How to Complete this Outfit?

[OC Richard]

Yes very well done indeed!

I really like the look of the top outfit, the tartan waistcoat with long hair sporran. The only change I would make is to wear a wing collar shirt.

When I saw the photo of the outfit sans sporran on the Original Post, to me the outfit screamed out for a sporran like this:



a goathair sporran with vintage cantle.

[SlackerDrummer]

When I saw the photo of the outfit sans sporran on the Original Post, to me the outfit screamed out for a sporran like this:



a goathair sporran with vintage cantle.

But, Richard, EVERY outfit screams out for a sporran like that.

[CMcG]

OC Richard, is there a specific reason you suggest a wing collar? I have one and it has hidden buttons, which might address my concerns about the visual imbalance of the black button studs...

And that goat hair sporran is a real beauty!

Here is a close-up of my horsehair sporran. My dad used to wear it when he played with the Edmonton Boys Pipe Band fifty years ago.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

OC Richard, is there a specific reason you suggest a wing collar? I have one and it has hidden buttons, which might address my concerns about the visual imbalance of the black button studs...

And that goat hair sporran is a real beauty!

Here is a close-up of my horsehair sporran. My dad used to wear it when he played with the Edmonton Boys Pipe Band fifty years ago.

If you haven't already done so, you should apply to the Canadian heraldic authority for a grant of arms, and then have the shield engraved on the escutcheon on the cantle of your sporran.

As regards the wearing of wings collars, I'd suggest "don't", unless your shirt is of the variety that uses a proper, removable, collar. The reasons for this are many and varied, but center around the fact that proper wing collars tend to have bigger points, and are taller, thus presenting a more elegant appearance. They are also heavier, with the result that they don't wilt half way through the evening. Attached wing collars inevitably have minuscule -- underdeveloped?-- points, and some are so low cut that they barely rise above the collar of the jacket. In order to make the collar withstand the rigors of an evening's outing it is necessary to over starch the shirt, making it both overly warm and uncomfortable at the neck and arm holes.

[CMcG]

If you haven't already done so, you should apply to the Canadian heraldic authority for a grant of arms, and then have the shield engraved on the escutcheon on the cantle of your sporran.

<snip>

I finally had a chance to look into this and have added applying for a grant of arms to my list of things to do after I graduate. It would cost more than a semester's tuition!

[CMcG]

As for the wing collar shirt that a few people have recommended, here is what I've got. The wings are quite a good size, as is the collar, and the shirt has French cuffs. I also like how the buttons are hidden. It is not, however, a detachable collar... I'll let you all be the judge?

[OC Richard]

OC Richard, is there a specific reason you suggest a wing collar?

Here is a close-up of my horsehair sporran. My dad used to wear it when he played with the Edmonton Boys Pipe Band fifty years ago.

So cool about that sporran! It's wonderful to perpetuate the wearing of it like you do.

About the wing collar with formal Highland attire, it looks 'right' to me simply because it's what I see in the old Highland dress catalogues I have from the 1920s through the 1950s etc.

Back in the 1860s, in The Highlanders of Scotland, there doesn't seem to be any notions about wing collars being more formal than ordinary collars, or bow-ties being more formal than straight neckties, and you'll see all combinations of neckties, collars, and jackets.

But by the 1930s Highland Dress had become highly systematised/compartmentalised and in my old Highland Dress catalogues Evening dress is always shown with wing collar and bow-tie, or jabot.

In my old catalogue

The Scottish National Dress
Wm Anderson and Sons LTD Edinburgh and Glasgow
By Appointment to His Late Majesty King George V

it is stated:

Highland Dress in the Evening.

Neckwear.
A wing collar or a lace jabot must be worn at all evening dress functions. If a wing collar is worn, a white or black bow tie must be used with it. Certain authorites maintain that a white tie should never be used, but the more generally accepted view is that the tie may be black or white at the discretion of the wearer.

That's a lot of "musts" ! Note than neither jabots nor white ties appear in The Highlanders of Scotland.

But in the period from the 1920s to the 1950s it appears to have been quite common to wear jabots with Prince Charlies.

In my 1950s Anderson catalogue it says:

Evening Wear

The Coatee (what we call Prince Charlie)

This is one of the best styles, especially for a younger man, for Dances and other evening functions. It is usually made of black cloth and with silk facings. It is generally worn with a white evening shirt, wing collar and black tie, and with a to match waistcoat.

[saxandpipes]

So cool about that sporran! It's wonderful to perpetuate the wearing of it like you do.

About the wing collar with formal Highland attire, it looks 'right' to me simply because it's what I see in the old Highland dress catalogues I have from the 1920s through the 1950s etc.

Back in the 1860s, in The Highlanders of Scotland, there doesn't seem to be any notions about wing collars being more formal than ordinary collars, or bow-ties being more formal than straight neckties, and you'll see all combinations of neckties, collars, and jackets.

But by the 1930s Highland Dress had become highly systematised/compartmentalised and in my old Highland Dress catalogues Evening dress is always shown with wing collar and bow-tie, or jabot.

In my old catalogue

The Scottish National Dress
Wm Anderson and Sons LTD Edinburgh and Glasgow
By Appointment to His Late Majesty King George V

it is stated:

Highland Dress in the Evening.

Neckwear.
A wing collar or a lace jabot must be worn at all evening dress functions. If a wing collar is worn, a white or black bow tie must be used with it. Certain authorites maintain that a white tie should never be used, but the more generally accepted view is that the tie may be black or white at the discretion of the wearer.

That's a lot of "musts" ! Note than neither jabots nor white ties appear in The Highlanders of Scotland.

But in the period from the 1920s to the 1950s it appears to have been quite common to wear jabots with Prince Charlies.

In my 1950s Anderson catalogue it says:

Evening Wear

The Coatee (what we call Prince Charlie)

This is one of the best styles, especially for a younger man, for Dances and other evening functions. It is usually made of black cloth and with silk facings. It is generally worn with a white evening shirt, wing collar and black tie, and with a to match waistcoat.

The outfit looks great by the way!

As for the wing-collar shirt. If you can get a good one (preferably with detachable collar (so, infact not a "wing-collar" SHIRT at all), then fine. But a nice turn-down collar shirt will always look infinitely better than a cheap puny-wing-flimsy-collar-shirt. Even with a (black) bow-tie. A white-tie necessitates a PROPER collar (high, crisp, detachable or not)!

Cheers,

Michael