Piper's v. drummer's plaid

[HarborSpringsPiper]

I'm not sure the best forum to place this on but am directing this mostly at other GHB pipers on the site, so I think this might fit the bill. If the Mods think otherwise, please move it as you see fit.

I'm putting together a No. 1 type of uniform to have as an option for solo piping gigs. I honestly don't know how often I'll utilize it or if I even would be doing this if my wife hadn't encouraged me to put this together. I have ended up with most of the pieces of gear with either things I already own or picked up at a real bargain rate, so it might not be as crazy of an idea as it sounds, at least from a cost perspective.

I need to pick up a plaid and am fishing for opinions on piper's v. drummer's plaids. I recognize that the piper's plaid would be the most traditional for pipers, however, I've played in bands before where both pipers and drummers wore the drummer's plaid, though we didn't wear feather bonnets. I've never worn a piper's plaid and understand they are cumbersome and generally a pain to deal with. I'm sure it gets down to what I want to do but am curious what other's experiences are and what you would do or recommend.

The one advantage the drummer's plaid would have was it would also be adaptable to wearing with a dress jacket, as we did with two bands I played with, similar but much better than a fly plaid.

As a follow up question, does anybody else offer this option for gigs? I can only think of one time that I showed up at a gig (for fallen LEOs) and got the feeling that they might have been expecting this kind of dress. I almost always talk with folks to get a sense about the affair, level of formality, time of day, etc. to decide what I'll wear and usually discuss what I see as appropriate options with the principals. I'm not sure where I'll wear this type of attire piping but as my wife said "it's impressive". Maybe Dewar's will show up in the neighborhood one of these days looking for a piper for the event? LOL!

[Macman]

My two cents is that if you're going to put together a No. 1 uniform, then do it all the way. Yes, the piper's plaid is a pain to put on, and yes, it's warm (okay, it can be really hot), but it looks just so gosh-darn fabulous! Also, if you wear a drummer's plaid, some people in the know are going to think you cheaped out.

[Kiltedfirepiper]

I second Macman's opinion..
I am in the process of putting together a No.1 dress for my Fire Dept honor guard, and at first they were all about just a button down shirt/tie, and a kilt. till we went to Colorado Springs for the Fallen Firefighter Memorial and got to see first hand how awesome the "whole 9 yards" looks and then told me to find out the costs. I just turned it in last week, and they were surprised at how inexpensive I found everything ($1,600 from head to toe)
I thought they were crazy ....till I found out our honor guard uniforms cost upwards of 2K. now I see why they were happy lol
good luck, and wear it proudly!

[The Barry]

I also agree.. If you are doing No. 1, you have to go all the way. For less formal events, you can dress down, but if you are trying to offer a No. 1 look for your performances, then you should (I think) come through with the full dress, head to toe.

Just my $.02

[HarborSpringsPiper]

They say "three's a charm"! I appreciate your thoughts gents. This was my intitial plan before I started to waffle for various reasons, so I think I'll follow your sage advice!