PROJECT OPPORTUNITY: Alternative dress sporran hangers for big guys

[ForresterModern]

There have been numerous discussions about the generally held belief that one should not wear a belt with a dress outfit that includes a waistcoat, due to the interference with the lie of the waistcoat bottom by the bulky belt. This leaves one forced to use some form of sporran chain or strap to keep the sporran at an appropriate height.

Being one of the "Gentlemen of Substance", I have the typical problem of a standard sporran strap tending to ride down under my bulky belly and bunching up my kilt apron above it, so I have virtually from the start of my kilt wearing used sporran hangers in lieu of a strap or chain, with great success to date. Now I am trying to figure out how to reconcile that need for sporran hangers with the need to NOT wear a belt in dress occasions, when the sporran hangers clearly require the use of a belt.

One solution I will try is a more stealthy belt with a flatter less bulky and obvious buckle, so I can continue wearing the hangers.

But I had another idea which I was hoping the rabble, or particularly someone with more skills and talent than myself in the area of metal and leather work, might help me with. I use a money clip to hold my folding money, which has this lovely metal plate (with adornment) for the front of the clip, the a curved clip on the back to hold the bills against the rear side of the front piece. I figure somebody ought to be able to make a matching pair of this type of money clip, with chains attached to the lower portion of the back of the front plate that can then hang down to be attached to the sporran just like a regular sporran hanger. The money clip portion could then be clipped to the front apron, or both aprons, on either side of midline, in lieu of the belt, thereby removing the bulky kilt belt buckle from the equation but keeping the function of the sporran hangers intact. The new "money clip" hangers face place would then be essentially flush with the front apron and not interfere with the drape of the waistcoat or coatee, but still allow the sporran to be hung without the use of a strap.

The front piece could be made big or small and shaped or ornamented however the wearer might wish, depending on the use and occasion, could be covered in black leather or even tartan so as to remain stealthy beneath one's coatee and waistcoat. I have got to believe that the money clip portion of the device should be available from some hobby or craft supply shop, and that someone with metal/leather working capability can help me design something to work for the faceplate and chains and clips for the hanger portions. This could lead to development of a new and marketable product in the area of highland accessories.

Anybody with the skills interested on helping me take on such a project? Anybody out there think this is a feasible alternative, or am I just a crazy guy with too much time on his hands to think this much about this kind of problem?


jeff :ootd:

[Rex_Tremende]

Jeff - before you commission beltless sporran hangers, have you tried to see what the effect of hanging a fully loaded sporran on your kilt would be? I'm thinking that a heavy belt distributes the weight around your hips more evenly, whereas hanging one off the apron would cause the apron to sag.

You could simulate your design by taking some stiff wire, say one of those flimsy shirt hangers you get from the dry cleaners, cut a length of it enough to fashion a hook by making a loop, flatten it, then fold the ends together to form parallel U's. Be careful to tape off the sharp ends together and mind any barbs you may find.

Keeping in mind that this is ONLY AN EXPERIMENTAL PROTOTYPE (guys), now pass your existing hangers through the loops, and hook them over the waistband of your apron. Attach the sporran. Walk around for a while and see what the effect is. Granted, your design distributes the weight over the distance between the hangers, but you will be able to see what happens when you apply downward force to the front of the kilt.

Regards,
Rex.

[ForresterModern]

Jeff - before you commission beltless sporran hangers, have you tried to see what the effect of hanging a fully loaded sporran on your kilt would be? I'm thinking that a heavy belt distributes the weight around your hips more evenly, whereas hanging one off the apron would cause the apron to sag.

You could simulate your design by taking some stiff wire, say one of those flimsy shirt hangers you get from the dry cleaners, cut a length of it enough to fashion a hook by making a loop, flatten it, then fold the ends together to form parallel U's. Be careful to tape off the sharp ends together and mind any barbs you may find.

Keeping in mind that this is ONLY AN EXPERIMENTAL PROTOTYPE (guys), now pass your existing hangers through the loops, and hook them over the waistband of your apron. Attach the sporran. Walk around for a while and see what the effect is. Granted, your design distributes the weight over the distance between the hangers, but you will be able to see what happens when you apply downward force to the front of the kilt.

Regards,
Rex.

Thanks Rex for the idea. I actually quite often (usually in dress situations) wear a kilt with braces to help hold up the whole kilt, so the weight of the sporran on the apron would be born by the braces fairly well. I have even considered some variety of chain or strap that could go around my braces to hold up the sporran, or even attaching buttons for the braces then designing some strap/chain to attach to the button to do the same job.

I came up with the money clip idea on a fluke when I was at a games and took my money clip out of my sporran, then the money out of the clip to pay for something. With too many things in my hands I without thinking clipped my money clip to the apron momentarily to keep from losing it and, voila', an idea arose.

I think the money clip idea, or possibly the braces hanger idea would work for those of us with the girth to not be able to use a sporran chain. They would only be used for formal events and other situations where a waistcoat was being worn, in which the wearing of braces of some sort to hold up the kilt would not be an issue at they would be hidden. The real issue is how to hold up the sporran in those situations without that dreaded bunching of the apron.

jeff :ootd:

[WeaselMender]

Once again some is making me think............Stop it my head heats up and the fleas flee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weasel :ootd:

[kiltedsawyer]

Jeff, my first thought as I was reading your original post was to find a way to suspend the sporran from braces. This seems like it would transfer the weight of the sporran to your shoulders vs the kilt and would provide a very elegant solution. You might try attaching a D-ring to your braces,( these could be sewn in very easily,) just above where they connect to your kilt and then use snap hooks on the ends of a mini- strap if you will, thus going from D-ring to sporran to D-ring. Your waistcoat would conceal the D-rings and snap hooks. Good Luck,
David

[ForresterModern]

Jeff, my first thought as I was reading your original post was to find a way to suspend the sporran from braces. This seems like it would transfer the weight of the sporran to your shoulders vs the kilt and would provide a very elegant solution. You might try attaching a D-ring to your braces,( these could be sewn in very easily,) just above where they connect to your kilt and then use snap hooks on the ends of a mini- strap if you will, thus going from D-ring to sporran to D-ring. Your waistcoat would conceal the D-rings and snap hooks. Good Luck,
David

Thanks David. That was one of my original conceptual ideas and should probably work okay as the braces and their attachment points are generally covered either by a jacket or by a waistcoat and jacket.

I did a bit of searching on the internet yesterday at work (very slow day) and found a couple interesting money clips with holes already in them at their edge which would probably work for attaching the hanger chains. Ordered a few and will put my idea into action with some mock-ups when they arrive in the next week or two. Will also try out the other ideas you and Rex have brought up.

Thanks again.

j :ootd: