A gent's highland wedding outfit

[Jack Daw]

Jock, as far as matching goes, I'll heed your words, with the exception of ensuring that my left hose and flash match my right.

[Jock Scot]

Jock, as far as matching goes, I'll heed your words, with the exception of ensuring that my left hose and flash match my right.

OK, okay, OKAY! There is always one! There he will be, larger than life. The comedian! Take THAT man's name, Sar'nt Major!

[thescot]

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

Brian, you and Jock have made some very salient points re terminology and transatlantic stylistic differences.

I constantly bemoan the typical American ignorance regarding appropriate dress. Most US men learned their dress code by renting a tux for their senior prom, and the advice given by some minimum-pay-scale fellow who only wanted to pander to the boy's ignorance--and wallet--produced some alarmingly horrific outfits.

At least my own prom tux was a staid gray, but I did have that ruffled shirt and huge bow tie going on!

I think we should all starta concerted effort to correct some of that by pushing such here and elsewhere.

As to the original advice, I really do like the article as edited by Jock, but I think that in the Highlands, the shoes are always black. That is not clear in MacRoberts's verbage. Since he is in Scotland, he probably understood that to be the case, but US styles almost always dictate matching leather with the belt and shoes. I am gradually overcoming my own 50+ years of indoctrination to get to that point. I am pllnning to wear a brown day sporran soon with BLACK SHOES! Quite a bold step for me.

[thescot]

P.S. I also wanted to add that either the black barathea argyl or the tweed would be appropriate for day weddings depending on the level of dress. And . . .change out the sporann, belt, etc, the black would probably work for evening.

And--I refuse to allow silly women who spend years and furtunes planning a wedding to dictate the men's dress. A wedding is not a stage production, especially in a church.

[Bugbear]

... And--I refuse to allow silly women who spend years and furtunes planning a wedding to dictate the men's dress. A wedding is not a stage production, especially in a church.

Now that I think about it...

[Brian K]

And--I refuse to allow silly women who spend years and furtunes planning a wedding to dictate the men's dress. A wedding is not a stage production, especially in a church.

LOL, Jim - you make me think of when I went to my college roommate's wedding. His bride, whose parent's and step-parents spent waaaay too much money on the extravaganza, went around to all the men in the wedding party and made sure that the points of their wing collar shirts were in front of their bow ties. I tried to tell her that it wasn't done that way and it was wrong on so many levels, but she only said "If they don't do it that way no one will know they're wearing a wing collar!" Oy vey!! (appropriate since David is Jewish and the wedding was in a synagogue.)

We certainly need education on this side of the Pond.

Regards,

Brian

[Schiehallion]

As you can see we are two nations separated by a common language !

[MacRobert's Reply]

Thanks all for helpful and robust criticism.

Steering a middle course between North American and UK English is proving to be a mite complex. Where possible I have tried to eliminate words with culturally-specific meanings and use descriptive terms – especially for shirts! I am loath to have two versions of the text for people on different sides of the pond. The second middle course is between the idealistic and the pragmatic: 'what aught to be' and 'what is'. I am aware from my limited experience in the US (helpfully confirmed by Brian K), tuxedos are regularly worn for weddings. For North American kilt wearers, Jock, it seams reasonable to encourage highland evening dress for weddings that take place in the evening (and by implication discourage PC wearing at inappropriate times). On wing collars and cravats – these are now ubiquitous – even in Scotland. Not my taste in collars even for black tie in the evening but not, in my view, a complete no no. Silver ties are common at well-dressed weddings along the central belt, especially among the wedding party (and, I think, preferable to the matching identikit 'rushes' , many in lurid colours, that have recently appeared in Scotland) but I haven't been to a real highland wedding for some 30 years. However, I have attempted to relegate all this stuff to descriptive text rather than implying it is some kind of recommendation. Dress styles, like all material culture, evolve. History will doubtless consign some of these evolutions (especially the ones we don't like) to oblivion while others (like the fold-down jacket collars that have become lapels) will pass the test of time. On thescot's black or brown brogues for day-wear point, I left it open intentionally as, if memory serves me well, even in the highlands (where I lived for a decade and regularly work) both colours are worn indiscriminately, sometimes m@ching but often not.

Any final suggestions for alternative wording welcome before I send this to the webmaster on Monday.

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 (not tartan and often silver or a solid colour).

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) plain white turn-down collar day-wear shirt and tie (often silver or a solid colour but never tartan). You will also see wing collar shirts and cravats (often silver or cream) worn.

For an evening wedding or wedding reception (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. Following day-time weddings, it is normal for kilted grooms and guests to go on to evening receptions in the day wear or morning dress that they wore for the wedding itself.

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 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]

Well we are getting you there! You have a long way to go though. Why am I being so pedantic? I will tell you why. There are pages and pages, thread after thread, post after post of people, here, trying to prove this that and the other,either because they have missed the trans- Atlantic nuances or, they are copying something that they genuinely believe to be right, but is totally wrong.Sadly, I blame a combination past ignorance from innocent clients of irresponsible kilt hire companies and just plain ignorance from innocent people who were led astray by those that knew no better. That is why the "looking good", "the kilt fits you perfectly" type comments are so destructive when in fact the poor fellow looks like a sack of spuds! Now these good people are trying to do the thing right and if you were to leave any space for a misunderstanding then rest assured a misunderstanding there will be, as sure as night follows day! Spend an hour,a day, a week reading the old threads and you will see my point.

Fudging the issue will only cause more misunderstandings and will solve nothing. One final point and again I could be accused of being pedantic, but we are talking Highland Scots attire here, not central belt interpretations of what the hire companies think should be worn.

[Lyle1]

Do people marry during the evening in the US and Canada? I rather thought they did in the US. Someone please enlighten me.

[/I]

I checked with a friend who is a wedding coordinator (do they have those in Scotland and England?). Weddings in the US are now held more often in the evenings than at any other time of day, and most weddings are formal, at least for the wedding party. The average wedding in the US now costs about $27,000, excluding the honeymoon.