Advice on Kilt

[OC Richard]

I know the Brian Boru jacket doesn't have any sort of actual tradition/history to it, though the round silver harp buttons definitely help lend an Irish flavor to it. Whether there's any tradition to it or not, I personally like the look of the Brian Boru better than the Prince Charlie.

That's the best reason to wear it, because you like it. But I think it's good to be aware that it's a purely Highland Scottish jacket style (regardless of what buttons they put on it) and has no relationship to Irish costume.

I did see several examples of something that looks an awful lot like a shawl collar in a few ~16th-17th century illustrations, albeit on long, open-chested tunic-like garments over top of a shirt...

You're probably seeing illustrations showing the traditional Irish folk costume, which became extinct.

People misunderstanding the nature of that costume in the 19th century Gaelic Revival in Ireland caused the creation of the modern burnt-orange kilt and other things which have no correlation to the actual traditional Irish costume.

The traditional Irish costume consisted of
-leine (a long linen shirt)
-brat (a woolen mantle which evolved into the kilt in the Highlands of Scotland and into a cloak in Ireland)
-crios (colourful woven waist sash/belt)
-pamputai (moccasin-like shoes)
-ionar (V-necked jacket with open sleeves and pleats around the waist)

Scottish Highland jackets have had "shawl collars" and there's nothing "Irish" about the styling of the so-called Brian Boru jacket (which as I understand was devised by Scottish tailors as a marketing device).

Are UK and US standard jacket sizes the same?

With any jackets, made for the US market or made for the UK market, sizing is inconsistent.

A while back I measured several tweed sport coats I owned and found no correlation between the sizes marked and the actual armpit-to-armpit measurement.

That armpit-to-armpit measurement is fairly standard on Ebay, in the vintage clothing market in general, and is a better guide to size than the label size.

But yes in many instances UK jackets run a bit smaller than US jackets.

Taking myself as an example jackets labelled 50 often fit me, though there have been jackets labelled 46, 48, and 52 which fit me well and jackets labelled 50 which have been too small or too big.

[TheGratefulNed]

Picked up a nice pair of very lightly used brogued Florsheim wingtips on Ebay.
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[jthk]

I have no practical advice but USA Kilts is in PA
I suggest visiting Rocky and seeking his advice, all the gentleman here on the board highly recommend him and his business.
Have a great time and remember to post pictures.

(I did a training course in Lancaster a few years ago Pennsylvania is so pretty)

I'd like to echo this recommendation as a fabulous one-stop-shopping experience.

Jonathan

[jthk]

I had to search way back to remember the discussions we had. I found this one from 2011. It was actually a quote from a co-author of the book The Art of Kiltmaking (see post #19 in that thread) where it was recommended not to put the belt through those belt loops, but to reserve them for a sporran strap if the wearer fears the strap slipping down. So I suppose it was not a traditionalist viewpoint at work there, but practical advice from a kiltmaker. Barb Tewksbury posted some photos in that thread to show why it's not a good idea to use the belt loops for a belt, as they will distort the kilt over time.

I find myself not wearing a belt most of the time these days, but I still put my sporran strap through the loops out of habit. I don't necessarily think the strap would slip down out of place, but it does ensure that it's high enough at the rear not to interfere with my lower hip buckle/strap on my kilt as it comes around the side.

Despite my fondness for belts and belt buckles, I have found that the more I wear a kilt, the less I want to wear a belt. I know it looks strange to some modern western sensibilities (it, indeed, looked strange to me at first, too) but I find a kilt more comfortable without a belt.

I simply wrap my sporran belt over the belt loops and find that I use those loops less and less to the point where I may remove them.

[lschwartz]

Why not just rent an outfit from USA Kilts for the dinner and then use what you learned from the experience to better inform your buying decisions.

[TheGratefulNed]

I believe USA Kilts stopped doing rentals a couple years ago and besides, I didn't want to spend upwards of $150-200 and get nothing out of it that I could keep.

Regardless, a couple days ago as I was about to pull the trigger on buying a USA Kilts casual kilt (figuring having a kilt, even a casual P/V one, would be better than not having a kilt) I found UT Kilts had a premium traditional kilt for about the same price. So I bought a fashion tartan (New World Celts) they had on sale and actually ended up paying less for it than the USA Kilts casual kilt would have cost (I'm a gentleman of substance, so all of USAK's kilts are $25-50 more for me than their displayed price).

I have to say, I'm quite impressed with what I received. ~8 yds of 16 oz. wool, knife-pleated to the sett, double fringe, selvedge edge. Haven't inspected it too carefully yet, so I don't know if it has a stabilizer or interfacing, if the pleats are stitched down (if they're just pressed, they did a really good job of boxing it without introducing a lot of wrinkles), etc. But, it fits well, feels good, and seems like it should be pretty durable.

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[Tarheel]

Thanks for the photos Ned. With the colors in your kilt, there is an endless combination of accessories for you to choose from. I think you made the right choice.

[Taskr]

I have to say, I'm quite impressed with what I received. ~8 yds of 16 oz. wool, knife-pleated to the sett, double fringe, selvedge edge. Haven't inspected it too carefully yet, so I don't know if it has a stabilizer or interfacing, if the pleats are stitched down (if they're just pressed, they did a really good job of boxing it without introducing a lot of wrinkles), etc. But, it fits well, feels good, and seems like it should be pretty durable.

Great looking kilt, and very nice shoes.

Some help understanding, please, the "pleats stitched down" part. Meaning no basting holding the pleats in place during shipping?

I think if you lift the liner you might not find anything else under there. Fear naught - it is not difficult at all to hand stitch in a stabilizer to keep the tartan cloth from stretching and distorting.

[TheGratefulNed]

Great looking kilt, and very nice shoes.

Some help understanding, please, the "pleats stitched down" part. Meaning no basting holding the pleats in place during shipping?

I think if you lift the liner you might not find anything else under there. Fear naught - it is not difficult at all to hand stitch in a stabilizer to keep the tartan cloth from stretching and distorting.

Thanks Taskr and Tobus! I'm definitely happy that I picked it up; can't beat the price for the quality of product I received and it fits well despite being an off-the-rack kilt.

There were not any basting stitches, but that's not what I was talking about. Perhaps it's a misunderstanding on my part, but from reading some other threads on here about people making or modifying their own kilts, I got the impression that there were a couple common methods of adding stitches across or along the pleating to help the pleats keep their shape.

If it doesn't have a stabilizer (haven't checked yet, my evenings and weekends have been absurdly busy this past week or two), I'll definitely add one, but at this point that will be an after-Burns-Night task. Before the dinner, I still need to shorten the sleeves on the Argyle I bought and make some flashes.

A couple questions for the group.
Is there some trick with polishing brogued shoes to minimize or eliminate the little holes being filled with shoe polish? I'd rather not have to go through with a tiny brush or toothpick or some such device and clean out each hole individually after polishing.
What about buffing them? I'm afraid that the cloth I would normally use for smooth shoes will catch on the jagged edges of the leather (the V-shaped edging where two layers of leather meet) and will slowly pull on all those little corners, either causing the leather to split or just stick up instead of laying flat. Do you just have to buff carefully and in one direction over those areas? Is there something better for buffing brogued shoes than a soft, smooth, lint-free cloth?

[Tobus]

A couple questions for the group.
Is there some trick with polishing brogued shoes to minimize or eliminate the little holes being filled with shoe polish? I'd rather not have to go through with a tiny brush or toothpick or some such device and clean out each hole individually after polishing.
What about buffing them? I'm afraid that the cloth I would normally use for smooth shoes will catch on the jagged edges of the leather (the V-shaped edging where two layers of leather meet) and will slowly pull on all those little corners, either causing the leather to split or just stick up instead of laying flat. Do you just have to buff carefully and in one direction over those areas? Is there something better for buffing brogued shoes than a soft, smooth, lint-free cloth?

Personally, I think if you're glopping on so much polish at a time that it's filling the holes, you're likely trying to do too much. It shouldn't be a matter of smearing on thick layers, but more like building very thin layers in small swirls with a fingertip. Yes, some polish will scrape onto the side of the holes over time. Fifteen seconds with a toothpick will take care of it, though. It's not a major deal.

As for buffing, I've never had any issue with damaging the pinked edges. I brush vigorously with a horsehair brush, which seems to take care of the majority of it. The final buffing for me is usually with an old t-shirt rag, wetted for the bulling process.

We talked a little about it here: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...estions-94477/