Traditional Civilian Highland SHIRTS

[creagdhubh]

I always wear button front shirts from either House of Bruar or Brooks Brothers. Here are the details of what I tend to look for in a good shirt, and what many of my shirts in which I wear with my Highland attire, possess:

Day and Evening Shirts (House of Bruar and Brooks Brothers)

-Straight collar; English spread, Ainsely, Tennis, or Foward point (I avoid button downs).
-1-3 button cuff or French cuff
-Traditional to slim fit, depending on brand and style
-Center yoke
-100% cotton or cotton flannel, depending on brand and style
-Insertable collar stays
-Left chest pocket, depending on brand and style
-No monogramming on sleeve (I tend to believe it is ostentatious and superfluous)
-Solid (pink, light blue, white, and light yellow), university or pin stripe, tattersal (small and large sizes) and windowpane, variants.
-Lightly startched, with a good crease on each sleeve

Formal Shirt (Brooks Brothers)

-100% white cotton pique
-Bib front
-French cuff
-Removable strip of mother-of-pearl buttons, to replace with optional studs
-Spread, lay flat collar
-Insertable collar stays
-Medium to heavy starch
-Center yoke
-Traditional fit

I think tartan shirts are fine, but not whilst wearing Highland attire. Rather, they look far better with a pair of jeans or khakis, and loafers. I like to see tartan shirts with button-down collars (think L.L. Bean).

Cheers,

[Calico]

I think it is silly to attempt to create these rules now. I wear what I want. Please do not attempt to tell me "I'm wrong!".

[CMcG]

I think it is silly to attempt to create these rules now. I wear what I want. Please do not attempt to tell me "I'm wrong!".

I doubt that this thread has anything to do with you personally. And there is a separate sub-forum for wearing the kilt however you please:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f115/

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I think it is silly to attempt to create these rules now. I wear what I want. Please do not attempt to tell me "I'm wrong!".

I read both the posts above yours, and I didn't find a single mention of "rules" nor anyone telling anyone else they were "wrong."

What I did find were a lot of "I think..." and "I tend to look for..."

People are free to share their opinions.

Personally, I generally advise people to steer clear of the whole concept of "kilt shirts." You don't need a special shirt to wear with your kilt. What you have in your closet now will likely work.

Now, good fashion sense still applies. I don't think I'd advise anyone to wear their plaid flannel shirt with a tartan kilt! And some colors work better with each other than others.

But apart from that, I think the trap people tend to fall into is the need for a special "kilt shirt," and this leads to those (we all know them) who anytime they don the kilt also put on an "Errol McFlynn" pirate shirt, as if it were part of the uniform. When it fact, such a shirt is neither traditional nor historical - nor is it really modern. What it is, in my opinion, is "costumey."

Some people really like the way they look -- and in the past I wore them, as well -- but I've come to the conclusion that anything that makes the kilt look more like a costume and less like actual clothing is not a good thing, so I tend to avoid that look as much as possible.

Apart from that, my only advice to people is to give tattersal patterns a try. They look fantastic with tartans!

[Dale Seago]

. . .I've come to the conclusion that anything that makes the kilt look more like a costume and less like actual clothing is not a good thing. . .

I think that's a pretty good "rule of thumb".

Apart from that, my only advice to people is to give tattersal patterns a try. They look fantastic with tartans!

That's something that would never have occurred to me before I began spending time here. And I agree. I'm not sure whether they would be considered a "traditional civilian" shirt, but they do indeed work with tartan.

Here's a personal example from 3 weeks ago, at dinner after about 80 people spent the day thumping, throwing, and generally thrashing each other up in the Marin Headlands:



The lass with me is a Navy vet and former student of mine, who now lives down in southern California but came up for the weekend of training.

[Spartan Tartan]

I like small and subtle patterns, yet all my shirts are solid colors...mostly white. I much prefer the look of a collared shirt.

There are many well dressed gentlemen within the forum and I do take a lot of cues from them...so I suspect there are some tattersal shirts in my near future. But for now, I enjoy my solids.