formal sporran

[BThomHie]

A few questions:
what defines a formal sporran?
The common elements I have observed so far are the metal closure and "fur". ?what else

Anyone here wear the animal face sporrans?

Is there anything that is too extreme?

I enjoy theater as much as the next exhibitionist but what is too much?

[AKScott]

A black leather sporran, plain enough to be elegant is adequate up to black tie.

You can spend a lot more money than that if you want to, but elegant black leather will get you anywhere that doesn't say "white tie" on the invite.

[Downunder Kilt]

On occasions I wear a full face muskrat/musquash sporran for both day events and evening events (some formal)
Most formal sporrans seen at events have silver coloured cantles and in my neck of the woods are sealskin fur. I also wear a goat hair sporran with silver cantle to formal events, should the mood strike me. I have also seen many gents wearing hunting sporrans with silver cantles at formal events. There is also the ubiquitous semi formal sporran seen at formal events, but I guess a lot people only want to get the one sporran to suit whatever they attend in highland attire

[mookien]

There is no universally accepted definition of a formal sporran. But, I strongly suspect that the vast majority of folks would accept as suitable for formal wear anything from an "elegant" black sporran (mentioned by AKScott) to a sporran with a metal cantle, and adorned with fur or horse hair. Elegance, though, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

One of our members posted a picture of himself at an "avant-garde" concert in a kilt wearing a sporran consisting of a cow skull, a la the wild desert west. While it was irrefragably "cool", it would not generally be considered "formal". One subsequent poster cautioned the OP about the potential danger to any dance partner.

Personally, I do not like to wear animal-face sporrans, though I have no problem with others donning them. Having an animal, often of the order rodentia, and even when deceased, that close to my loins makes me uncomfortable.

A sporran is "too extreme", if you think it is too extreme, a possible example being the cow skull sporran previously mentioned. You will develop your own (possibly changing) boundaries as you read the comments in this thread and gain experience observing and wearing sporrans.

Good luck in your quest for formality, and by all means, post some pictures depicting your ultimate decisions.

[The Wizard of BC]

Speaking in broad generalities......

A plain leather sporran with a flap is considered a daywear sporran.

If it keeps the flap but the front is fur it is usually considered a semi-dress sporran.

It it has a cantle (opens like a coin purse) and has a fur front it is usually considered a formal sporran.

Hunter sporrans (where the tassles are sewn down) are somewhere in between. If all leather they can be for daywear. If the cantle is chrome or silver it can, and is, worn formally.

Full-face sporrans can go either way.

Long horse hair sporrans are usually though of as for military and/or pipeband use.

Please remember that there are no firm or written rules about all of this. It is fashion. Fashion is fickle. Fashion is always being re-defined and the boundries tested.

[OC Richard]

Back in the 19th century long hair (usually goat) were worn for all types of occasions, and the distinction between "day dress" and "evening dress" was a bit blurry, but in general "day" sporrans often had brown/grey hair and plain stitched leather cantles, while "evening" sporrans had white hair and silver cantles









But by the 1920s new small pocketlike sporrans had emerged, leather for day, fur/silver for evening, and "rules" had developed, clearly stated here in 1936









and "day" and "evening" dress had dedicated jackets and footwear in addition to sporrans

[creagdhubh]

I wear full-mask sporrans the majority of the time, for both informal and formal occasions. Mine are made by Kate Macpherson of Inverness-shire.





Cheers,

[JohntheBiker]

I would have to agree with Steve Ashton on this, with the notable exception that I will wear a vintaqge silver (chrome) cantled horse hair sporran with formal wear and I am not piping nor in uniform. The other formal sporran that gets regular use is the more predictable sealskin fur with metal cantle.

[Bill aka Mole]

I currently have a black leather hunting sporran with a bright cantle similar to the gent in Kyle's first picture and a grey rabbit with three hangers and cantle. I tend to wear the hunting more as a dressy day wear and the rabbit for more formal events.

[Phil]

A formal sporran has a fur body with a metal cantle, usually white metal such as silver or plated metal. Anything else i.e. a plain leather sprorran is for daywear.