[Nighthawk]

I have been thinking about this more and more. I am attending a Burns Supper here in Denver next weekend. The dress code is semiformal. I am planning on wearing my Albannach tartan kilt from USA Kilts, sage hose with cuffs made to match the kilt, red flashes, white shirt, red tie, and a black sweater vest. Now the sporran question- I know perfectly well that a semidress sporran would be the ideal- but my son threw up on mine, and I haven't gotten around to replacing it. I have three sporrans at present- one white rabbit fur formal sporran, an aHay! custom made daywear sporran, and a Stillwater Kilts Nightstalker sporran. I was planning on wearing the white bunny fur dress sporran, but that is way too formal for the rest of my ensemble and I don't have a PC to wear, and even if I did, that would be overdressed, anyway. So the question is- is the bunny innapropriate, or is the best choice of three bad options? Thanks for the advice in advance. (Oh yeah- and I should point out here that all my bills get paid out of my first of the month pay, and I won't have any spare cash until Friday- the day before the event. So getting a new one is out of the question for another week.)

[Big Mikey]

The NightStalker is out, way too casual. With the darker colours in your outfit, the rabbit may work well. You don't HAVE to p/c it to wear a fur sporran. But this is just one fat old mans opinion.

[bricekolob]

I wonder what your custom day sporran is like... Depending on what that looks look, I might go with it.

[billmcc]

The day sporran would be my choice if it is black.

[McMurdo]

I'd say go for the AHay sporran, if it doesn't look right to you then try out the rabbit fur leave the nightstalker at home.

[ziggy]

I will just say this, I'm glad I am not the only one who stress over which sporran to wear

Personally....you'll always feel better about being over dressed than underdressed, especially if it's already semiformal.

[Nighthawk]

Originally Posted by ziggy

I will just say this, I'm glad I am not the only one who stress over which sporran to wear

Personally....you'll always feel better about being over dressed than underdressed, especially if it's already semiformal.

You make a good point. I wouldn't be having this issue were it not for my son. Darn kids...

[Panache]

Given the three options I would wear the white rabbit fur sporran.

It may not be the perfect choice, but often life is not perfect. With a white dress shirt it should look fine. In the unlikely event anyone hassles you about your sporran you may say you were told that you felt "it had a certain panache" and Jamie said it was OK

Have fun at your Burns Night Supper!

Cheers

Jamie

[thescot]

Since you are wearing a sweater vest instead of going semiformal, I'd opt for the daywear sporran; it's more in keeping with your somewhat casual level of attire, I think. I mean, that's what I'd wear unless it's a jackalope or something.

There's nothing wrong with a daywear sporran at night if you are very casually dressed.

[xena]

I agree. The formal/daywear distinction in sporrans seems to be of relatively recent origin anyway. There's all sorts of pictures of 19th Century and older kilt wearers wearing what we'd call formal sporrans in fairly regular settings. The old horse hair sporrans with fancy cantles are what Highland soldier wore into battle in days of yore, and I don't think they worried about whether it was proper "evening" wear or not. They were what they wore every day, all day.

My point is: the distinctions between formal and informal are not as hard and fast as some seem to believe (IMHO of course!). If one is attending a formal event during the day, I'd wear a formal sporran and not worry about what time it was. Similarly, given the choice of being overdressed or underdressed, I'd go with overdressed. Men's wear is so full of informality now of days, it's amazing.

Reading some of the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I've come across references to considering it "scandalous" for a gentleman to be seen without a tie and vest. They certainly wouldn't plan to go outdoors without a hat either. It just seems that our current cultural standards have gone so far to the informal side, that a little bit of "dressing up" for our daily activities on our part couldn't hurt.

FWIW, I generally NEVER go to any formal activities in the evening, making my dress sporran essentially useless that way. My solution is to wear my dress sporran whenever there is a liturgical feast day (see this linkfor clarification of what I mean by a feast day). I know some traditionalists may find my solution scandalous, but it works for me.

So yeah, my vote is go with the rabbit fur one and have a great time!