Tweed epaulettes

[McMurdo]

How important are the horn buttons? My kilt jacket currently has the leather covered buttons found on many tweed sports coats. Is that a major faux pas for THCD?

Either works well, unfortunately these days the imitation kind are all too common. My oldest vintage kilt jacket has leather buttons. I also opted for leather buttons on my bespoke tartan jacket and waistcoat. If you can get real horn buttons then by all means do it, however they are harder and harder to find and the imitation kind are so prevalent that nobody will think twice if that is what you have.

[Nathan]

Like some of the others, I have many jackets with various embellishments and they all look good. I'd recommend the following:
Flat epaulette – This is a tad easier to make but remember not to cut corners. If you're doing it, you have to actually open the shoulder to fasten it or it will look a mess.

If you're going to go with a braid, don't use para cord. You cut six equal sized strips of tweed, sew them together along the long edge and then turn them inside out. This is where your tube of tweed comes from. Braid three for one side and three for the other. Sew your braids together along the short edge. You still have to open the shoulder to fasten them correctly.
You’re asking people to tell you which looks better and they are not giving you a straight answer because they all look good. It’s really about which style suits your personal taste.
In terms of cuff, the Braemar cuff might be a little less intimidating than the Argyll, but the Argyll is the preferred option among a majority of highlanders. Given the fact that you have trousers to work from, you have more than enough fabric to make an Argyll cuff. I think there’s a thread on here that explains how to do it. It’s really just a matter of extending the sleeve, rolling it back and tacking it down. The buttons are decorative and need not be functional. The ridges leading up to the buttons are also decorative and are optional.

You will find that your pockets are likely too low. A good trick is to raise your pocket flaps so the bottoms just cover the pocket slits. This height will look more natural to the eye.

Is your jacket the two or three button variety? If it’s a three button, the button stance will look more natural and you can cut off the bottom button hole. You will find that when you attempt a natural curve, you will likely bisect the bottom button hole. This gives you the awkward choice of cutting and closing the button hole or making an unnatural angle to avoid the button hole.
Does your jacket have side vents or a centre vent? Highland jackets almost always have side vents. If yours has a centre vent, just live with it as there is insufficient fabric in your jacket to convert a jacket from centre vents to side vents.
Hope this helps.

[ThistleDown]

How important are the horn buttons? My kilt jacket currently has the leather covered buttons found on many tweed sports coats. Is that a major faux pas for THCD?

Leather-covered buttons: good. Plastic imitation horn buttons: not good. Most off-the-rack kilt jackets today have plastic. Sad, when horn is available.

[Todd Bradshaw]

The imitation staghorn buttons really don't bother me at all. They blend in decently without calling attention to themselves and I'm not fussy enough to worry about the fact that they aren't real horn. What does bother me are the cheap looking versions of the metal buttons. There are some nice metal buttons and some really poorly crafted ones out there.

[Walkman]

Either works well, unfortunately these days the imitation kind are all too common. My oldest vintage kilt jacket has leather buttons. I also opted for leather buttons on my bespoke tartan jacket and waistcoat. If you can get real horn buttons then by all means do it, however they are harder and harder to find and the imitation kind are so prevalent that nobody will think twice if that is what you have.

Looks like the merchant referenced earlier in the thread can't send horn buttons to the US. Kind of strange as I don't believe stag horn falls in the same category as, say, seal skin which is a definite no-no here. I'll just stick with the buttons that are currently on my jacket.

Randy

[ThistleDown]

Apparently the Black Isle company had a few bad experiences with US customs in the past. There is a US company called Benno who make a wide range of bone and horn buttons. Pretty good quality.

[MNlad]

I'll second Benno's Buttons. I've gotten some excellent horn buttons from them. Plastic buttons rarely pull off the deep luster of authentic horn, being either too shiny or flat in color. I'm also a fan of true leather buttons and have a light hopsack jacket I will be converting soon that came with them. There is no way I'll be swapping them for something else.