Average Scottish Groom's Wedding Attire

[OC Richard]

Yes all of these responses are what I (as an American) see being worn in Scotland, both now and in the past: traditional Day Dress.

The puzzling thing for me is that, as a piper, I've played for hundreds of Scottish-themed weddings here in California, and whenever there are Scots in attendance who have flown over for the wedding they are invariably dressed in black Prince Charlies with ghillies and white hose.

I do recall one Scot in tweed, however: he was wearing a grey tweed Sheriffmuir doublet with matching kilt, an outfit I didn't care for.

Mind you, all of these weddings were daytime, and many were held outdoors.

In any case, here are vintage photos of Scottish weddings, showing how things used to be done

[figheadair]

Yes all of these responses are what I (as an American) see being worn in Scotland, both now and in the past: traditional Day Dress.

The puzzling thing for me is that, as a piper, I've played for hundreds of Scottish-themed weddings here in California, and whenever there are Scots in attendance who have flown over for the wedding they are invariably dressed in black Prince Charlies with ghillies and white hose.

Because they probablly hired the outfits for the wedding.

In any case, here are vintage photos of Scottish weddings, showing how things used to be done

And of course at this time all the kilts are worn 'at the knee' and no white hose.

[Jock Scot]

Because they probablly hired the outfits for the wedding.



And of course at this time all the kilts are worn 'at the knee' and no white hose.

My thinking too.

[Tomo]

For comparison: the first was at a friends wedding, my wife was a bridesmaid and the bride specifically asked me to wear my kilt, the rest of the wedding party was in morning coat (formal day dress) so black Argyll seamed appropriate; the second was my own wedding, a much less formal affair so grey tweed was the order of the day:

[Jock Scot]

OCR.

I think that you and perhaps many others outwith Scotland mistakenly assume that nearly every male in Scotland owns a kilt and attire and what is more, they know how and when to wear it. That has never been the case. I have no reliable statistics to quote but at a guess, I doubt if 20% of male Scots own a kilt and I also doubt if 10% actually know how and when to wear it!

So, hiring the kilt outfit for an occasion is the obvious route that many take from a financial viewpoint. Sadly, most of those hiring their attire do not know the finer points of wearing the kilt and appropriate attire and take the advice from the hire company. Regrettably, the end result is far from traditional.

I have just had a look in Google images at "traditional highland Scots wedding attire" and out of several hundred images, very few would qualify for my definition of "traditional highland Scots wedding attire". Although, I am pleased to note, that since I last looked a couple of years ago, I do get the feeling that there are slightly less white hose on show, slightly less black bow ties and Prince Charlies for day weddings, slightly less fly plaids and slightly less ghillie brogues to be seen.

I wonder if the hire companies in Scotland and elsewhere are now revising their attire stocks and advice after this subject was last discussed here at length, some time ago? I doubt it, but it would be nice to think so!

[McMurdo]

OCR.

I think that you and perhaps many others outwith Scotland mistakenly assume that nearly every male in Scotland owns a kilt and attire and what is more, they know how and when to wear it. That has never been the case. I have no reliable statistics to quote but at guess, I doubt if 20% of male Scots own a kilt and I also doubt if 10% actually know how and when to wear it!

So, hiring the kilt outfit for an occasion is the obvious route that many take from a financial viewpoint. Sadly, most of those hiring their attire do not know the finer points of wearing the kilt and appropriate attire and take the advice from the hire company. Sadly, the end result is far from traditional.

I have just had a look in Google images at "traditional highland Scots wedding attire" and out of several hundred images, very few would qualify for my definition of "traditional highland Scots wedding attire". Although, I am pleased to note, that since I last looked a couple of years ago, I do get the feeling that there are slightly less white hose on show, slightly less black bow ties and Prince Charlies for day weddings, slightly less fly plaids and slightly less ghillie brogues to be seen.

I wonder if the hire companies in Scotland are now revising their attire stocks and advice after this subject was last discussed here at length, some time ago? I doubt it, but it would be nice to think so!

Jock
As I am outside Scotland, I would like to weigh in here. For us in Canada anyway there is no illusion of every Scottish male tromping through the highlands wearing his tartan plaid (insert other stereotype here). However we are still part of the Commonwealth and I think that counts for something. For my own wedding I wore a tweed argyll, yes I wore grille brogues but that was only because at the time they were the only black shoes I had that fit and had laces, a situation I have since remedied.

I do frequent William Glen and Sons here in Toronto and was recently able to purchase a new Argyll and waistcoat for my friend Nathan's wedding, I have lost some weight and my other jackets were a bit on the loose side. I was lucky in that they had a sale going on at the time and was able to purchase a new set in Lovat Green in my new 38 size rather than wearing one of my 40 sized older sets. At any rate William Glen and Sons does do rentals of tweed day wear outfits, so I think there may be some hope.

[OC Richard]

OCR.
I think that you and perhaps many others outwith Scotland mistakenly assume that nearly every male in Scotland owns a kilt...

Not at all!

On my first trip to Scotland, in 1986, I couldn't help noticing how in nearly every home we visited there were group wedding photos to be seen, and when I asked I was told that the kilts were hired.

So I came away from that trip with the idea that hardly any Scots owned kilts, but all of them appeared in kilts at weddings. Little did I know at that time that the Kilt Hire Industry had only really taken off a decade earlier.

I saw few hire shops at that time, but on my next trip they were everywhere. There was one street in Glasgow where there was one every block. And some of the most horrific outfits you can imagine were seen.