Is this Sporran too formal for daily/casual wear?

[davidlpope]

Yes.

Nice, simple, vintage leather day sporrans may be had on Ebay for a very reasonable price if one is patient.

[ShaunMaxwell]

Yes.

Nice, simple, vintage leather day sporrans may be had on Ebay for a very reasonable price if one is patient.

I concur... I got this nice McRostie sporran (as favored by Jock Scot!) on eBay for a song! Keep your eyes peeled... Nice stuff comes up frequently!

[Panache]

That is a formal sporran.

Great with a dress shirt and tie...not so great in other situations

Cheers

Jamie

[Father Bill]

I concur... I got this nice McRostie sporran (as favored by Jock Scot!) on eBay for a song! Keep your eyes peeled... Nice stuff comes up frequently!

Well darn you anyway, Shaun - it's identical to mine and I had to pay a whole darned opera for it, not a song!

[OC Richard]

Since this is the Traditional forum, yes traditionally a sporran is worn with the kilt regardless of the formality of the event. This is for a simple practical reason: a kilt has no pockets!

The sporran in the OP's link is an Evening Dress sporran.

As I've pointed out, Highland Dress was more free/loose in the 19th century but in the early years of the 20th century sorted itself into two clear-cut modes, Day Dress and Evening Dress. Highland Dress hasn't yet gone through another such transformation since that time. Perhaps it's about to do so now, who knows.

So for Day Dress (which I suppose could be called 'informal dress') certain sorts of sporrans have been worn over the last 100 years or so: fairly simple pocketlike leather things. From the get-go these sometimes had fur fronts, but this didn't change their role as being ordinary Day sporrans.

Evening Dress sporrans, over the last 100 years, have been the same small pocketlike things, but usually done in sealskin, and with a semicircular silver cantle (top).

About the leather jacket, it falls outside traditional Highland Dress.

Here's the Day/Evening dichotomy in a nutshell, from 1930. Nothing has changed much, since that time. If you go to a Highland Games in the Highlands today you'll see men dressed like the man at right, if you go to an Evening event in the Highlands today you'll see men dressed like the other two, more or less. (They probably wouldn't be wearing the plaids, nowadays.)

[Piobair]

As said above - that's a formal sporran. Get a hunting sporran if you want a little pizazz (not with the cantle though - ugh), or a basic brown or black three tasseled sporran (or even a plain one).

And pull your kilt up!

[tpa]

In my opinion, jacket is fine if you need it outdoors, but both sporran and belt are more formal than I would wear casually. There are lots of examples of good casual kilt wear on this site, just search around. I could add to them, but I tend to be more casual than many would consider correct, so just look for images with plain sporrans and belts.

[triolamj]

In short, no. Depending on how often you wear your kilt, you'll eventually want to get a leather targe sporran in black or maybe a brown flap-front sporran. I've got 4 sporrans including: brown embossed flap-front leather, black targe top-cantle, medium gray top-cantle rabbit fur, and a white top-cantle rabbit fur with black tassels. The medium gray replaces my black top-cantle rabbit fur which was my go-to sporran for years. For the casual outfit you're wearing, your sporran is fine ... except for the white tassels. I'd dye them black to match the sporran (you can usually undo them from inside the sporran through holes hidden by the fur). The top-cantle opening is so much easier to get in and out of and it's easier to fasten back up. You really only need a leather sporran if you're going to work a Highland Games or volunteer at an event where a fur sporran might get messed up. Targe sporrans are a good compromise there and they're generally less expensive too. Good luck.

[Dollander]

Keep in mind that you're asking a forum full of people who are intimately familiar with traditional highland dress, whereas the vast majority of people you'll encounter are not. Maybe things are different in Canada*, but I've had quite a few people ask if I'd just come from a festival or a wedding while I was wearing a tartan utility kilt. Sure, that sporran might seem a bit showy compared to the rest of your outfit, but in the grand scheme of things, who's gonna know? I've read plenty of times on this forum and elsewhere that one's hose should be scrunched down for casual dress, but I figure if it's chilly enough for kilt hose versus regular socks, then I'm wearing them up (with flashes to keep them there). So while some people consider "mixing formalities" to be a major faux pas, I see it at most as mildly eccentric...not unlike wearing a kilt.





*or at least different in Ottowa in 2016 than in the area just north of Nanaimo, BC where I spent 4 months back in 2002.

[Hielandman]

It is a nice looking sporran, but it is for evening/formal wear.