Shell jacket to Doublet conversion is finished.

[Sir Didymous]

Okay, a while back I had a thread talking about a doublet that could be dressed down. Outside of the tweed sheriffmuir that handsomely haunts this sight, there haven't been many successful attempts. Here is my own (via a seamstress working off of my plans) attempt. This started as an American Civil War Union officer's shell jacket. My goal was for a doublet that loosely resembles a Montrose, but with elements that can give different looks based on what it is being worn with. The first thing to go were the replica civil war buttons, which were replaced with brass domed shank buttons. So the cuffs were styled off of a Saxon jacket, and two buttons were added in the back like that of a frock coat. When the front was shortened, the removed material was made into the epaulettes (which I took the measurements off of a modern jacket, but the one used has slightly dropped shoulders so they should have been longer). The result gives me several options of wear ranging from relatively casual with a colored shirt and tie, to white tie with diced hose, jabot and lace cuffs. Here is currently the only picture I have. I am wearing my white tie kit for a photo shoot for my wife's photography class. I hope to have more pictures by the middle of next week showing the options in action.

[rondo]

Can't wait to see more pics...cool.
Rondo

[Chas]

Looking forward to the extra pictures. What I can see looks good.

[OC Richard]

I was thinking along similar lines a couple years ago. I was a kilted spectator at our area's largest Civil War event, and I walked into a big tent that sold uniforms, and I started trying on shell jackets!

In my opinion shell jackets, as they stand, work great with kilts. They were very popular amongst Highland officers in the mid-19th century, and two men are wearing them in The Highlanders of Scotland. (Shell jackets were quite a fad in the 1860s.)

None of the jackets various people were selling at this event had correctly made collars, though, and none were tailored very well.

I'll be in Gettysburg in May, and there's a big uniform place there I'll check out.

[Sir Didymous]

Sorry for the delay in the pictures, but the weather has been a fickle friend and we are preparing to move soon. But here are some other ways that I wear this jacket when I want to be less formal. The first two are shots of the back, both belted and non-belted. The next is the most casual I dare go with it. It is more or less being worn as a medium weight jacket. Then are the two smart day wear options (forgive the evening sporran, but my casual sporran is too casual to look right with the rest of the kit). One is with a waist coat and tie, the other is belted with the top buttons open making a lapel of sorts to show the tie. The colored shirt I feel helps to detract from the historical look a bit, especially with the waist coat. Though I occasionally wear a white shirt with a navy blue patterned tie.

[MacLowlife]

Could you have the seamstress change the facings a little- either extend the wool so that the lining doesn't show when you button the lapels back? Or maybe sew a strip of contrasting ribbon to make a virtue of something unavoidable? Red might be a little too much, but maybe navy or purple or medium blue? Right now it looks like lining. I think it is possible to make it look like lapel trim. I like the back buttons.

[Sir Didymous]

I'm trying to find a matching wool to do just that, but have been having a bit of a time of it. The stores in this area don't carry a lot of 100% wools. I am reluctant to try matching materials online as I can't feel them and colors can vary a great deal between the pictures and in person. I think my next place to look with be a reenactment shop that sells uniform wool, or maybe check with the person I bought it from originally. The problem with option number two is that I don't know if he is the maker or if he just retails.

[MacRobert's Reply]

I'm trying to find a matching wool ...

An almost impossible task! What appears to match in natural light will probably look very different in artificial light and vice versa. As MacLowlife suggests, go for a contrasting fabric and make a virtue of the difference. Black or dark green silk should also work.

Overall the jacket looks fine as a Montrose and with front lining/facings should look good open.

To make it look a bit more highland did you consider gauntlet cuffs?

[Sir Didymous]

I considered the gauntlet cuffs, but it just seemed that it would be easier to dress down this way. That, and I'm not entirely sure how to go about adding gauntlet cuffs when I can't match the material. I suppose that if I went with a black silk to fix the lining, I could match that on the cuffs. Honestly though, I'm pleased with how they look and will probably leave them as is. I know it isn't intended to be used as an historical jacket anymore, but based on many of the old photos running around on here many older kilt jackets didn't have the pieces we normally think of when considering kilt jackets. Thanks for the tips though.