P.C. jacket questions

[OC Richard]

I picked up an ex-hire Prince Charlie several years ago labelled ACS and the quality, fabric, and fit seem good.

I've only worn it two, perhaps three, times in those years.

In any case with Prince Charlie waistcoats and any other waistcoat one does see white shirt sticking out fairly often, usually not due to the waistcoat or the kilt being too short but the kilt being worn too low.

Though here in the USA there's been an inexplicable trend of men ordering their kilts shorter and shorter. Men of average height are ordering kilts in lengths that in the old days would have been for very short men, or for youths. These men have the goal of having the top of the kilt a couple inches lower than what's traditional. When paired with a traditional-length waistcoat it leaves exposed shirt.



About the tails in the back of a Prince Charlie, I've never been aware that they fall to any particular place. I'm more aware of how long the waistcoat is in relation to the top of the kilt, and how long the jacket is in relation to the waistcoat.

Here's a 1939 illustration from a catalogue from one of the firms making Prince Charlies at that time, you can see the relationship between the bottom of the jacket and the bottom of the waistcoat. Seems that the waistcoat is very slightly shorter than the jacket (you don't want the waistcoat to be peeking out all around).



It's interesting that this 1936 catalogue doesn't show black Evening jackets. I love this Prince Charlie, more formal, with tartan waistcoat, lace jabot, and castellated hose.