Quote Originally Posted by Nathan View Post
As you may have deduced from McMurdo's photo, there is more than one kind of formal jacket now. The PC is a popular choice, but there is debate about whether it is formal enough for white tie. It certainly appears that it was in the 30s when it was conceived, but many treat it like a tuxedo today which is a step below formal in the British sense.

Here are a couple of other formal jacket options for you to examine that are still worn today.

AGM_Final_sm.jpg

MacLeodofMacLeod1.jpg

new doublet.jpg
Yes you are quite right. There has been a steady evolution and a differencing seems to be taking place between the perceptions of formality in various places. There seem to be two distinct paths to this evolution. One deriving from the military and the other from civilian styles, with aspects of both influencing the other. The belt and dirk go well with the jacket derived from the doublet, but not at all with the one derived from the tuxedo. Which I assume, is why everyone insists that the belt is not needed and not desirable with the PC. On the subject of the dirk, in one of the earlier images it shows the sgian dubh in the right sock and the dirk on the left side. To me that seems natural, as opposed to wearing them on the same side. The reason being, I live in the bush and carry a boot knife as a last "claw" in emergency, but am used to drawing my large knife with the right hand across my body, when I have to cut through small trees and branches. It is one movement to draw and hack. So with the military derived jacket, and belt over it, when I see a large knife on the same side as the dominant hand, it just does not have the same defensive capability. Now, I understand that it has become a fashion thing that harks back to the warrior past, and that no one uses this knife for defensive purpose anymore, it just seems more correct to wear it on the other side. It seems in some of the images I have seen that the carrying of the dirk on the right is associated with pipers. Of course there is the possibility that this is done to seem less aggressive, to make it look more like a decoration, than the weapon it actually is.