formal evening dress: vest or no?

[Zardoz]

I've seen Prince Charlie coatees (the equivalent of a tuxedo/ dinner jacket) worn with golf shirts, open neck polo shirts, even t-shirts. I've seen them worn at Highland Games in the middle of the day in 95+ degree weather.

My theory is this: When these well-meaning, but confused, folks do this, it's because they don't look at a Prince Charlie coatee and think, "That's a formal jacket to wear with my kilt for black tie events." Instead they look at a PC and think, "That's the sort of jacket that one is supposed to wear when one wears a kilt." So, when the local Highland games rolls around, this fellow dons his Prince Charlie coatee, because "well, this is what one wears with a kilt."

David

I think David is on the money with this reasoning. The difference in my mind of a regular 'kilt wearer' who wears it as much as he can, as opposed to a 'kilt owner' who sees it as a costume. I've seen the same sort of things, full on PC outfit during the day at the games, PC jacket over a pirate shirt at renfair etc...

I call this the "I paid for this outfit, I'm gonna wear it" syndrome; these fellows bought that rig for some event, wedding, Burns upper, etc., and now any time there is a "kilt thing" they drag it all out and put it on, many of them only once or twice a year. Most of them view it as a costume, the idea of the kilt with other types of clothes/levels of dress doesn't occur to them. I know I've heard that attitude from 'non-kiltwearers' before, I read a post on a menswear forum where a guy complained about a kiltie at his church, saying; "He had on a kilt and those socks, but not the rest of the outfit, just a shirt and tie".

Another 'subset' of this is the "I paid for this outfit, I'm gonna wear it, even if it doesn't fit anymore" syndrome; This one is in evidence at Burns suppers and other formal events around the world, when they drag it all out and put it on once a year, even though they've gained 20+ pounds since they bought the thing. Y'all know what I mean, thats when you see that expanse of white shirted belly between the top of the too tight kilt and PC/waistcoat. That's actually a time when the PC and belt/waistplate might be the better option, (and to be honest, when I see the P/C - belt combo, I assume this is the case) but of course some of those belts don't have a lot of adjustment either!

[creagdhubh]

I think David is on the money with this reasoning. The difference in my mind of a regular 'kilt wearer' who wears it as much as he can, as opposed to a 'kilt owner' who sees it as a costume. I've seen the same sort of things, full on PC outfit during the day at the games, PC jacket over a pirate shirt at renfair etc...

I call this the "I paid for this outfit, I'm gonna wear it" syndrome; these fellows bought that rig for some event, wedding, Burns upper, etc., and now any time there is a "kilt thing" they drag it all out and put it on, many of them only once or twice a year. Most of them view it as a costume, the idea of the kilt with other types of clothes/levels of dress doesn't occur to them. I know I've heard that attitude from 'non-kiltwearers' before, I read a post on a menswear forum where a guy complained about a kiltie at his church, saying; "He had on a kilt and those socks, but not the rest of the outfit, just a shirt and tie".

Another 'subset' of this is the "I paid for this outfit, I'm gonna wear it, even if it doesn't fit anymore" syndrome; This one is in evidence at Burns suppers and other formal events around the world, when they drag it all out and put it on once a year, even though they've gained 20+ pounds since they bought the thing. Y'all know what I mean, thats when you see that expanse of white shirted belly between the top of the too tight kilt and PC/waistcoat. That's actually a time when the PC and belt/waistplate might be the better option, (and to be honest, when I see the P/C - belt combo, I assume this is the case) but of course some of those belts don't have a lot of adjustment either!

Well said mate.