Sporran Selection

[BlueSkye]

OC's pictures are a useful guide.

The difficulty a good many people have with Highand dress, is understanding what level of formality it equates to in more widely understood terms.

The black-and-white pictures show men very neatly attired, but the tweed jackets and sporrans are the same things that they will wear to relaxed, informal events such as a Highland games. They look smart, right enough, but are they right and proper to do justice to the effort the bride has made?

What we see is the tweed suit equivalent, not morning dress or even lounge-suit. Tweeds, sartorially speaking, are leisure-wear or 'country casuals' despite how expensive they might be, or sharp-looking. The tweedy kilties look like they are wearing just what they wore the previous weekend at their local Games.

If the bride is going to be in a ball-gown style of dress, it is the duty of her groom, her father and ushers to match their outfits to compliment hers, so the day-time tweeds seen in the pictures must have been a bit of a let-down for the respective brides.

We can imagine the conversation in the car as bride and groom drove away. 'You said you would make the effort,' she might say. 'You've only worn your normal clothes, when I've got my lovey new dress, and veil, and flowers and everything. You could at least have tried to make the effort.'

Come on, lads. We all know the tone of voice that would be said in - it's the you-had-one-chance-and-you-blew-it tone of enduring disappointment. Don't go there..!

When so much of life is lived in jeans and t-shirts, many people now think dressing smartly (even for a wedding) is simply putting on a clean pair of jeans and a shirt with a collar, and the old conventions now seem wildly extravagant.

True, the tweed combos will get a lifetime of use after the wedding, so seem justifiable as a choice, but that is what the going-away outfit is for. If you don't already have them, buy the tweeds and hire a black Argyle with silver buttons - as soon as the toasts have been drunk and the music is playing, the Argyle can be relagated to the back of the chair and never worn again. Your going-away tweeds - the things you really want - will be with you for ever.

And so will your bride's gratitude.

Thanks Trog! - Great advice! It is an afternoon ceremony (on the cusp of the evening) at the peak of summer where it will be daylight until late into the evening. I am wearing black argyll with silver buttons. My hope was to put my groomsmen in grey jackets/waist coats to differentiate us. My bride trusts my decisions and choices for my attire as well as my groomsmen, however i dont want to let her down. Here in the states, there aren't as many knowledgeable folks that would be able to know right from wrong on an etiquette scale. They'll be impressed with the fact we've got many gents in kilts and wont know any wiser, although i aim to hit the mark. I'm into the details. Selecting the right/appropriate accessories is important to me. I honor my bride and my heritage and not only want to represent my clan well (although they weren't kilt wearers), i want my Scot cousins to give me a nod on a job well done for my first event.
Stay tuned for more adventures of the kilted newbie!