Another Christmas party thread ..

[Canadian_Kilt]

Ok so, now having received my first kilt, and having my christmas party tommorrow night, I figure that's as good a time as any.

However .. being that I'm new at this .. I don't have all the attire. Now I'm going to my local scottish shop tommorrow for a belt and kilt pin, and MAYBE a sporran. I do not have a jacket, and I do not have black shoes .. those are my 2 big problems.

The jacket, there is nothing I can do about. I can't afford to buy one right now, and renting one for the night is just not worth it. If I can't find a sporran I like, I am ok with renting a dress sporran and brouges, because those are cheap.

The only remote option I have for the top would be a dark navy blue sweater .. which actually might go ok with the kilt.

So it'll be my SWK Black Watch, hose, flashes, rented brouges or purchased black shoes, white shirt and tie, belt and either hired or purchased dress sporran.. and, if I think it looks alright, a navy sweater. Is that enough without a jacket?

[Rex_Tremende]

I think your ensemble sounds nice for a Christmas party. The navy sweater will probably go with the Black Watch kilt.

My only advice would be for you BUY a good pair of black shoes. No man's wardrobe is complete without a pair. Since you are going for the casual look with the sweater, save the brogues for when you hire the Prince Charlie.

My 2¢,
Rex.

[mkmound]

Sounds good to me also. If your party is dressy, you can always wear a shirt and tie under the sweater.

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

Sounds like a nice ensmble, and the navy sweater will look good with a BW kilt. A tie will look nice if you have sweater with a v-neck or some kind of lower necked sweater, but I don't think it would work for a sweater with a regular neckline. It would cover up the tie. A nice (white) dress shirt would still look nice, the collar would add some formailty.

[Bob C.]

You can buy a pair of black wingtips at Payless Shoes for $35.

[Raphael]

If I were you, I would skip the belt and go for a sporran and a pair of black shoes.

[Tattoo Bradley]

If I were you, I would skip the belt and go for a sporran and a pair of black shoes.

Yep, I agree... especially if you go with the sweater.

[PiobBear]

If I were you, I would skip the belt and go for a sporran and a pair of black shoes.

Yep, I agree... especially if you go with the sweater.

I'd skip the kilt pin, too, and get a pair of black wingtips; like Rex said, you need a pair of (multipurpose) dress shoes anyway.

[slohairt]

Dia Dhuit,

I agree. Skip the belt and buy a black daywear sporran and black wingtip shoes. The sweater will cover up the belt and the shoes can be used for other outfits as well. I think W**l-Mart has cheap wing-tips and you might check the thrift shops, too. They are very common shoes and will look great after being shined. If strapped for cash, I'd even skip the kilt pin temporarily and buy a plain safety-pin style one for about a $1.

[Canadian_Kilt]

The cheap black shoes are a good idea .. I hadn't thought of that.

I don't mind spending the money on a full on dress sporran. I need to buy one for my wedding anyways, and this is a good opportunity to use it. It might be a bit much for the rest of the outfit, but that's fine - most people wont know the difference, and I can't afford to buy a semi-dress now and a dress one later, even though the semi-dress would get a lot more use.

Kilt Pin I was just going to pick up something simple and cheap, so that's not a huge factor. If I can't find anything it's easy enough to go without. I need a belt anyways so I'm ok buying that, but I'm not going whole hog on it. Something decent, but basic.

So I put all this on - the sweater is actually black, not blue - and it looks really good. The sweater is a mild v-neck, but enough to look funny without a tie, so I threw on a black, grey and navy blue tie, which I think went well. Keep in mind that I'm color blind .. but these are colors I'm good with.

Once I get it all tommorrow I'll give it another go. I figure I could go with the sweater tucked in with a belt, or untucked without. I'm kind of partial to the belt .. partially because of the look, but also because this kilt doesn't fit as snugly as I'd like .. and I wouldn't mind having it for .. safety reasons ..

I wish I could post pics to help me decide but my camera is out of town .. with my wife .. so I'm really on my own here.

So my shopping list tommorrow is cheap black dress shoes, belt, dress sporran and possibly a kilt pin. Good thing my better half is out of town .. ;)