The Ghillie Shirt

[Jock Scot]

Ouch! That hurt a little! But hey, no offense taken. I may not be taken seriously with other kilt wearers, but I'm alright with that. I think it is a beautiful shirt and it works great for what I'm going for, smart, ceremonial, formal look with a bit of casualness. Hence, the Ghillie Shirt worn with an informal kilt belt but a very formal full-dress sporran.

I have no wish to offend, but I am really sorry to say that you are not only barking up the wrong tree, you are also barking in the wrong forrest on the wrong planet. Yes, of course you want to dress as you please and I accept that completely and yes, I am an old school kilt wearer, but I have to be honest here, your attire is so off beam that its not surprising you get funny looks.

Get rid of those ghillie brogues, get rid of those white hose and wear them slightly lower, wear your kilt higher, get rid of that shirt, get rid of the feathers, reorganise that military style(shaved and shrunken) of your bonnet and do you really wear that plaid during the day and over both shoulders?

I am sorry, but you are not doing yourself any favours dressed as you are.

[PatrickHughes123]

I have no wish to offend, but I am really sorry to say that you are not only barking up the wrong tree, you are also barking in the wrong forrest on the wrong planet. Yes, of course you want to dress as you please and I accept that completely and yes, I am an old school kilt wearer, but I have to be honest here, your attire is so off beam that its not surprising you get funny looks.

Get rid of those ghillie brogues, get rid of those white hose and wear them slightly lower, wear your kilt higher, get rid of that shirt, get rid of the feathers, reorganise that military style(shaved and shrunken) of your bonnet and do you really wear that plaid during the day and over both shoulders?

I am sorry, but you are not doing yourself any favours dressed as you are.

There is nothing wrong with my brogues, I understand why you feel weird about the white hose. I like Glengarries and Balmorals. The feather plume I think is okay. No, I don't wear the plaid over both shoulders, only when cold or raining to provide some heat or comfort. I know it is supposed to hang from the one shoulder and I do that most of the time, on the left shoulder. Don't often wear it during the day. I prefer it mid-knee, it's still technically correct, either top of knee or mid-knee. I know wear the hose three fingers below the knee, as you can see in picture one and two.

[Jock Scot]

The plaid that you are wearing is the wrong style to do what you need. I will not go on, but can I suggest on the quiet, that you compare other pictures on this website and compare them with your attire? You will see that very few are attired like you, even in the modern kilt sections.

[PatrickHughes123]

The plaid that you are wearing is the wrong style to do what you need. I will no go on, but can I suggest on the quiet, that you compare other pictures on this website and compare them with your attire? You will see that very few are attired like you, even in the modern kilt sections.

I know about day plaids. I have a fly plaid. I may get a day plaid one day, but that will be in the future. Thanks for the advice.

[CollinMacD]

Patrick,

Post is getting to be more and more like the discussion we enjoyed about when to wear the dirk....

If you are happy with you look, then be happy with your look. You made your choice, and obviously you have the confidence of wearing what you feel is your fashion and are enjoying it. However, you opened up a discussion, on a site that has some of the best advice you can get, if you ask and accept it. Not all people consider certain items being sold as Scottish attire, but more of a Renaissance Festival interpretation of Scotland. It's very hard to convince others if what you like is not fully accepted, that it should be. Again, not saying what you like is wrong, as there is no work, but you post and wanted to know why.

I too have learned from many, Jock especially I consider a mentor, among many others and I know, regardless of what I say, Jock will provide me a straight and honest reply. I might not agree, but he is entitled to his own view, and I take every bit of what he states into my thought process. Because of his and others inputs what I thought was Scottish, was more of my own desire to be "authentic" or trying to be much more of what it actually is. My Grandfather came from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and was as Scottish as one could get coming from his home. I remember him wearing certain items, and everything I can remember, was very conservative, and not flashing, but considered his dress. Jock has brought me back to this, and I appreciate it.

Sure, I have the same shirt, never wore it, tried it on, very comfortable, but that lacing on the neck I did not like, as previous stated it was too close to the Ponderosa Shirt of the 60's, now often referred to as the hippie shirt. Sits in my closet, size Large, if you need another one, never work sell it to you for half price, let me know, its white or cream. Just will never wear it. If you wish to see other shirts that I know you will like, send me email and I will like you up with a place that has a large variety of shirts, seriously, I know you will like, these are alternatives to the Ghillie Shirt.

If you don't like ties why not look at band collar shirts, or as Kilts USA suggested the Irish Grandfather Shirts, these are very nice. Nobody here that I know of on this site wants to embarrass or insult you at all, but when you opened the box, you really got to understand you will get a lot of different view, some more passionate than others, some more comical, and some will agree. Its a mix bag, go with the flow, wear what you wish and enjoy those moments when you can wear your kilt and attire, in other words HAVE FUN.

[PatrickHughes123]

I have no wish to offend, but I am really sorry to say that you are not only barking up the wrong tree, you are also barking in the wrong forrest on the wrong planet. Yes, of course you want to dress as you please and I accept that completely and yes, I am an old school kilt wearer, but I have to be honest here, your attire is so off beam that its not surprising you get funny looks.

Get rid of those ghillie brogues, get rid of those white hose and wear them slightly lower, wear your kilt higher, get rid of that shirt, get rid of the feathers, reorganise that military style(shaved and shrunken) of your bonnet and do you really wear that plaid during the day and over both shoulders?

I am sorry, but you are not doing yourself any favours dressed as you are.

I'm trying to be as cultural as possible, and I admit I look like a Jacobite or some sort of stereotype, but again, it's kind of what I'm going for, a tradition informal look with a bit of a formal contemporary element.

[PatrickHughes123]

Get rid of those ghillie brogues, get rid of those white hose and wear them slightly lower, wear your kilt higher, get rid of that shirt, get rid of the feathers, reorganise that military style(shaved and shrunken) of your bonnet and do you really wear that plaid during the day and over both shoulders?

Jock,

Thank you for your most honest advice. I have actually started doing some of this. I have started to wear my hose lower and my kilt higher. As can be seen in the pictures below.

Kilt with blue shirt and yellow tie.



Kilt with ghillie and diced Glengarry.



In both pictures, my kilt is down at mid-knee. Do you see it Jock?

About the feather plume, I regret buying the thing, a military feather plume. It was stupid, I realize that now. I may sell it. As for the fly plaid, I regret that too. I will keep this in mind for next time, when this situation comes again, I will buy a day plaid as it is the informal plaid and is more suitable with the Ghillie Shirt. I also may only buy a day sporran, a hunting sporran or even a semi-dress sporran. I realize now, looking back, that a full-dress sporran is too formal. This is what happens when you don't research before buying, my bad. Lesson learned.

Thank you Jock!

[FossilHunter]

Jock,

Thank you for your most honest advice. I have actually started doing some of this. I have started to wear my hose lower and my kilt higher. As can be seen in the pictures below.

Kilt with blue shirt and yellow tie.



Kilt with ghillie and diced Glengarry.



In both pictures, my kilt is down at mid-knee. Do you see it Jock?

About the feather plume, I regret buying the thing, a military feather plume. It was stupid, I realize that now. I may sell it. As for the fly plaid, I regret that too. I will keep this in mind for next time, when this situation comes again, I will buy a day plaid as it is the informal plaid and is more suitable with the Ghillie Shirt. I also may only buy a day sporran, a hunting sporran or even a semi-dress sporran. I realize now, looking back, that a full-dress sporran is too formal. This is what happens when you don't research before buying, my bad. Lesson learned.

Thank you Jock!

I think the shirt/tie look is much more flattering. Modern dress shirts and ties are also easier to shop for.

[Tobus]

I have started to wear my hose lower and my kilt higher.

It's a start. Probably could do well to keep going on both counts. The kilt is worn to best effect when the knees are clearly visible from almost any angle.

Hose height can vary by leg shape, but generally seem best when they're several finger widths below the kneecap. Or, if you have shapely calves, they can look best when they are just over the widest part of the calf and no higher.

Kilt height is pretty good when it's between the middle and top of the kneecap. However, it can actually look better when worn even higher if your body shape is such that the apron hangs well in front of your knees instead of closer to them. In other words, the further your apron is from (i.e. in front of) your knees, the less people will see of your knees without getting down at ground level. So if you want your knees to be visible (again, kilt worn to best effect), it might not hurt to hitch it a little higher until you find the right spot.

[PatrickHughes123]

It's a start. Probably could do well to keep going on both counts. The kilt is worn to best effect when the knees are clearly visible from almost any angle.

Hose height can vary by leg shape, but generally seem best when they're several finger widths below the kneecap. Or, if you have shapely calves, they can look best when they are just over the widest part of the calf and no higher.

Kilt height is pretty good when it's between the middle and top of the kneecap. However, it can actually look better when worn even higher if your body shape is such that the apron hangs well in front of your knees instead of closer to them. In other words, the further your apron is from (i.e. in front of) your knees, the less people will see of your knees without getting down at ground level. So if you want your knees to be visible (again, kilt worn to best effect), it might not hurt to hitch it a little higher until you find the right spot.

I read on WikiHow, that it's about 3-4 fingers below the knee. So recently I've been doing 3 fingers, but I feel I will need to start putting them 4 fingers below the knee as I don't feel they are low enough. To be honest I prefer to mid-knee, but I think I will need to push them off higher to get that look as I don't think I've been successful with this yet. I can't actually go to the top of the knee because of my body shape and the way it causes the kilt to hang down, so I'll need to lose weight before I can even attempt to pull that off, only the mid-knee look works at the moment. I've tried it at the top of the knee and it looks horrible, because of my round stomach, it goes too wide at the bottom, just stating a fact.

Here is me in the kilt with it at the top of the knee...



Before I make these changes the next time I wear it, I'd like to say, even though the way I wear it now is far from perfect, it is a huge improvement from when I first started wearing the kilt. Here are some pictures of me in the earliest kilt days, when I first got it. Please be prepared, it's horrible.







Obvious errors being; Kilt is worn at where you would wear trousers; Sporran is too loose and it isn't centre because of the unnecessary extension; Aprons are not lined up and look terrible; The pin is in both aprons and makes it look unnatural and bunched up

Thanks for the advice Tobus, it is very helpful.