Another Christmas party thread ..

[PiobBear]

If I were you, I would skip the belt and go for a sporran and a pair of black shoes.

Yep, I agree... especially if you go with the sweater.

I'd skip the kilt pin, too, and get a pair of black wingtips; like Rex said, you need a pair of (multipurpose) dress shoes anyway.

[slohairt]

Dia Dhuit,

I agree. Skip the belt and buy a black daywear sporran and black wingtip shoes. The sweater will cover up the belt and the shoes can be used for other outfits as well. I think W**l-Mart has cheap wing-tips and you might check the thrift shops, too. They are very common shoes and will look great after being shined. If strapped for cash, I'd even skip the kilt pin temporarily and buy a plain safety-pin style one for about a $1.

[Canadian_Kilt]

The cheap black shoes are a good idea .. I hadn't thought of that.

I don't mind spending the money on a full on dress sporran. I need to buy one for my wedding anyways, and this is a good opportunity to use it. It might be a bit much for the rest of the outfit, but that's fine - most people wont know the difference, and I can't afford to buy a semi-dress now and a dress one later, even though the semi-dress would get a lot more use.

Kilt Pin I was just going to pick up something simple and cheap, so that's not a huge factor. If I can't find anything it's easy enough to go without. I need a belt anyways so I'm ok buying that, but I'm not going whole hog on it. Something decent, but basic.

So I put all this on - the sweater is actually black, not blue - and it looks really good. The sweater is a mild v-neck, but enough to look funny without a tie, so I threw on a black, grey and navy blue tie, which I think went well. Keep in mind that I'm color blind .. but these are colors I'm good with.

Once I get it all tommorrow I'll give it another go. I figure I could go with the sweater tucked in with a belt, or untucked without. I'm kind of partial to the belt .. partially because of the look, but also because this kilt doesn't fit as snugly as I'd like .. and I wouldn't mind having it for .. safety reasons ..

I wish I could post pics to help me decide but my camera is out of town .. with my wife .. so I'm really on my own here.

So my shopping list tommorrow is cheap black dress shoes, belt, dress sporran and possibly a kilt pin. Good thing my better half is out of town .. ;)

[O'Neille]

On the subject of brogues (wing tips) I managed to forget mine on a trip and went to an upscale shop to get a pair. I whimped out because they were too skinny in the toe and were over $200. I was going back to my hotel and drove by an outlet mall. There I found perfect all leather wing tips for $40 that put my expensive shoes to shame for comfort and value.

I would suggest that you move the left strap in an appropriate amount and the right buckles back the same distance and you won't need the belt to hold your kilt up. I've done it on a couple kilts and it usually takes about 5 minutes per strap. O'Neille