Evening Attire?

[FossilHunter]

I’ve observed that dress codes for many Highland events in the US are a wandering target and often unclear. I was just at a local ball with a dress code of “Full Dress (vests & Argyle Jackets)” which I feel means black tie without the clarity of just saying black tie and resulted in a predictable, and unfortunate, mishmash of formalities.

In the absence of more direction on the invitation, I would interpret “evening attire” as black tie. I think Jock’s suggested dress is appropriate.

[Jock Scot]

Alright, let’s take our attire a few steps further. So the black bow tie seems to meet approval so what else? A white formal shirt with a turn down collar, should not raise too many eyebrows, what about hose and footwear? For me I would go for single coloured hose say, burgundy/claret with well polished black Oxford type shoes. The jacket? Well, a black barathea silver button argyll (BBSBA) would be my choice, but a black prince charlie(PC) would also do perfectly. A black waistcoat with either jacket would be fine, or, no waistcoat at all.

As we are keeping our attire in this instance at the lower end of the formal attire scale , I would not consider tartan, or, patterned hose, silver buckled shoes, fancy sporrans or, tartan waistcoats etc., as that may overdo things a tad. AND no medals or military insignia UNLESS the invitation specifically requires them.

Of course as time goes on, attire judgements can be adjusted with experience of attire for that particular event, but what I have suggested will get you on the bottom rungs of formal attire without making an *** of oneself.

[OC Richard]

I'm the historical/traditional guy, and our modern traditional Highland Evening Dress evolved to its present state around World War One.

In Victorian times Evening Dress was loaded down with accessories. By 1920 or so these had become oldfashioned-looking, and fashionable men wore the new sleek pared-down outfits which are still worn today.

Here are my Evening outfits. The one on the right shows the fully-evolved post-WWI Evening Dress with the then-new small seal-fur Evening sporran. In this outfit I could appear at an event from 1920 to the present day and not look out of place.

The one on the left likewise, showing the long hair sporran which never quite went out of style, and is still worn in Evening Dress today, though not as common as the small seal-skin sporran.

Tartan or diced hose with buckled shoes have been expected in formal Highland Dress since the 18th century, if not before.

[JPS]

Richard, I'll not let this opportunity go by without telling you again how much I adore that goat hair sporran of yours.

[FossilHunter]

I suppose I will have to throw my hat into the ring. ;)

This was my outfit for the aforementioned Tartan Ball. I largely follow Jock’s advice, though I wear a fur, formal sporran as my day sporran is brown and not appropriate for evening dress.

383BBF48-37EA-426A-8492-F318EEEC8F6C.jpg

[Jock Scot]

I suppose I will have to throw my hat into the ring. ;)

This was my outfit for the aforementioned Tartan Ball. I largely follow Jock’s advice, though I wear a fur, formal sporran as my day sporran is brown and not appropriate for evening dress.

383BBF48-37EA-426A-8492-F318EEEC8F6C.jpg

I think your picture is a fine example of what I mean. Yes the sporran is not quite what I mean for a basic formal outfit, but actually is an excellent example for what is needed, in a perfect world.

For those who are thinking about obtaining a basic formal black tie kilt outfit that will see you through most formal evening events without getting too adventurous with their attire requirements then this picture is worth baring in mind.

Yes! There are times when silver buckled shoes, patterned hose, fancy sporrans are nice for the rather more formal events, but these aren't necessary for most black tie events.

I am not going to make myself very popular with some here, when I say this, but I actually think there is somewhat of a "one-upmanship" thing going on, on this website -------rather like go "faster stripes" on cars------ with formal kilt attire. Don't misunderstand me please, it is very nice to own and wear silver buckled shoes, patterned hose, fancy sporrans, tartan waistcoats, etc., and yes! There are times when these smart items are warranted and, AND as I have already said, they are very nice to own and wear, but, BUT, they are not really necessary for most black tie events these days. So, they are not normally, "must haves".

[Tobus]

Yes! There are times when silver buckled shoes, patterned hose, fancy sporrans are nice for the rather more formal events, but these aren't necessary for most black tie events.

I am not going to make myself very popular with some here, when I say this, but I actually think there is somewhat of a "one-upmanship" thing going on, on this website -------rather like go "faster stripes" on cars------ with formal kilt attire. Don't misunderstand me please, it is very nice to own and wear silver buckled shoes, patterned hose, fancy sporrans, tartan waistcoats, etc., and yes! There are times when these smart items are warranted and, AND as I have already said, they are very nice to own and wear, but, BUT, they are not really necessary for most black tie events these days. So, they are not normally, "must haves".

Salient points as always, Jock. As long as one meets the minimum threshold for evening attire, all is well. Anything more is just personal preference or personal flair. It is important for people to recognise what's essential and what's just fluff.

I wouldn't necessarily call it one-upmanship, though, or think of it as something that's specific to this website. Highland attire has always had a "peacock" quality to it, most especially when it comes to the higher levels of dress. It seems to me that as Highland culture has been diluted and blended into a more pan-British culture, especially over the past century, the expectations of dress have trended more towards a Saxon-like uniformity. A typical English black tie event, for example, would find men all dressed exactly the same by design. And it is considered poor taste to show any individualism. What a pity to see Highland dress headed this direction! The days of men wearing unique bespoke doublets and ornate hair sporrans have been reduced to them mostly wearing the same generic designs that they all purchased from the same handful of outfitters (or worse, hire-shops!).

I don't know what kind of presence you have elsewhere on the internet for discussing Highland attire, but I can assure you that what we see here on this forum is pretty tame by comparison. I actually credit you for this. Your well-reasoned input over the years has guided a lot of members to refrain from "over-egging the cake" with their outfits (and yes, I borrowed that phrase from you). Or, at least, when they do go for the fancier accoutrements of Highland dress, they have a better idea that they have stepped out beyond a certain line. Some of the other internet discussion areas don't have that kind of gentle moderating voice to guide them, and one-upmanship definitely takes hold.

But beyond that, I think the last few years (perhaps the last decade or so) has seen a renewed interest in making Highland dress interesting again. Personally, I welcome it. Historical jacket styles and sporran styles are becoming popular again. And while there will always be those folks who wear costumish articles to emulate television shows or feel the need to design "fashion-forward" new styles, I see a lot more people these days dressed more traditionally with thought and research put into their choices. I'll take this any day over seeing the masses wearing the same articles from the same catalogs.

[OC Richard]

This was my outfit for the aforementioned Tartan Ball. I largely follow Jock’s advice, though I wear a fur, formal sporran as my day sporran is brown and not appropriate for evening dress.

383BBF48-37EA-426A-8492-F318EEEC8F6C.jpg

That sporran is an excellent example of the post-WWI smaller rounded seal-fur Evening sporran with silver top, which has been the generally expected sporran in Evening Dress since that time. The main exception being that the Victorian long hair sporran with silver top (usually in white hair) hasn't been completely supplanted, even now.

There's a reciprocal time thing about any sort of "traditional" dress, that a person wearing that dress could move backwards to any point in time, or a person at any point in the past could move forward to today, neither looking out of place.

The thing about your outfit that would probably be noticed in the c1900-c1970 period would be the solid/plain Day hose worn with an otherwise Evening outfit. Beginning around 1970 solid/plain white hose were introduced for Evening Dress by the Kilt Hire industry.

Nowadays solid/plain Day hose in any colour other than white are often seen in Evening Dress, the hose generally chosen to "tone with" the kilt, just as you have done.

[FossilHunter]

That sporran is an excellent example of the post-WWI smaller rounded seal-fur Evening sporran with silver top, which has been the generally expected sporran in Evening Dress since that time. The main exception being that the Victorian long hair sporran with silver top (usually in white hair) hasn't been completely supplanted, even now.

There's a reciprocal time thing about any sort of "traditional" dress, that a person wearing that dress could move backwards to any point in time, or a person at any point in the past could move forward to today, neither looking out of place.

The thing about your outfit that would probably be noticed in the c1900-c1970 period would be the solid/plain Day hose worn with an otherwise Evening outfit. Beginning around 1970 solid/plain white hose were introduced for Evening Dress by the Kilt Hire industry.

Nowadays solid/plain Day hose in any colour other than white are often seen in Evening Dress, the hose generally chosen to "tone with" the kilt, just as you have done.

I do love diced hose. I just can’t justify the cost for the little use I get out of a black tie rig. The Lewis hose also had the advantage of being available on short notice and I can use them for day wear or informal evening wear if I want, which is the majority of my kilt wearing.

If budget were not an issue I would like a true formal argyle with shawl lapels, a goat hair sporran, and argyle hose. Though that would almost certainly be too extravagant for the mixed formality of the local events.

It would be nice to have more formal events to go to locally.

[YOJiMBO20]

I suppose I will have to throw my hat into the ring. ;)

This was my outfit for the aforementioned Tartan Ball. I largely follow Jock’s advice, though I wear a fur, formal sporran as my day sporran is brown and not appropriate for evening dress.

I remember seeing both of you at the Ball. Had I known who you were, I would have come up and said hi, though I think I said hi to you in passing at one point.