A gent's highland wedding outfit

[Jock Scot]

My suggestion was that if the bride makes so much effort ... then the groom should also . Not to change his tartan but to compliment hose and flashes with his kilt and to make his appearance one of co-ordination and not a dogs dinner.
It is called style!

It is all to to with reality. No way, ever, will a Highlander wear anyone Else's tartan when he has his own. Are you suggesting, for example, that the groom is to wear white hose to match the bride's outfit? Sorry, but it just does not happen up here with the local Highlanders, incomers maybe. I suspect the hire companies are, yet again, leading their customers astray with their erroneous advice. For the the locals the bride and her entourage do one thing, the groom stands fast with his attire and does his own thing and amazingly(to some), with tremendous style!

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Jock,

I didn't read where he was suggesting the groom wear a different tartan, but that he should take a bit of extra care on such a special occasion to match his hose, flashes, etc., with the colors of his tartan.

You've advised often in the forum that people generally spend too much time worrying about "matching" and that the kilt-wearing Highland Scot does not concern himself with making sure everything coordinates. I completely understand this.

However, I've also noticed something in my years advising people on how to wear the kilt, and observing kilt wearers on both sides of the pond. Scots (in general) seem to have a better "eye" for mixing colors and patterns, perhaps without even giving it concious thought. For Americans (again, speaking generally) it doesn't seem to come as easy.

I've frequently given the same advice as you about not worrying if everything "matches" only to see the person I was advising turn up looking like a complete mess! I end up shaking my head, thinking to myself that my words were not meant as an excuse to throw on just anything, willy-nilly.

In many ways it is "safer" to advise someone to tone their hose and flases (for example) to the colors in their kilt. I generally suggest that if they wear hose and flashes in colors selected from their tartan, just about any combination will work. Then I suggest they not be afraid to branch out to other colors, and to think about what colors might compliment the tones of the tartan.

I also find myself frequently advising people that the color of hose, jacket, etc., does not have to exactly match a color in the kilt, but rather should just tone well with the tartan, and often a non-matching color does that best.

I find that a lot of native Scots who grew up wearing the kilt seem to have developed a natural eye for this, to where they don't even have to think about it. We in the diaspora, I am afraid, have to put forth a bit more effort to achieve the same style -- but over time it will hopefully become just as natural. :-)

[Jock Scot]

Matt, I really do think you have a point there. You are probably quite correct to say that we highlanders pick colours that "work" naturally, well, at least they don't clash!Honestly, I cannot ever recall having a conversation with any one about this phenomenon of matching colours, until I got to this website.

[creagdhubh]

It is all to to with reality. No way, ever, will a Highlander wear anyone Else's tartan when he has his own. Are you suggesting, for example, that the groom is to wear white hose to match the bride's outfit? Sorry, but it just does not happen up here with the local Highlanders, incomers maybe. I suspect the hire companies are, yet again, leading their customers astray with their erroneous advice. For the the locals the bride and her entourage do one thing, the groom stands fast with his attire and does his own thing and amazingly(to some), with tremendous style!

Hear hear!

[Bugbear]

Ya, what Matt Newsome said. Two articals of clothing "going" together, as opposed to "matching."

[KenB]

Many thanks to all for their views and advise. I struggled for a while with the challenge of this dilemma before I discovered X Marks the Scot. I'm much more informed since being in here. My only guide (it seems to be updated now) was http://www.blacktieguide.com/Supplemental/Scottish.htm.

[MacRobert's Reply]

Many thanks for your helpful contributions. I have only just logged on following my attendance at the revels of a 25th wedding anniversary.

Thanks to Jock I have yet another example of two nations separated by a common language. I hope the text on shirts below will work on both sides of the pond. The Jock, Schiehallion and Mat Newsome debate has resulted in what I think is a helpful middle way. I trust my revised text reflects this. Like Mat, I too have seen a few truly horrible colour combinations (and most of them in Scotland's central belt!). I guess this is, at least in part, about colour sense, and applies whatever clothing is worn. I think I only use the 'm' word once.

Do people marry during the evening in the US and Canada? I rather thought they did in the US. Someone please enlighten me. Thanks for the reminder of the English position Pleater. I have conducted weddings in England but that was some years ago. In Scotland we licence the celebrants rather than buildings. This gives more flexibility on both timing and location.

I have expanded the bit on plaids Scotsman and thanks Ken B for the reference.

So will this pass muster?

A gent's highland wedding outfit consists of the following -

For a day-time wedding: kilt (usually made from eight yards of tartan wool) with kilt pin, tweed Argyll (or similar Crail or Braemar) jacket with antler buttons and matching five-button waistcoat or kilt belt in brown or black leather (but don’t wear a belt with a waistcoat), brown or black leather sporran and brogues, kilt hose and garter flashes to complement (or at least not clash with) the colours in the kilt and jacket (avoid hire-shop white hose unless you are a piper!), turn-down collar shirt (usually white) and tie (usually silver).

For a day-time wedding with a more formal look (where Anglo-Saxons would wear morning dress): kilt with kilt pin, black Argyll jacket with silver buttons and matching five-button waistcoat or black leather kilt belt with silver buckle plate (but, again, don’t wear a belt and a waistcoat together), black brogues, sporran with fur front or silver cantle, kilt hose and garter flashes to compliment (or at least not clash with) the colours in the kilt or jacket (again, avoid hire-shop white hose) white wing-collar or turn-down collar formal shirt and tie or cravat (usually silver or cream).

For a late afternoon wedding or when the celebrations will go on into the evening (where Anglo-Saxons would wear a dinner suite or tuxedo): kilt with kilt pin, Prince Charlie jacket (usually black) with silver buttons and three button waistcoat to match the jacket or the tartan of the kilt (or one of the highland doublets such as the Regulation, Kenmore, Sheriffmuir or Montrose – the last three generally worn with a lace jabot or highland cravat), full dress sporran with fur front and silver cantle, kilt hose and garter flashes to compliment the colours in the kilt and jacket, or tartan or diced hose that match the kilt, black brogues or buckle brogues, white wing-collar or turn-down collar evening shirt (tuxedo shirt) and black bow tie.

Although rarely worn in Scotland any more, formal evening dress could include a plaid (fly plaid or belted half-plaid), which passes under the epaulette on the left shoulder and is secured to the jacket or doublet by a large plaid brooch. Dirks are rarely worn and are inappropriate for a church wedding (where weapons should not be carried). However, a sgian dubh (or a safety one without a blade) is often worn in the top of the hose (more a utility knife than a real weapon but make sure it is legal in the country or state where you will be married!). A couple of things to avoid are kilts that are too low and hose that are too high. If they meet, you’ve got it wrong! The top of the kilt should be at or slightly above your belly button and the bottom at or slightly above the middle of your knees. Hose should be a couple of inches below where your knee bends. Apart from laws about carrying of knives, there are no rules about Scottish highland dress but there are important traditions and conventions. These should not dictate what you wear or prevent you from being creative and a wee bit different but knowing the form should help you look your best on your wedding day.

[Jock Scot]

Reply coming after I have had some shuteye. I may not have read things properly, I will check in the morning, but I have reservations with paragraph two and three on the "advice" section.

[Jock Scot]

Well yes, I am still unhappy with the draft advice in paragraphs two and three. One of the problems is that there are subtle differences in world dress terminology and I am not sure that is being made clear.Take your last sentence of paragraph two, you are suggesting a "formal" shirt with the argyll. To my British mind you would NEVER wear a formal white shirt with an argyll during the day. To us Brits a white shirt is a white shirt, is a white shirt,is a white shirt, a "formal" white shirt is worn with evening dress. I am reliably informed that a "dress" shirt in the USA is regarded as, what us Brits would call a business or just a white shirt. I am not happy with winged collars and cravats for DAYWEAR with an argyll either. "Silver" ties are not usually worn with the kilt to weddings either in Scotland.Remember, on the whole, what the guest wears to the service will see him through the festivities for however long they take. Those that arrive later on for the "bash" in the evening may well be dressed in evening attire if appropriate.

Paragraph three, in UK terms, is so wrong. The rest of the world I cannot comment on too reliably, but I have been to weddings in Germany,France and Australia and they did not appear to differ from UK weddings by much.I have been to weddings in the UK dressed in a suit, morning dress, uniform, kilt, shirt sleeves, NEVER, I repeat, NEVER have I been to a wedding service where anyone has been dressed in a dinner suit(tux). So I take great exception to advice that encourages people to wear a PC and black bow tie to a wedding service! That is hire company misinformation that sadly has crept in over the last few years and is quite wrong. I fear that wrong will not be corrected, but I see no reason to encourage people by agreeing with it! Again you need to differentiate the some times major differences between wedding guests that have attended the service and then moved on through the occasion during the night, where wearing appropriate day wear is acceptable, and those turning up later where perhaps evening attire could well be appropriate, although kilt/jeans, open necked shirt, seems the norm these days.

However, I am reliably informed that in the USA(other countries too?)evening weddings do take place as a matter of course, so you will have to adjust your terminology for their needs. What we are talking about is SCOTTISH ATTIRE not American, Polish, French, Zambian, Canadian or whatever, I do not see, other than weather constraints, that any adjustment to Scottish Highland attire should be made at all.

[Brian K]

Jock,

You are, indeed, correct in your description of U.S. shirt "hierarchy." It seems to go sport shirt, dress shirt and formal/tuxedo shirt. The stiff-front white pique shirt with detachable collar you'd wear with white tie and tails being an entirely different animal altogether.

Another U.S. anomaly in wedding wear is that even in a morning wedding most wedding parties who bother with their dress will wear a tuxedo/dinner suit. Most Americans, I would hazard a guess, have never even seen a cutaway or frock coat let alone know what morning wear is. Those that have seen/heard of them have probably done so on TV or in the movies.

I really would love to see my compatriots do better with formal wear, or at least have a little knowledge of it and how to negotiate its pitfalls. I can only afford one suit, but it is black so I can at least mingle a bit easier with those in formal wear a bit easier than some who choose another color might. I have to admit, though, that the only time I am with men in tuxedos is in a Lodge meeting and in those Lodges where the custom is observed only the officers wear tuxedos anyway.

Regards,

Brian