Rent a Prince Charlie with High Vest

[jsethmccall]

Does anyone know where to rent a prince charlie with the high 5 button vest? I would love to wear this for my wedding.

I'm also looking for a quality kilt maker that has the Maccoll tartan. Thanks

[cavscout]

First Welcome to the neighborhood

Where are you located? We can narrow it down quite a bit if we know that

There are several great kilt makers represented here on the forum

Matt Newsome at the Scottish Tartans Museum in NC

Steve Ashton at Freedom Kilts Victoria Canada

Rocky at USA Kilts PN

and Barbara Tewksbury who is not an advertiser but posts here under th e name BarbT. (in NY I think)

There is Kathy Lare in Arizona or New Mexico who has done some great work for other members here.

[jsethmccall]

I'm located in Texas but I have family in North Carolina. I'm really looking for something similar to the Black Spirit Prestige jacket and vest. I can't seem to find anyone the rents/hires this to the USA. Let me know if ya'll have any leads

[M. A. C. Newsome]

You are not going to be able to find anyone renting a PC jacket with a 5-button vest as the two just don't go together. With the cut of the PC jacket, a 5 button vest really would not look right. You need the low-cut button PC vest that was designed for the jacket.

Why not get a black Argyle with a 5 button vest?

I know there are a couple of places in the US that rent an Argyle cut jacket. The Scottish Tartans Museum only has PCs to rent, but I believe Scotland Yard rents the Argyles. The problem is that I don't think they rent the 5-button Argyle vest. You may have to end up purchasing the vest and renting the jacket.

The problem with that scenario is that you run the risk of the two fabrics not being a match, and you never know how good that might look. On the other hand I bought a 5-button black vest in cotton from a completely different manufacturer and some 6 years after I bought my black wool Argyle jacket -- completely different materials, but the shades of black are spot on and the two look splendid together! So you never know!
Matt

[jsethmccall]

I was looking for a jacket vest combo similar to on this link...

http://www.highlandstore.com/acatalo...ck_Spirit.html

[scoutniagara]

It looks good to me, but I wonder about the belt/buckle with the vest. At those rental prices, you could buy your own in weeks. ;)

[The Wizard of BC]

This style of outfit is very new and as far as I know limited to two or three hire outfits in the UK.

The waistcoat that they appear to use is the 5 button one that would normally go with the Argyle Jacket. Note that in the ad they call their jacket (Bonnie Prince Charlie/Argyle Jacket).

Also note that the silver buttons are square and not the normal diamond shape. So it would appear that at least one company is saving money by making fewer waistcoats and using them for both the PC an Argyle hire trade. Smart.

Here in N. America the PC Jacket is usually reserved for formal wear (think tuxedo). We have not started to use it for casual wear.

Also note that they are not using a regular tie but a Ruche. This is more like the neckcloth of a century ago. Here it is reserved for casual/costume wear or by those attempting to look "Artsy". I'm not saying don't wear it, just be aware of what the perception of N. Americans is.

We here also do not wear the waistbelt and waistplate with a vest. These are very decorative and to us seem gaudy.

I like the look. If done with taste, and carried well, this could be a very nice outfit. Very costume like but some can get away with it.

However, until there begin to be more companies offering the PC Jacket/5 button waistcoat combination so that you can order them made at the same time, from the same bolt of fabric, you are stuck with a very expensive rental and shipping both ways.