Quote Originally Posted by Chef View Post
I wear a PC quite often, but I don't wear plaid with it. Your right you do see more PC's than doublets at events and that is because there are relatively few events that call for that level of formality. I understand the desire to wear a plaid but you wouldn't wear white tie and tails to an event that calls for a dinner jacket just because you don't get the chance to wear your tails very often. Obviously you can but it looks out of place.

As to whether the PC is designed for a plaid, the fact that a it has epaulettes is somewhat irrelevant. While the epaulettte does help with a plaid on a doublet it is not there specifically for the plaid. It is a design feature that is common to most kilt jackets.
Well white tie and tails events are pretty few and far between these days and it's a style that peaked before World War II and has been in serious decline ever since. At University balls in St Andrews I only recall one student attending in such gear and he was an American!

I don't think that many today would interpret a "formal dress" invite to mean a doublet rather than a PC or believe that only a lacy jabot can sanctify the presence of a fly plaid. I simply cannot agree that a plaid looks "out of place" on a PC which is, after all, a formal garment, and makes it look, if anything, even more formal.

And I didn't state that a PC was designed for a plaid - I simply observed that "the epaulette on the shoulder certainly allows for the positioning of a fly plaid." Yes epaulettes are a feature of many kilt jackets - you might want to use one on a day jacket for holding your Balmoral etc for example.

But they give you an option which you take advantage of or do not. Just as you decide which formal jacket is your preference. The idea that one type of formal jacket is more formal than another one is totally a new one to me and based pray on what authority?