Argyle/Argyll tweed Jacket and Waistcoat Advice

[cable scot]

Here are the buttons on the cuff.

They're all the same style and finish. I would love them on any jacket,they're just cool buttons.

Regards
Andy

[TheBlueRaja]

Here are the buttons on the cuff.

They're all the same style and finish. I would love them on any jacket,they're just cool buttons.

Regards
Andy

Thats nice,
I like how they are a dull finish and not super shiny.

I'm going to Peebles this weekend and have decided to nip in to HOS on the way, that way i can get a good look.

I may even go for the black tweed as opposed to the charcoal but im not 100% on that yet.

Thanks for all the input guys, i'll let you know how i get on, i've already went out and bought some Lovat Green and Blue hose because of this site, i suspect this place could eventually cost me a fortune

[creagdhubh]

Before you settle on a tweed jacket and waistcoat, it would be good to note that according to the late Scotty Thompson, who wrote the "bible" on Highland wear (So You're Going to Wear the Kilt), tweed jackets are traditionally best suited for informal day wear. They correspond to a sport coat level of formality. Your PC on the other hand, is black-tie evening wear. For a daytime wedding, the most appropriate choice would be a black Argyll (or Argyle - same thing) with silver buttons. That same jacket will do for most evening events as well, up to the point where, as Thompson wrote, "the Saxons are in white tie and tails".

Of course whatever you choose to wear, it is highly unlikely that you will be arrested by the fashion police. It depends on how important keeping with tradition is to you.

On tweeds, weight and warmth: the jacket in my avatar pic I converted from an old favorite sport coat. It looks heavy and hot, but it is one of the most comfortable year-round jackets I have ever worn. The tweed is about medium thickness, but loosely woven and very light.
I would suggest that you get your hands on some swatches before ordering your jacket, since these factors appear to be important to you.

Whatever you decide to buy and wear, do it in good health and happiness.

I have J. 'Scotty' Thompson's wee book as well (I bought it when I was a freshman in high school!) and though there is some so, so information in there, I tend to disagree with many of his points.

I tend to also disagree with your assessment that the tweed 'Argyll' jacket and waistcoat should only be restricted to daytime events, where this is certainly true in one sense, I believe wearing the tweed 'Argyll' jacket and waistcoat to weddings, funerals, ceilidhs, certain dances (not formal balls), etc, is perfectly acceptable and is actually done often in Scotland - I have witnessed it and have been apart of it!

Now, I am certainly not saying that it is entirely appropriate to wear tweed to a ball, dinner, or some other type of formal/evening event, on the contrary and quite naturally, this is where Highland evening attire comes into play.

Cheers,

[creagdhubh]

Agreed. Just so you know, the black barathea, silver buttoned,with a normal tie(not a bow), argyll is normally worn for formal day weddings and should be conidered as morning suit equivalent. So ask yourself this, particularly as we, I think, are talking UK here:-

How many formal weddings do you go to?

A pretty smart do in London last year-------Prince William's wedding. The invitations stated that uniforms, morning dress,or, lounge suits were to be worn. This kilted gentleman is perfectly attired for the occasion.

Precisely Jock, fantastic visual example! I don't even own an 'Argyll' style jacket and waistcoat in the black barathea and silver buttons, simply because I realise that I would hardly wear it (if I were a competative, solo piper then it may be a different story)! I have coatees and doublets in velvet and barathea with silver buttons for evening attire and my tweeds for day attire and other appropriate social functions regardless of the time of day and that's it; nice and simple.

Hill-checks and tweeds are not solely reserved for the heath and bracken of the Highlands.

[David Thorpe]

I tend to also disagree with your assessment that the tweed 'Argyll' jacket and waistcoat should only be restricted to daytime events...

I didn't say that, although it appears that you weren't the only one who read that into it.
As to Thompson's book, he wrote several times in it that what he stated were guidelines rather than hard, fast rules. He was also very careful to separate his personal opinions from the "purist view" and general practice -- that general practice now aged thirty-some-odd years.

[David Thorpe]

Thats nice,
I like how they are a dull finish and not super shiny.

You can get the same effect from most cast metal items with a Sharpie or acrylic artist paint, some 4-0 steel wool and about ten minutes per item, depending on size.

[creagdhubh]

Thompson's book is mostly crap.

Hahaha, quite!

Most Highland Scots wear tweed kilt jackets to weddings. THey are not "best suited for informal day wear." Rather, a tweed kilt jacket is the Highland equivalent of a suit.

Agreed. Informal day wear I have observed whilst in the Highlands (specifcially throughout my own family - the Macphersons of Invereshie as well as the Macphersons of Cluny, Glentruim and Pitmain) is typically through the form of a v-neck or crew neck jumper, a button-down shirt by itself, or both worn together - much of the 'informal' day wear depending upon the weather and what one is actually doing.

Cheers,