Complete the outfit

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Friday--
For day wear/non-formal evening wear:

(1) The Kilt.
(2) White shirt, long or short sleeve depending on the weather.
(3) Solid colour knit or wool necktie.
(4) Hose, 2 pair, one lovet, one dark.
(5) Garters with flashes, one pair.
(6) Shoes, one pair conservative black oxfords with or without wing tips.
(7) Sporran, leather, black or brown.
(8) Jacket-- (see notes below)

NOTES:
(1) Kilt: sounds like you've got this sorted.
(2) White Shirt: White shirts dress down better than coloured shirts dress up, and you don't have to worry about matching colours etc.
COST: available from $10 and up.
(3) Knit/wool ties are a bit more "traditional" looking than patterns and shiny silks.
COST: from $2.00 and up.
(4) Hose: You will need two pair because after all day at the games you will want fresh hose if you are going out. Stick with one of the classic "lovets", or fawn (a sort of mid-tan), or navy/bottle green. Wear the dark ones to dinner, etc.
COST: from $25-$50 per pair.
(5) Garters: make your own or buy a pair. Solid colours are best and red goes with everything except red hose.
COST: $5.00-10.00
(6) Shoes: You may already have a pair of black lace up dress shoes-- if so, wear them. But if you don't, look for inexpensive wingtips at discount shoe outlets.
COST: $25.00 and up.
(7) Sporran: Black or brown leather, the plainer the better.
COST: $10.00 and up on eBay.
(8) Jacket: There is nothing inherently wrong with wearing a regular length jacket with the kilt, although it does look "odd" to some people. The least expensive option is to cut down a jacket you already own. If you do it yourself the cost is zero. If you take it to your local alteration shop you are looking at something in the region of $25.00 for the conversion. If you opt to purchase a jacket, stick with a darker tweed, and expect to pay something around $150.00 tops for a lighter weight jacket suitable for year round wear in North America.
COST: zero to $150.00

TOTAL COST: $150.00/$300.00

You can go way over this budget, but if you shop around (eBay is great) you should be able to put your entire outfit together for about $150.00, plus the cost of the kilt jacket (another $150.00) if you can't go the DIY route.

[Panache]

Friday,

It strikes me that if one is starting from absolute scratch then perhaps a Kilt Package might be your best bet

Here are a couple of examples

Here is one from Scotweb:

http://www.scotweb.co.uk/package_bui...d_crail_outfit

Here is one from USA Kilts

http://www.usakilts.com/store/premiumkilt1_packpage.php

Now hear me out. Here is my reasoning.

Your goal is to have a nice outfit.

You have absolutely nothing.

Assuming you have no problems paying your monthly bills I would be tempted to save for about half a year.

Then I would use a credit card with a really good rate for the first balance to purchase the the package (in addition at this time I would also purchase a brown leather day sporran)

Then I would take that card and lock it up (or cut it into little pieces) so you never use it again.

Because you have a great rate on the credit card (and already have saved up half of the price for the package) you get everything you need, and are in a sense paying for your outfit in installments.


The last bit of kit you would need would be a plain brown leather belt, a black leather sporran strap, and a brown leather sporran strap.

You could just buy these as well from the same company at the same time but these are actually pretty easy (and fun) DIY projects.

Just an idea

Cheers

Jamie

What I am trying to do is put together an initial traditional outfit, as the years go by I would want to increase the quality/price of the items I have.

So far

Kilt $590
Hose 50
sporran 200
Tweed Jacket 450
Vest 175

So far my budget for an initial outfit, based on what has been said is that I will have to save over $1,000 before I can take my wife to dinner. Each of these items are reasonably priced, but, it is going to take over a year for me to save up enough and then I could only afford McDonalds for dinner.

[Highland Logan]

I like the suggestions by MoR, but I think you may be off the mark a bit Jamie. Friday has already said that $1000 is off the mark, and most packages start around there. Second is the fact that most do not let you chose your tartan, and if there is choice it is limited. And third, and no less importaint... people have budgets because they wish to avoid credit, and sence this seems to have been some of the root cause of where the world now finds itself, I encourge all to stay within their means in these troubling times. Dressing up or down a kilt can be done, and on a budget without credit and without breaking the bank. You for example have shown us a large selection of DYI jacket conversions. And the other great thing about avoiding these packages.... one does not look like a cookie cutter version from a cataloge.

Frank

[Scotus]

I agree with MacMillan of Rathdown and Highland Logan. I think Jamie is aiming at too high of an expense. When it comes to the kilt, save your money and buy a good one. When it comes to the accessories, however, it seems that the traditionalists (myself included) are saying, "Here's where you need to stay in budget." Please, don't buy a $200. to $400. sporran right off the bat, unless you can afford it. You can get the proper kilt accessories, good quality, at cheaper prices (not so the kilt). MoR's suggestions are excellent.

[Panache]

I agree with MacMillan of Rathdown and Highland Logan. I think Jamie is aiming at too high of an expense. When it comes to the kilt, save your money and buy a good one. When it comes to the accessories, however, it seems that the traditionalists (myself included) are saying, "Here's where you need to stay in budget." Please, don't buy a $200. to $400. sporran right off the bat, unless you can afford it. You can get the proper kilt accessories, good quality, at cheaper prices (not so the kilt). MoR's suggestions are excellent.

Scotus,

I was trying to steer toward high quality sporrans made a reputable company or hand made by a craftsman.

You know what a traditionalist I am at heart.

Now if we are allowed to bring in more affordable options then it is quite easy to get a a pair of sporrans, one for day wear and one for evening wear for under $120.

There is no alternative to decent kilt hose but the wool / acrylic blends by Gaelic Themes are quite fine for about $25 a pop.

Jackets, belts, sporran belts, flashes, and even sgian dubh options are all relatively simple for the DIYer or bargain hunter (preferably both) and can be had at substantial savings over custom made.

He does have the right idea in purchasing a quality bespoke kilt. This is the foundation of the outfit. An ill-fitting / looking kilt is not going to look smart no matter what accessories are paired with it.

Cheers

Jamie

[Bugbear]

Got to say, like everyone else, get hose and a daywear sporran. I have the Lewis hose from the STM; you can't go wrong with those.

* and I'll add that, if you are able, the DIY angle can do wonders for a budget. Keep in mind you are paying yourself for the labor, and calling it even in that case. *

[Highland Logan]

Scotus,

I was trying to steer toward high quality sporrans made a reputable company or hand made by a craftsman.

You know what a traditionalist I am at heart.

Now if we are allowed to bring in more affordable options then it is quite easy to get a a pair of sporrans, one for day wear and one for evening wear for under $120.

I think you may have missed Scotus' point and perhaps even Fridays.. the person who started this post. He wanted a way to build a kit outfit on a budget, with his first goal to take his wife out to dinner, and at the same time to be ready to wear his kilt ASAP. Your post regarding the cost of a full-mask, or evening sporran is what Scotus was talking about. True a full-mask well take you from pub to ball room, but for someone on a budget... no. A nice fur and silver (white metal) evening sporran.. also a good thing to get... but no, not on a budget when you want to get use of you kilt during the day and not needed if you plan not to attend any formal events. For between $45-70, one should be able to get a good quanty leather sporran for day/casual wear from the likes of L&M Highlander.. one of the best when it comes to quailty.

Frank

[Panache]

I think you may have missed Scotus' point and perhaps even Fridays.. the person who started this post. He wanted a way to build a kit outfit on a budget, with his first goal to take his wife out to dinner, and at the same time to be ready to wear his kilt ASAP. Your post regarding the cost of a full-mask, or evening sporran is what Scotus was talking about. True a full-mask well take you from pub to ball room, but for someone on a budget... no. A nice fur and silver (white metal) evening sporran.. also a good thing to get... but no, not on a budget when you want to get use of you kilt during the day and not needed if you plan not to attend any formal events. For between $45-70, one should be able to get a good quanty leather sporran for day/casual wear from the likes of L&M Highlander.. one of the best when it comes to quailty.

Frank

Frank,

I think what I am getting hung up on here is that when I think about taking my wife out to dinner I am automatically thinking that I will be wearing black accessories. This runs with my thoughts that day wear "leathers" should generally be brown. Hence I was looking for either two sporrans or one that would work with both situations.

As I am not really that experienced with E-Bay I was also thinking only of new items. A quality used, but well cared for, sporran is of course an excellent suggestion.

Cheers

Jamie

[DWFII]

Look for a nice used Harris tweed sports coat that you can convert to a kilt jacket. You don't even need to do all the piped gauntlets, epaulettes, or even silver/pewter buttons. In a nice neutral colour such as some of the rich browns or even a charcoal, you'd have the makings of a nice dinner ensemble. Wear black or brown leather accessories and any black or brown (hopefully matching your sporran and belt) dress shoes will work fine.

I'm converting a green-grey Harris tweed jacket and I'm in way over my head, but as long as I don't get too fancy I can pretty much see what needs to be done.

For what? $15.00? you can end up with something that would probably cost at least ten times that much and is very very credible.

BTW, don't dismiss doing some of this yourself---making a belt is dead easy. I got a 2-1/2" brass buckle from Ocannee (sp?) for $15.00 and the belt blank itself for a little more. I made myself a brown one and a black one. The black one was the hardest as it has a big semi-dressy pewter buckle and I had to do some figuring and wire bending to make it work. But the over all cost was still below $75.00 (with the buckle costing two-thirds of that.)

I also made both of my sporrans...The brown one right from the pages of Thompson's book and the goat hair dress sporran from my own imagination.

And if you look at some of the vintage photos, you can see a whole range of options throughout time. That gives you options--for example, a good many people would shudder to add a non-matching waistcoat to a kilt jacket but it was done all the time in times past. There's actually a whole lot of flexibility that comes with honouring Traditional conventions.

[Panache]

Look for a nice used Harris tweed sports coat that you can convert to a kilt jacket. You don't even need to do all the piped gauntlets, epaulettes, or even silver/pewter buttons.

I would add that beyond adding extra expense and effort, the silver/fancy buttons don't look as good with a tweed jacket as simple ones.

Cheers

Jamie