The Ghillie Shirt

[PatrickHughes123]

Your outfit looks pretty good to me, Patrick but I'm no expert. The only thing I would say is you might need a jacket now the colder weather is coming.

Ah! Not to worry, just put a Balmoral on. Nice wool on your head. I would go out in the Ghillie if it was raining heavily, hailing or it was as cold as the North Pole in summer. To be honest, being Scottish, you build up immunity to the cold . I hate heat weaves here, and when there is heat waves, I want the winter to come around. Having said all of this, I hate it when it gets so cold the ground is completely covered with thick ice and there is traffic problems caused by ice, snow and blizzards. Yes, I've experienced this and I survived. I am the Scottish Rambo.

[PatrickHughes123]

I have to agree with Panache. The ghillie shirt has a place, not in traditional highland wear, but in a romanticized setting. This photo was taken at a local Renaissance fair a couple of years ago and later Photoshopped. In that setting it goes beautifully with a kilt. The only look? NO. But one of many looks, YES.

What kind of plaid is that? Just curious.

[PatrickHughes123]

Patrick,

You have asked for opinions and I shall give you mine

I state this without any malice or intent to insult. I look at your photo and the thing that comes to mind is that you are a first time kilt wearer who picked up all his kit either in a package deal or at the same shop all at once without a lot of experience.

The simplest way to improve your outfit would be to exchange the ghillie shirt with a white regular dress shirt and a nice solid color tie. You are wearing a dress sporran on a chain, along with a belt with a chromed waist plate, and a pair of black ghillie brogues and these items really are for a more dressed up look. White kilt hose are a fairly modern thing and in my opinion they work best with a dressier look than a casual one (and not a historical inspired outfit).

Thanks for the advice Jamie.

Explain how a simple chain is formal? The shop showed me a decorated chain that had square metal bits on it, which you had to pay money for, so I got the basic metal chain, which was free. It a simple chain with a detailed sporran gives a beautiful look, the two don't clash.

Unfortunately, I've bought all of this stuff now, so I'll remember for next time. I should have researched the levels of formal and I should have though long and hard about the specific way I wanted to wear the kilt and what look I was going for, but I didn't. Then later I tried to go for a historical look but by then, it was too late. I'd bought all the stuff. Well, lesson learned.

That's if, I even get another kilt. I am considering giving the kilt up.

[Tobus]

Tobus,

I've made some changes to the outfit, what do you think?

Better? Worse? Do I look smarter? Do I look more ridiculous?

I put the hose lower and the kilt higher again? Does it look good?

I think lowering the tops of your hose looks much better! It makes a big difference in how it accentuates the shapes of your calves and helps provide some separation between the hose and the kilt. I still think it would be much improved in a non-white hose colour, but the height looks great.

Raising the kilt helped too, of course. And this is a tricky one which has to be adjusted for body shape (i.e. position of your natural waist) as well as how your kilt was made. If you bought a kilt with a 'standard' drop that wasn't tailored specifically to your dimensions, then it can be awkward trying to find the right balance between where the top of the kilt rides on your midsection and where the selvedge falls in relation to your knee. Where you are wearing it in your last set of photos is about as high as you could go. You might feel more comfortable actually lowering it back down a little bit, and it should still look fine since the hose height helped with that visual separation.

I noticed that you lowered where you're tying the laces on your ghillie brogues. If you insist on wearing those, I do think that's a better look than the high wrap you had before. And I just noticed you were wearing flashes; they almost escaped notice because they're so far back around the sides of your legs. Moving them forward around your legs (to the 2:00 and 10:00 positions) will make them much more visible.

I am considering giving the kilt up.

Why? It is your national dress! You have a lot of years ahead of you, during which you can add some very nice pieces to your wardrobe and refine your look as your tastes change and your experience level grows. You have access to multitudes of kilt-related things there that many of us don't. If you're discouraged by the steep learning curve, don't be. Everyone here is on your side!

[MNlad]

What kind of plaid is that? Just curious.

It's a short plaid in weathered Mackenzie. The only time I ever wear it is on cool days at our local Renaissance festival.

[Panache]

If you're discouraged by the steep learning curve, don't be. Everyone here is on your side!

Here Here!

I cringe at the memory of first photo of the outfit I posted on XMTS...

Luckily I read a lot, listened to the good advice of the more experienced, looked at all the photos and came up with looks that worked for me.

There really are no wrong first steps on a journey. Far better to get moving and learn as you go rather than just stand there and never go anywhere!

Cheers

Jamie

[Taskr]

Thanks for the advice Jamie.

Explain how a simple chain is formal? The shop showed me a decorated chain that had square metal bits on it, which you had to pay money for, so I got the basic metal chain, which was free. It a simple chain with a detailed sporran gives a beautiful look, the two don't clash.

Unfortunately, I've bought all of this stuff now, so I'll remember for next time. I should have researched the levels of formal and I should have though long and hard about the specific way I wanted to wear the kilt and what look I was going for, but I didn't. Then later I tried to go for a historical look but by then, it was too late. I'd bought all the stuff. Well, lesson learned.

That's if, I even get another kilt. I am considering giving the kilt up.

Patrick,
Panache is only mentioning that the rest of your outfit is a higher standard of dress than the ghillie shirt. The stuff you've bought looks good! Very good in fact. The sporran is quite fancy with the chrome cantle and all - excellent for a business or more formal event. The detractor to what you already have (which is impressive) is the ghillie shirt. You've a few options for kilted dress from what we've seen in pics thus far. Here are two suggestions: 1. With your ghillie shirt, go with a less formal shoe, or even a boot. Try the look without the belt, just to remove the chrome element from your waist. Maybe you can find a nice wide belt at a thrift shop, or perhaps find a good deal on a dull(er) finish buckle. A very plain (very inexpensive) sporran might fit the look better. There's lots you can do to meet the look you want that need not cost much at all. 2. With the brogues, try a shirt and tie with the belt. Can look quite sharp. Try a nice pullover with or without a collared shirt and with/without a tie - dependent on pullover collar style, of course. This can be a very nice look for an afternoon out and about, or when looking to impress (for whatever reason). This isn't suggested to change your look, only to let you know that what you have can make this look work quite well.

Not everything has to come from a kilt shop. The more time you spend reading the threads and experimenting with what is already in your wardrobe and in other non-kilt shops, the breadth and depth of your "kilted looks" will develop and expand to suit you and the events you care to wear it. That is what I've been doing and I have found it very helpful.

IMO there's no need to get another kilt (re: 1 kilt, 10 looks thread), and giving up on kilt wearing now would be a shame since you've some very nice stuff already.

[PatrickHughes123]

Patrick,
Panache is only mentioning that the rest of your outfit is a higher standard of dress than the ghillie shirt. The stuff you've bought looks good! Very good in fact. The sporran is quite fancy with the chrome cantle and all - excellent for a business or more formal event. The detractor to what you already have (which is impressive) is the ghillie shirt. You've a few options for kilted dress from what we've seen in pics thus far. Here are two suggestions: 1. With your ghillie shirt, go with a less formal shoe, or even a boot. Try the look without the belt, just to remove the chrome element from your waist. Maybe you can find a nice wide belt at a thrift shop, or perhaps find a good deal on a dull(er) finish buckle. A very plain (very inexpensive) sporran might fit the look better. There's lots you can do to meet the look you want that need not cost much at all. 2. With the brogues, try a shirt and tie with the belt. Can look quite sharp. Try a nice pullover with or without a collared shirt and with/without a tie - dependent on pullover collar style, of course. This can be a very nice look for an afternoon out and about, or when looking to impress (for whatever reason). This isn't suggested to change your look, only to let you know that what you have can make this look work quite well.

Not everything has to come from a kilt shop. The more time you spend reading the threads and experimenting with what is already in your wardrobe and in other non-kilt shops, the breadth and depth of your "kilted looks" will develop and expand to suit you and the events you care to wear it. That is what I've been doing and I have found it very helpful.

IMO there's no need to get another kilt (re: 1 kilt, 10 looks thread), and giving up on kilt wearing now would be a shame since you've some very nice stuff already.

What about wearing it with brown Ghillie Brogues? See, I look at the brown ones and get the impression it's more informal than the black ones. I want to wear Ghillie Brogues with the shirt. I wouldn't wear buckle brogues, they're too formal. I was thinking something like brown brogues with red or blue hose.

[FossilHunter]

What about wearing it with brown Ghillie Brogues? See, I look at the brown ones and get the impression it's more informal than the black ones. I want to wear Ghillie Brogues with the shirt. I wouldn't wear buckle brogues, they're too formal. I was thinking something like brown brogues with red or blue hose.

I think brown brogues would look good. But I would consider regular brogues over the ghillies. They’re just more sensible shoes.

Like these:

https://www.gentlemen-prefer-brogues...rown-392-p.asp



I think they look quite nice and the price isn’t bad. Good tread for outdoors too.

Personally I wouldn’t wear solid red hose with the royal Stewart tartan. I feel it is too much red. Diced works but then the red is broken up with another color. I think green, blue, and mustard would look great though. Just my opinion though.

[PatrickHughes123]

FossilHunter, I meant a different shade of red. Slightly lighter red. This obviously won't be soon as I don't want to spend anymore money right now regardless of price.