contemporary dressy/formal

**Brian K** · 19th February 10, 10:55 PM

After OCRichard's latest post (he always uses lovely pictures, btw) I took another look at the Dress Regulations of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and I noticed something interesting.

In the photographs of the dress and mess uniforms it appears that the officers have sleeves much closer in length to that of a civilian suit jacket. The shirt cuffs rarely show, but the jacket sleeves look more contemporary. The sleeves on the jackets of the NCO's are a bit longer and those of the enlisted are nearly ridiculously long. Mess jackets, as previously mentioned by MacMIllan of Rathdowne are generally shorter than those of other uniforms. This seems relevant due to the fact that much of Highland dress, especially the more formal items seem to have evolved from Highland regimentals of the 18th and 19th centuries.

It still would be nice, I feel, if we could view an alternate timeline and see how civilian Highland dress would have developed without the Disarming Act. Perhaps the more modern forms will end up approximating that. That sort of speculation is one of the reasons I have thoroughly enjoyed the back and forth and give and take in this thread.

Regards,

Brian

**OC Richard** · 20th February 10, 06:05 AM

Here's another thing I just found, pictured in McCall's online brochure:

The jacket is quite lovely and would good with quite a few different tartans.
But in my opinion it clashes with this particular tartan.

I saw a very similar kilt jacket at Slanj in Glasgow, Lovat Green tweed having a Burgundy windowpane overcheck. I compared various tartan samples with the jacket and several tartans in the muted range from House of Edgar looked fantastic with it.

**Ancienne Alliance** · 20th February 10, 06:18 AM

Here is my Lovat green Argyll and waistcoat.

Best,

Robert

**Rollo** · 20th February 10, 06:39 AM

Vous êtes vraiment magnifique, mon cher Robert !

**thescot** · 20th February 10, 07:46 AM

I just found this thread since I've been out of town for a bit.

Personally, I do not like the ruche tie at any time for any reason. It is reminiscent of modern attempts to de-dress traditional clothes by wearing them a bit sloppy, like jeans with tails. I just do not personally care for them.

The guy with the girl and both buttons buttoned looks like he needs a larger size. I have a coat like that, but one time the button came off and put out someone's eye.

Overall, like Tobus, the looks are just OK at best. The overly dark tones certainly do comly with modern sensibilities of wearing a dark jacket with a black shirt and dark tie. I have never cared for the look.

Most of the outfits would be fine for pub crawling or attending a wedding with young kids who know nothing about fashion or dress, you know the ones where the men all wear tuxedoes at 10:00 in the AM with lots of color and shiny things showing. But none of them rise to the level of proper evening attire for something more than "office casual." They don't hurt your eyes, they just look more like something a marketer hopes to foist off on the unknowing.

If I have offended, please excuse. Poor fit, trendy stules, and modern chic are just not my thing. I have become pretty crusty after seeing way too many pop stars and starlets wearing foolish things on red carpets.

check out Robert above for a good look.

**Brian K** · 20th February 10, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by OC Richard

Here's another thing I just found, pictured in McCall's online brochure:

The jacket is quite lovely and would good with quite a few different tartans.
But in my opinion it clashes with this particular tartan.

I saw a very similar kilt jacket at Slanj in Glasgow, Lovat Green tweed having a Burgundy windowpane overcheck. I compared various tartan samples with the jacket and several tartans in the muted range from House of Edgar looked fantastic with it.

I don't know, Richard. I went to McCalls and looked at a larger version of this image and I like it. I feel the large over check of the jacket compliments the busy details of the kilt, echoing the larger squares also, and works better than it would without the check. Without the check I think it would be a bit flat and the busyness of the details in the tartan would draw your eyes away from everything else. Of course it could simply be that at 52 yrs old I spend most of my time with teen-aged coworkers and my sense of fashion (style?) has been impaired.

In any event I have designed a lot of tartans (on the Scotweb Tartan Designer) recently and I would be pleased to see one of my designs in such a smart outfit.

As a side note, I noticed that the pictures of kilt outfits at the Mccalls site had the models showing a bit of shirt cuff below the jacket sleeve. I never heard of McCalls before your post so I have no idea of their reputation or their suitability as representatives or arbiters of style.

Regards,

Brian

P.S. - I almost forgot - the ruche tie HAS to go. A nice four in hand would be sufficient. As somebody else mentioned earlier the ruche tie says wedding hire to me. I also have to add that as the tartan appears to be an Anderson in ancient or muted colors it helps me form my opinion. My great grandfather (the finest gentleman I've ever known) was an Anderson so I have had an affinity for that tartan since I first saw it despite the fact that I never saw him kilted. If it was in modern colors the green would be too intense to work with the lovat of the jacket.

**Tobus** · 20th February 10, 08:40 AM

The jacket is quite lovely and would good with quite a few different tartans.
But in my opinion it clashes with this particular tartan.

I agree. The green hue of the jacket doesn't quite compliment the green in the tartan.

But on the other hand, that particular tartan would be very difficult to match anything to.

**Brian K** · 20th February 10, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by Tobus

I agree. The green hue of the jacket doesn't quite compliment the green in the tartan.

But on the other hand, that particular tartan would be very difficult to match anything to.

Maybe it's my monitor but, as I mentioned above, I think they work. If the Anderson was in modern colors I don't think they would.

It also seems that there are those who treat a kilt, regardless of color, the same way some people treat a pair of jeans or a pair of grey flannel trousers - as something you can wear virtually anything with. Is this always wise? Perhaps not, but there are those who do not allow wisdom to stand in their way.

Regards,

Brian

**HarborSpringsPiper** · 20th February 10, 03:20 PM

I'll cast my vote against the "scrunch" tie also. Maybe I'm just out of touch, but I don't see the appeal. "All black" is too Goth for my taste, though I understand it's fashionable.

I wasn't sure at first about the contemporary style jackets, however, I recently acquired a charcoal Wallace jacket/weskit from Nicolson and like it as an evening alternative to my Argyll with shiny buttons. From the recent Burns supper:

I am kind of surprised they are wearing dress sporrans with many of these outfits in the beginning of the thread. I tend to reserve that for formal wear myself as they seem too dressy for most of these combos IMHO.

**JSFMACLJR** · 20th February 10, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by Tobus

original quote: "The jacket is quite lovely and would good with quite a few different tartans.
But in my opinion it clashes with this particular tartan."

I agree. The green hue of the jacket doesn't quite compliment the green in the tartan.

But on the other hand, that particular tartan would be very difficult to match anything to.

Once again the voices from the chorus must be heard: "Don't worry about matching tweed to tartan!!! Highland gentlemen have little interest in such plebian matters."