Waistcoats

[OC Richard]

Tweed is never formal kilt attire so a three button tweed waistcoat is not worn (in 70 something years I have never seen one).

Me neither. But nowadays people love blurring the traditional lines between Evening Dress and Day Dress.

I was piping at a wedding and there was a gent wearing a grey tweed Sheriffmuir outfit. I believe our Matt Newsome has tweed Evening Dress jackets too. I think it's mostly an American thing, due to us not having as clear dress codes as traditionally exist in Britain.

[OC Richard]

Speaking from a traditional Highland Scots point of view and in general terms.

Tweed is never formal kilt attire so a three button tweed waistcoat is not worn (in 70 something years I have never seen one)…

For smart evening attire then the tweed jacket and five button waistcoat is worn.

For formal evening attire the black Barathea silver-buttoned Argyll and/or the Prince Charlie jacket then the three-buttoned evening dress waistcoat...

It's nice to have so clearly stated the traditional view.

When we see things like this coming out of Scotland nowadays! Things which turn the tradition on its head.

It must be confusing for people new to Highland Dress...



(Personally I think the Prince Charlie coatee in tweed looks cool...and the waistcoat is in keeping with Jock's points.. but this outfit would be exponentially improved with different shirt, tie, and sporran.)

Jock mentions the black Barathea Argyll jacket with silver buttons worn with the low-cut three-button waistcoat which we normally associate with the Prince Charlie coatee, and this can indeed be seen in vintage photos



On the other hand, here is full Evening Dress with an Argyll and a higher-buttoning waistcoat

[Jock Scot]

It's nice to have so clearly stated the traditional view.

When we see things like this coming out of Scotland nowadays! Things which turn the tradition on its head.

It must be confusing for people new to Highland Dress...



(Personally I think the Prince Charlie coatee in tweed looks cool...and the waistcoat is in keeping with Jock's points.. but this outfit would be exponentially improved with different shirt, tie, and sporran.)

Jock mentions the black Barathea Argyll jacket with silver buttons worn with the low-cut three-button waistcoat which we normally associate with the Prince Charlie coatee, and this can indeed be seen in vintage photos

The top picture is notably cringe-worthy to my eyes and in so many ways!

[OC Richard]

The top picture is notably cringe-worthy to my eyes and in so many ways!

Yes indeed! I would like to see that jacket&waistcoat done up with more tasteful accessories. But even so, a bold tweed Prince Charlie won't be many people's cup of tea.

[Tobus]

Yes indeed! I would like to see that jacket&waistcoat done up with more tasteful accessories. But even so, a bold tweed Prince Charlie won't be many people's cup of tea.

Perhaps they're marketing it to the crowd who insists on wearing a PC as daywear to Highland Games? I see them at almost every event. Since they obviously cannot be convinced that a PC isn't appropriate for that environment, churning out a tweed version with a higher-lapel waistcoat might be an attempt to fill the niche.

(I don't know, man, I'm just trying to make sense of what I'm seeing there!)

Not that I'm necessarily in favour of reinventing the proverbial wheel, but I could see possibly liking the concept of a tweed daywear jacket with a shorter bottom like this one, but not in a formal style like the PC. The higher-buttoning waistcoat is fine, but it just doesn't go with the lower-buttoning jacket and sharply-pointed lapels. I would tweak the design to raise the front button closure on the jacket and lapel shape to be more like an Argyle jacket, but keep the length around where it is. And change the tweed to an olive-coloured base windowpane pattern, and see what it looks like with a less flamboyant shirt and tie. It may still be a stinker, but certainly less of one than the oddity I see there.