Advice for high school prom

**GrainReaper** · 1st July 16, 04:09 PM

http://www.kiltrentalusa.com/our-collection/packages

While I've not rented from them, they were my local kilt shop when I lived in AZ, they were always courteous and professional... I got my first kilt hose there, as well as other bits of kit.

**Alan H** · 1st July 16, 04:10 PM

My young friend, diced hose are wonderful things, but have you priced a pair recently? A pair of full diced hose is $100+, and can go as high as $200. If you can buy them, then that's grand, go right ahead. You can also look just fantastic in solid color kilt hose.

The same goes for a Prince Charlie jacket. Absolutely they are The Thing for black tie, and I see them from $45 on ebay, but I have real doubts about the wearability of a jacket like that. Cost for a decent one is pretty certainly going to be $120+. Is that in your budget?

You wrote that you are saving up your pennies for a sporran. Fair enough, but are you saving for a $30 sporran, a $60 sporran or a $350 sporran? If you're in the $30 or $60 sporran league, then I stick with my Uniformalwearhouse suggestion.

**Father Bill** · 1st July 16, 04:20 PM

Alan is absolutely right; buying in at the lowest level will disappoint you in the long run. The bitter taste of poor quality remains long after the memory of a sweet cheap price disappears.

**Martin Septim** · 1st July 16, 04:47 PM

I have a dress sporran already, and I'm close to my kilt and flashes, a shirt and bowtie aren't so much an issue, as I'm sure I can get those for a good price, the jacket and hose would definitely be the most intimidating part of my ensemble as of right now. I figure I'll get a nice pair of solid hose that compliments the kilt. I don't mind spending a bit more on a good quality jacket, as it seems to be a good investment to have in the long run. Thanks again to everyone here, you've all been really helpful and encouraging!

**tweedhead** · 1st July 16, 05:14 PM

If you plan on getting a good quality jacket for the long term, in my opinion one of the most versatile kilt jackets is a charcoal tweed braemar. Informal enough for daywear, conservative enough for most common formal events (weddings, funerals, graduations etc) (though of course always be certain of required dress codes or host wishes). It was the first kilt jacket I got, the second was a green tweed three button number and the third was finally a black argyll, and of the three its definitely the one I've gotten the most use out of.

**Father Bill** · 1st July 16, 05:17 PM

A thought has entered my thick skull: Try phoning around to rental shops to see if they have something "suitable" (joke - ha ha) coming off rental that they're ready to sell. Often they're pretty well like new and half the price of new.

When is this event? How much time do we have? What are your sizes?

**Alan H** · 1st July 16, 05:30 PM

An ex-rental is a good idea, if you can find one.

**Father Bill** · 1st July 16, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by Alan H

An ex-rental is a good idea, if you can find one.

Do an online search for kilt rentals and I'll bet you'll turn up one or two near you.

**CMcG** · 1st July 16, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by Martin Septim

Hey everyone, I've got something of a problem right now, in that I'm not entirely certain what would be considered "too much" for my senior prom. This would be the first time I attend any sort of black tie event while kilted, and I'm most likely going to be the only one there dressed as such, so does anyone have advise? Do's or don'ts? I think it's important to mention that I'm slowly saving up money to get most of the attire myself. The only part of the outfit I have right now would be a sporran, though I'm close to getting a 5 yard casual kilt from Scotweb. Thanks for the help.

I wore a borrowed kilt outfit at both my jr. and sr. proms. If only Xmarks had existed back in those days! I did not ask anyone's permission, nor was it a hassle for me. If there is a published dress code, however, you may wish to read it carefully...

So the event is black tie, formal eveningwear? I'd recommend a less-is-more approach. It will be unusual enough if you are the only one wearing a kilt, without adding all the bells and whistles.

A tartan kilt, black barathea silver button Argyll jacket, white formal shirt, black self-tie bow tie, silver cantle dress sporran, solid colour hose, flashes, and well polished black leather shoes will be the order of the day. Wear either a low cut vest or a waist plate belt—both together tends to get sloppy.

FYI, many of these things can be purchased used on eBay or on the For Sale subforum for much less than retail.

One last thing. The advice my Scottish aunty gave me before prom was "show some knee, laddy!" Make sure the hem of your kilt hits the middle-to-top of your knee and that your hose are rolled down enough

**Martin Septim** · 1st July 16, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by Father Bill

Do an online search for kilt rentals and I'll bet you'll turn up one or two near you.

That's a great idea! I just looked up ex rentals on Kilt Rental USA, they seem to be a good choice for either a PC or Argyle jacket. As for the time frame, I've got a long while, as our prom is in March, me and my girl are just a couple of eager beavers I suppose, plus it's good to have everything I need sooner than later.

I've never actually taken the time to measure my jacket size, I'm guessing small? At 6'1 I'm a pretty slender dude.