Wedding attire questions

[smaughazard]

Hi, all-

I haven't posted in a while simply because life has gotten extremely hectic for the last couple of months- it was all I could do to get online to check email in some of the hotels!

Anyway, my older daughter is getting married next May, and I plan to give her away in full formal kilted attire. PC & vest, tank, tux shirt, et al…

So, a few questions for the less sartorially challenged (Hamish? Rex? etc.):

What are some of the alternate neckwear options? I really dislike bowties!

Formal garden wedding- fly plaid or not?

Plain white or some sort of diced hose?

I will almost certainly be the only kilted person present (which doesn't bother me in the least), but I want the outfit to be right; I'll probably be using it again in a couple of years for the younger daughter.

All suggestions considered and greatly appreciated!

[Schultz]

Most tux shirts are made for bow ties, so you'd have to bend a bit there as far as shirts go.

IMHO, a PC doesn't look right unless one is wearing a bowtie. The vest isn't wide enough in front to accomodate much anything else.

I'd also ditch the fly plaid, but I also don't like them at all outside of a parade.

As far as hosed go, if you can get a pair of argyle ones (and/or don't mind the expense) to match your kilt, that'd be the bee's knees, as it were.

[macwilkin]

Most tux shirts are made for bow ties, so you'd have to bend a bit there as far as shirts go.

IMHO, a PC doesn't look right unless one is wearing a bowtie. The vest isn't wide enough in front to accomodate much anything else.

I'd also ditch the fly plaid, but I also don't like them at all outside of a parade.

As far as hosed go, if you can get a pair of argyle ones (and/or don't mind the expense) to match your kilt, that'd be the bee's knees, as it were.

The big question should be: what is dress of the wedding party, then go from there. Since it is an outdoor wedding, most likely it is going to be in the daytime. Wearing evening wear, especially such a formal garment as the Prince Charlie, for an outside wedding in the day, is a bit of a "sticky wicket": while many folks do it, evening wear is really for...well, the evening. And yes, I wore my PC at a late-afternoon wedding, but if I could do it over, I would have worn a day jacket with waistcoat.

Regards,

Todd

[RCallan]

For my wedding I had my groomsmen and myself wearing Daytime jackets with vest, white dress shirts, and black silk neckties....(I had a silver tie)....

It looked great and even more important...
We didn't take away from the bride (Remeber it's her day!!!!) by being too dressy (PC jackets with all the buttons)

It was an outdoor day/evening wedding....so the look was good for both times of the day.

[Prester John]

Well, as father of the bride, you could always go with a jabot.

It's very formal, but it looks great. My father-in-law sported one for my son's wedding this July. He really looked like the patriarch of the family.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/frjohnpe...03254283411/21

For my part, I have such a long beard that I didn't even wear a tie, and no one could tell.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/frjohnpe...803254245606/5

Here were all the kilted gents in one pic. Alot of variety, and the party is formal.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/frjohnpe...03254200329/32

Congratulations by the way. I don't think you can go wrong.

[Panache]

smaughazard,

Congratulations on your daughter's upcoming wedding.

Here are my two cents on your daytime wedding attire.

Buy a black argyle with waistcoat (the waistcoat gives flexibility to dress up or down the jacket) You will find greater use for an argyle in your day to day life than a PC. If you can't have both, go with the more flexible one.

Wear a regular white dress shirt and a tie.

If you are not the groom, don't bother with a flyplaid (magnifiicent looking as they are)

I personally would go with some very nice* white hose (to dress up the outfit) or pick a color from the tartan to match (to dress down).

Hope this was of some assistance

Cheers





* do get nice quality wool or wool blend hose though, they really do look great compared to the acrylic.

[smaughazard]

Thanks for all the advice so far!

I should clarify a couple of points: the wedding is at 7PM in a well-lit formal garden (the groom, his father, and the groomsmen will be in tuxes) so I thought that the PC would be most appropriate. Also, the younger daughter has no wedding plans as yet, but tends to be more formal than her sister- so my thought is that her wedding will probably be more elaborate as well, and that a PC will be appropriate at that time.

[cavscout]

You might be able to get away with a cravat if it is fairly narrow. I think a big part of the appeal to the PC look is that everyting is very crisp and tight. Sort of contrary to a cravat. And I'm don't think a tie will look right with a PC jacket and 3 button vest.

If you could fudge a bit and go with a bramer or argyle jacket. A crail jacket would probably be the best to offer you more latitude on accessories other than a bow tie.

[Braemar Kiltmaker]

"Anyway, my older daughter is getting married next May, and I plan to give her away in full formal kilted attire. PC & vest, tank, tux shirt, et al…"

A minor point coming from someone with a menswear background ... even though you don't like bow ties ...

Be aware of the type of formal shirt you choose. In recent years, a LOT of people have been wearing wing collar shirts incorrectly. A wing collar shirt is ONLY correct with WHITE TIE, i.e. men in tail coats and white pique vests. The reason is that the band of the tie is not supposed to be apparent against the neckband of the shirt. Black (or coloured) ties should be worn with a pleated front/ lay-down collar style shirt.

I know there will be objections to that statement, but that's because weddings have become "the bride's day", and the men of the wedding party are treated, and dressed, as accessories to the women! The "Formal Wear Police" won't come to your door if you wear the wrong shirt - just thought I'd toss a little sartorial advice into the discussion!

Ron

[arrogcow]

And dislike bow ties or not, for the love of all that is holy, get a real one not a silly clip on. Tying a bow tie is really easy and looks so much nicer.

Adam