Christmas Party attire help?

[efer]

I like your outfit. But I may be bias because I love to wear vests.

Have fun and don't forget to post pics

[freddie]

The outfit looks O.K. to me. I've got the same problem next week as it's my firm's Xmas party. I hadn't been for a year or two and last year they held it at a fairly expensive country restaurant so I went in full formal evening gear, Prince Charlie, silver sporran etc. I was horrified when I got there as all the other men were wearing open knecked shirts or T shirts and jeans ! I've never seen such a scruffy looking bunch in all my life, but these days it seems to be 'the norm'. The women on the other hand all looked great in their party frocks, but this 'down dressing' fad among men is really bad news. This year they've chosen a town centre 'nightspot', and judging by the photos of the place it's jeans and T shirts at the ready again, but as I'm determined to wear my kilt HOW do I wear it ? Guess I'll opt for my semi dress look, black Argyle jacket with a leather/fur sporran, but even then I'll be over dressed. Oh well, what the heck, the girls will love it - and that's all that matters I suppose.

[Tattoo Bradley]

The outfit looks O.K. to me. I've got the same problem next week as it's my firm's Xmas party. I hadn't been for a year or two and last year they held it at a fairly expensive country restaurant so I went in full formal evening gear, Prince Charlie, silver sporran etc. I was horrified when I got there as all the other men were wearing open knecked shirts or T shirts and jeans ! I've never seen such a scruffy looking bunch in all my life, but these days it seems to be 'the norm'. The women on the other hand all looked great in their party frocks, but this 'down dressing' fad among men is really bad news. This year they've chosen a town centre 'nightspot', and judging by the photos of the place it's jeans and T shirts at the ready again, but as I'm determined to wear my kilt HOW do I wear it ? Guess I'll opt for my semi dress look, black Argyle jacket with a leather/fur sporran, but even then I'll be over dressed. Oh well, what the heck, the girls will love it - and that's all that matters I suppose.

In this case I would simply go "daywear." Nothing wrong with that, and you'll still be the best dressed fella there. My company Chirstmas party is usually pretty ranged from everything from tshirt and jeans to zoot suits! (two guys showed up in two different purple zoot suits last year. :rolleyes: ) Then of course this year there will be me in the kilt. I'm basically going for a "sharp daywear" look. Lovat-grey tweed argyle, white shirt/black windsor, grey kilt hose, Henderson (ancient) wool kilt, and black leathers (plain three tassel sporran.)

[KiltedKnight]

You are correct about trousers however incorrect about the cuff. Wearing the sleeve too long gives it the look of an overcoat and in truth the fancier the jacket the shorter the sleeve will be because you are more likely to want to show some shirt cuff. It is true that jacket sleeves tend to be worn longer these days than in the past but this is due mostly to people buying off the rack rather than having suits made. A longer sleeve allows more people to fit one size of jacket. It is assumed that the buyer will then have the garment altered. The truth is that only a few have the sleeves altered, those who need the sleeves shortend a lot and a few who want the sleeve to fit properly and can afford the alterations.

If you go to a tailor most will shorten a jacket sleeve where the wrist and hand meet. It should be even with the cuff of a shirt or so that there is just the hint of the shirt below the jacket sleeve. If you tell the tailor you wear double cuffs they will shorten it a further 1/4 to 1/2 inch, ain fact in order to show off the cufflinks.

One problem though occurs if you have jacket sleeves altered for double cuffs; the jacket's sleeves are then definitely too short to be worn without a proper fitting long sleeve short. A polo shirt under a blazer shortened for double cuffs looks rather silly.

By the way, if memory serves me, Army regulations call for the length of the sleeve to be 1 inch below the wrist bone. Which puts it not quite half-way between the wrist bone and the 1st joint of the thumb.

I wanted to wait until I had a chance to seek the council of years before I answered this and so I called my old friend this morning who was also my commanding officer for a few years while in the service who is retired in Kitzingen, Germany and just celebrated his 80th birthday and although Herr Brown the tailor has gone to that great tailor shop in the sky my C.O. also used his services and also had his uniforms cut and tailored to the same specs that I described in my last post. His view of the question that arguing over the cut of a suit sleeve made as much sense as arguing over the hemline of women's skirts from one continent to another, they never have the same length at the same time anyway and as for the ARs, who ever paid that much attention to them? The ARs called for 18" pant legs on our fatigues but we generally had them tapered to 17" or so, nobody ever went to the trouble of measuring them to compare with ARs.

Chris.

[Kilted_John]

The outfit looks O.K. to me. I've got the same problem next week as it's my firm's Xmas party. I hadn't been for a year or two and last year they held it at a fairly expensive country restaurant so I went in full formal evening gear, Prince Charlie, silver sporran etc. I was horrified when I got there as all the other men were wearing open knecked shirts or T shirts and jeans ! I've never seen such a scruffy looking bunch in all my life, but these days it seems to be 'the norm'. The women on the other hand all looked great in their party frocks, but this 'down dressing' fad among men is really bad news. This year they've chosen a town centre 'nightspot', and judging by the photos of the place it's jeans and T shirts at the ready again, but as I'm determined to wear my kilt HOW do I wear it ? Guess I'll opt for my semi dress look, black Argyle jacket with a leather/fur sporran, but even then I'll be over dressed. Oh well, what the heck, the girls will love it - and that's all that matters I suppose.

Could always do a fleece sweatshirt, kilt, daywear sporran/belt, dark colored kilt hose, flashes, and either casual shoes, or a pair of hiking boots. With the boots, if it's cold out, keep the hose up and use the flashes, but if it's going to be somewhat mild, roll the hose down and go w/o flashes. That way, you can show your coworkers the proper way to dress casually.

-J

[GMan]

How was the party Colin? Did you get tons of comments?

[Pour1Malt]

guid luek...

I suggest a tie that is a bit brichter an matches the kilt...

need a bit o colour near yur face

[Chef]

I wanted to wait until I had a chance to seek the council of years before I answered this and so I called my old friend this morning who was also my commanding officer for a few years while in the service who is retired in Kitzingen, Germany and just celebrated his 80th birthday and although Herr Brown the tailor has gone to that great tailor shop in the sky my C.O. also used his services and also had his uniforms cut and tailored to the same specs that I described in my last post. His view of the question that arguing over the cut of a suit sleeve made as much sense as arguing over the hemline of women's skirts from one continent to another, they never have the same length at the same time anyway and as for the ARs, who ever paid that much attention to them? The ARs called for 18" pant legs on our fatigues but we generally had them tapered to 17" or so, nobody ever went to the trouble of measuring them to compare with ARs.

Chris.

Honestly, I am not interested in hijacking this thread to discuss sleeve lengths so this will be my last comment. That said, the fact that you and your CO had a tailor make your sleeves to a certain length does not make it correct. I looked up the current regs and they are as I stated. The fact that you were not called on it is fine but not evidence that what you did was correct.

[Colin]

Could always do a fleece sweatshirt, kilt, daywear sporran/belt, dark colored kilt hose, flashes, and either casual shoes, or a pair of hiking boots. With the boots, if it's cold out, keep the hose up and use the flashes, but if it's going to be somewhat mild, roll the hose down and go w/o flashes. That way, you can show your coworkers the proper way to dress casually.

-J

John, if there is any formality to the event, I would caution against any real casual attire. It would look great on a hike or off to the pub, but would be like wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt when everyone else is in suits.

How was the party Colin? Did you get tons of comments?

The party was great. 1600 people and 4 of us in kilts. Two years ago there was only me, so it was nice to see the other 3 guys (all in PCs and traditional kilts) all done up. Tons of positive comments, one or two other guys saying that they had thought of wearing theirs but feared they would be the only one (so?). I was suprised at the level of formality that had changed this year. A typical Vancouver range of suits, tuxedos, and than the odd guy in slacks and a button up shirt. So while I was not as formally dressed as the other three guys (2 Scots and 1 other Canadian-Scot, all three nice guys), I was pretty proud with how the outfit turned out. Mind you, I did feel bad for all the women that had spent all day getting ready for this thing, because no matter how curled their hair was, or how shiny their dress was, or how fresh their manicure was, there was no way they got as much attention as the 4 lads in kilt

Here's a weird angle photo of what I wore. I was not quite finished getting ready, but my daughter wanted a picture with her daddy before she left for a sleep over. I was a bit more polished the rest of the evening. I'll try and pick up a brighter tie that blends with the kilt for next time (how about an ancient green colour wool one?)

[cavscout]

The outfit looks great Colin. No need to change it except for the fun of it