restaurant, or any place else. But I have heard (boors) make comments about people in "ordinary" attire that wasn't considered appropriate for the venue.

I think that the kilt crosses the line into costume when the wearer forgets how he should be dressed if attired in trousers. To continue with Rex's analogy, a Prince Charlie worn to a clam bake on the beach would be a costume. Worn to a dinner at a decent restaurant it would attract no adverse comment. The same restaurant, but in a kilt, flip flops, and a Guns n' Roses tee shirt, or worse yet, looking like a stranded member of the road show cast of "Brigadoon", and other patrons could probably be forgiven for thinking that you're in a costume.

So it really is relative, unless a wee bit of thought goes into what one is going to wear, and where one is going. That's why guys like Rex (and me) spend far too much time staring into our closets, shaking our heads, and muttering, "I haven't a damned thing to wear..."

And like ccga3359 I tend to be more of a "dressy casual" kilt wearer when going out with the lads.

[Bugbear]

Ehh, the worst I've usually done is a polo type shirt.

Although, I did only have cream hose at first..; I still need to boil those in coffee...

* Not counting the pleated-canvas-man-skirt attire. *

[Yodhan]

Like some of the posters above, I dress up for the occasion, not for the kilt. I, too, wear a kilt whenever I can, and have taken to taking morning walks in them, even if for only a half hour or so. With those, I am certainly in a t-shirt and some sort of hat, either a flat cap or green BDU cap, and hiking boots. I may throw on some hose and flashes, if I feel the urge. But, if I am going to go to dinner at a nice place, I will dress up and bit and put on a nice shirt and shoes. A tie, probably not, but I won't be in flip-flops at all.

[KFCarter]

Ehh, the worst I've usually done is a polo type shirt.

Although, I did only have cream hose at first..; I still need to boil those in coffee...

* Not counting the pleated-canvas-man-skirt attire. *

There you go again, Ted, threatening to spoil a perfectly good pot of coffee

I think a kilt is amazing in its ability to "fit" in a number of different situations, and can work with anything from polo shirt to doublet and everything in between. It's not a problem pairing a range of garments with the kilt... the problem is when people don't bother to "pair" their attire with the right occasion.

The trick is to know when and where to wear which (whew!).

[McMurdo]

I would say it all depends on the venue and the level of casual, what exactly is your definition of casual that is the key as I see it. You may want to look at the 10 looks thread where Jamie and I took one kilt each from casual to white tie, it gives several different levels of casual. to me anyway casual can go from this



To something like this



Depending on the occasion I would not feel out of place in either outfit, of course I would not wear the t-shirt to a wedding but also I would not dress in the jacket and tie for a barbecue.

[GDub]

I'm getting "older" too and there isn't a "TOO" casual section in my book. I dress very casually 99% of the time (kilted or not) and am quite content doing so. To each their own...