Braces with kilt?

[ThistleDown]

Wearing braces (suspenders) AND a belt at the same time.... It just isn't done.

Oh dear, Sushi, my friend, we've been spending all too much time together. Words out of my mouth (and Jock's and others' too, I suspect), but in this case the braces are keeping his kilt at a height required by polite society, and the belt is being used to dangle things from, don't you know?

[flairball]

To clarify my situation; I don't care to wear braces with my kilt, but as I've lost a lot of weight, I must. I thought I'd explore the thought with a post here to see what the consensus was. I intend to wear a belt with the braces, but the braces will actually be hidden under a tweed.

As soon as my weight loss stabilizes I will send my kilt out to be tailored.

[ThistleDown]

flairball, wear them both if they make you comfortable. The braces will be prescribed to hold your kilt up (until you can have it modified) and the belt will be an acccessory. You would be best not to display them both. Hide the braces. I think you are referring to a waistcoat when you say a "tweed" -- yes? Tweed is actually a fabric and is used primarily in the making of jackets, waistcoats, greatcoats, trousers and, sometimes, kilts.

[flairball]

Yes, I intend to hide the braces. When I say tweed I mean I will be wearing a tweed braemar style jacket (lovat green). I will not be wearing a waist coat with it.

If by the weekend I can find a charcoal tweed waist coat I will go with that, but as of now my only waist coat is a brown herring bone. While I don't have an issue coordinating the brown waist coat, with the lovat jacket, the event I'm attending is indoors, and I'll get too hot.

I should also add, because of my weight loss the sporran strap cause a few wrinkles in the apron. If I distribute them evenly across the front they are only noticeable near the waistline, so I wish to wear a jacket, or waist coat to help hide the wrinkles as well.

Who would have thought getting healthy would have caused so many problems.

[ThistleDown]

Be comfortable, flairball. Forget the waistcoat. Don't worry about the braces; don't button the jacket in some effort to hide them, in other words. Your sporran should lie a hands-breadth below the buckle of your belt, and the belt should be at your natural waist. I'm not sure what you mean about wrinkles in the apron and a need to distribute them, but I think you worry needlessly. Relax and enjoy the occasion.

[neloon]

Kilted soldiers in the First World War were supplied with braces (and, of course, buttons on the kilt) because it was seldom possible to find a kilt of a perfect fit from stores. Of course, the braces were hidden by the tunic.

[madmacs]

That's a lot of fabric (thick) to hold with clip on ones, so I'm guessing you're talking buttons...

It might also be worth looking at the positioning of the buttons on a pair of trousers... They tend to be fairly far from the center which helps with them being hidden when your coat/jacket is worn open

[CDNSushi]

Oh dear, Sushi, my friend, we've been spending all too much time together. Words out of my mouth (and Jock's and others' too, I suspect), but in this case the braces are keeping his kilt at a height required by polite society, and the belt is being used to dangle things from, don't you know?

Indeed. I don't deny the utilitarian purpose of the braces AND kilt... But I do maintain that to my eye, it just doesn't look right... Call it personal preference if you will, but if I were to require a belt (for suspending dirks and cellphone cases, or doohickies), I'd probably omit the braces... And if I needed the braces in order to not scare the ladies when my kilt hits the floor because it's too big, then I suppose I would either omit the dirk and doohickies, or simply reconsider my choice of wardrobe for the day...

[Clockwork]

Generally, I agree that the two being worn simultaneously is redundant, but something to keep in mind is that a man of his age has seen a lot of mileage, and with that comes a lot of wear and tear on the vehicle. It may be unlikely, but there could be age or illness related reasons preventing him from tightening anything around his waist (colon-cancer, for instance). Or, maybe he just finds the braces more comfortable and likes the convenience of the utility attachments which can be added onto the belt. You know the saying....form follows function.

Cheers,
-Jake