feedback requested

[FossilHunter]

I got my linen jacket touched up a bit at the tailor and finally we've cooled off a bit and made jackets bearable to wear (though today was a bit hotter than I'd like).

Anyway, I'm always interested to get feedback on my look. I am shopping for a new sporran but my next addition will be a plain, tongue-buckled belt.

[Tarheel]

I bet a pair of bison or rust colored hose would look great with that jacket kilt combo. Maybe throw in gold flashes to top off the look.

Beware, I will spend all your money on my own tastes if allowed.

[FossilHunter]

I bet a pair of bison or rust colored hose would look great with that jacket kilt combo. Maybe throw in gold flashes to top off the look.

Beware, I will spend all your money on my own tastes if allowed.

I do have bison hose but they were not clean as of yesterday morning so I had to wear what I had available. I do find that the brown hose have become my favorite, followed by my lovat blue pair. The lovat green hose that were my first pair have fallen into last place now, though I still wear them regularly.

And I certainly don't need any help spending money on highland accessories if you were to hear my wife tell it!

[Tobus]

Anyway, I'm always interested to get feedback on my look. I am shopping for a new sporran but my next addition will be a plain, tongue-buckled belt.

For feedback, I'd say your overall presentation is good! I can't find any real fault in your choices, and you've put yourself together well in all respects. Very nicely, traditionally, and tastefully done.

And with that said, all my following comments are just personal preference for the sake of discussion.

I know that some people have decided a belt is not necessary, and have actually made it a trend to stop wearing kilt belts. From a purely functional perspective, I agree that a belt is not necessary, and can be a negative thing under a waistcoat. But personally, I think it looks like an odd blank spot above the sporran when there's no waistcoat and no belt. So I think shopping for a plain tongue-buckled belt is a good choice, or even a belt with a subdued-looking waistplate (i.e. anything that's not a big shiny rectangle).

I have come to really appreciate skinny ties for wearing with kilts. For those of us who are not tall and lanky, it can be aesthetically challenging to wear a wide tie with a kilt, simply because the length has to be shorter than it does with trousers. The overall effect of wearing a wide tie that's tied short is to make us look shorter and wider than we already are. But a skinny tie changes the width-to-length ratio and makes us look taller or thinner, if that makes sense. I just find it easier to pull off the look with a skinny tie.

[FossilHunter]

I have come to really appreciate skinny ties for wearing with kilts. For those of us who are not tall and lanky, it can be aesthetically challenging to wear a wide tie with a kilt, simply because the length has to be shorter than it does with trousers. The overall effect of wearing a wide tie that's tied short is to make us look shorter and wider than we already are. But a skinny tie changes the width-to-length ratio and makes us look taller or thinner, if that makes sense. I just find it easier to pull off the look with a skinny tie.

I've had just the opposite observation about tie widths, though it's not exclusively related to kilt wearing. I find that my skinny ties are less flattering now that I'm taller (from side to side ;) ). They seem to accentuate to empty space on either side. That, and I always end up with too much tail since I use a half Windsor. Perhaps if I learned the full, it would take up some of the slack. I do have a lot of thin ties that I like, I just find I don't wear them as much kilted. Perhaps with a waistcoat, since both of my previous issues would be irrelevant.

Thanks for the feedback. I like getting insight from the more experienced kilt wearers here.

[Liam]

I like your look. My view on ties is much like that of Tobus. Because a traditional kilt is worn higher that one wears dress pants, and as a result a tie is tied shorter, the wide tie (3.5 in.) to my eye looks even shorter. My favourite width is 2.5 in. with a kilt.
I also prefer the look of either a belt or a waist coat and generally wear a belt because I prefer sporran hangers.

[MacEanruig]

You look well turned out. In regards to the ties, one of my early mentors taught me to match the tie width with the lapel width.

[Terry Searl]

You look well turned out. In regards to the ties, one of my early mentors taught me to match the tie width with the lapel width.

I am not a fashionista and have never thought myself one. In my whole life, seldom have I worn a tie .......now however, I like to wear a tie when I wear my kilt jacket and waistcoat and the idea to match the width of the tie with the width of the lapels strikes me as a good rule to follow.......thank-you for your suggestion

[FossilHunter]

You look well turned out. In regards to the ties, one of my early mentors taught me to match the tie width with the lapel width.

I wasn't aware of that "rule" but it makes sense as far as maintaining proportions. I measure the lapels of that jacket and they are 3" at the thickest and the tie is 4", which is actually about .5" wider than my other "wide" ties so I can see why it seemed unnecessarily wide to Tobus.

It makes sense. It's an older tie that belonged to my grandfather (nothing special about it beyond him having owned it) and it probably came from the era of extra-wide neckties.

[Tobus]

I've had just the opposite observation about tie widths, though it's not exclusively related to kilt wearing. I find that my skinny ties are less flattering now that I'm taller (from side to side ;) ). They seem to accentuate to empty space on either side. That, and I always end up with too much tail since I use a half Windsor. Perhaps if I learned the full, it would take up some of the slack. I do have a lot of thin ties that I like, I just find I don't wear them as much kilted. Perhaps with a waistcoat, since both of my previous issues would be irrelevant.

Thanks for the feedback. I like getting insight from the more experienced kilt wearers here.

Again, just to reiterate, I think you look good. These are just minor points of personal style that are fun to discuss.

It's very interesting how something so minor as tie width can make such a big difference in the overall look, and how people can see the width/length aesthetic differently. I guess it boils down to context and personal memories or associations with visual images. When I think of wearing a high-waisted garment (like the kilt) with a short, wide tie, I think of Laurel and Hardy. When I think of skinny ties, even with a lot of space on either side, I associate it with someone like Lyle Lovett, where his long and lanky torso seems to fit a skinny tie very appropriately. Those are just the images that spring to my mind, and direct my tie choices.

I do have wide ties, and I do wear them with the kilt (I'm wearing one in my avatar photo). But since I have to tie them much shorter with a kilt, and I have a rather short torso, I end up with the flared portion of the tie in the knot. And it's very difficult to get a tidy-looking knot with that much width being tied. So where I might normally opt for a Half-Windsor or Full-Windsor on a skinny tie, I'll choose a Four-in-Hand or some other lesser knot for a wide tie. And, like you said, there's way too much tail. I end up having to tuck it into my kilt or between the buttons of my shirt. Ideally, I'd just deconstruct my favorite ties and alter the width and length so they work better for my frame, but that's a lot of work. I wish it were easy to find ties that were sized for torso length rather than this silly one-size-fits-all idea that has always been the rule. Why can't ties come in small, medium, and large?!

At any rate, I've heard this rule before of matching tie width to lapel width, but I don't particularly think of it as a "must match" kind of rule. I would say it's more of a "don't exceed" kind of rule. In other words, don't wear a tie that's wider than the lapel. That can look weird if it's way out of proportion. But wearing a tie that's narrower than the lapel isn't necessarily bad either; again, as long as the proportions aren't too far off. What makes a big difference also, when choosing a tie width, is how the jacket is cut. As you can see in my examples below, two of these jackets have two-button closure so the lapel doesn't dip down as low as the middle jacket which only has one button. That lower dip of the lapel on the one-button jacket is probably more responsible for creating white space than the tie choice. Between these examples, I actually prefer the wider tie on the two-button jackets over the skinnier tie on the one-button jacket (and the lapel-to-tie widths are way off there as well). So I agree with you on that point, that sometimes the gap on either side of the tie can have a widening effect.

Which is all to say, rules of thumb are only useful up to a point. There are a lot more variables involved when choosing a tie than lapel width. The cut of the jacket is a big one, as well as the patterns involved. Choosing the right tie is a fussy process, and I get it wrong more often than I get it right.