daywear jacket preferences

**Jock Scot** · 28th October 10, 08:32 AM

Yes I think you are quite right, tartan waistcoats are a bit much for normal day wear and are usually seen to best advantage in the evening. However I have seen, on occasion, a tartan waistcoat worn with a black barathea, silver buttoned argyll in a formal day setting.

**MacLowlife** · 28th October 10, 01:00 PM

CMcG, what you might try to find is a three piece suit that has lost its trousers, such as this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mens-M-Blue-Gray...item19c077e413

You may have to do some tailoring beyond the usual shortening, but do remember, a short suit coat might well be long enough in the sleeves and how much you chop off the skirt may be irrelevant. For some reason, short suits tend to prevail. I tried searching on eBay for harris tweed suit ( jacket, waistcoat) and searching the descriptions... If you are really lucky, you might be able to have a waistcoat made from the yardage of the trousers.

**lethearen** · 28th October 10, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by CMcG

1) size: tight, form fitting, relaxed roomy, or oversize?
2) cut of jacket: Argyle, Crail, Braemar, Wallace, or other?
3) waistcoat: matching the jacket, different than jacket, or no waistcoat?
4) colour: lovat green, bottle green, lovat blue, navy blue, charcoal, light grey, black, or other?
5) material: tweed, barathea, or other?
6) all of 1-5 i.e. you own a LOT of jackets
7) none of 1-5. Please present your preferred alternative!

1. My jackets tend to be "relaxed"... I would prefer form-fitting, but haven't ponied up for a custom tailored jacket. An OTR jacket that fits my shoulders is too big everywhere else.

2. Both of my jackets are Argyle.

3. I love waistcoats, and generally prefer unmatched.

4 & 5. A lovat green barathea with chrome buttons, and denim blue tweed with faux horn buttons.

My ideal next kilt jacket would be a well-fitted Crail in a windowpane tweed in an earthy colour (brown or maybe mossy green).

**OC Richard** · 29th October 10, 04:10 AM

My favourite sort of daywear jacket is the cota-breac or check tweed:

**CMcG** · 29th October 10, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by MacLowlife

CMcG, what you might try to find is a three piece suit that has lost its trousers, such as this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mens-M-Blue-Gray...item19c077e413

You may have to do some tailoring beyond the usual shortening, but do remember, a short suit coat might well be long enough in the sleeves and how much you chop off the skirt may be irrelevant. For some reason, short suits tend to prevail. I tried searching on eBay for harris tweed suit ( jacket, waistcoat) and searching the descriptions... If you are really lucky, you might be able to have a waistcoat made from the yardage of the trousers.

MacLl,

Perhaps I'm misreading you here but are you suggesting that with a suitably short jacket, one might not need to cut the bottom of it? That's an interesting proposition...

I can understand why people convert Saxon jackets but, in my eyes, the look of an altered jacket is rarely right. It seems like the whole bottom of the jacket, the pockets, and the body would need to be re-built in order to make it work. Too often, converted jackets look like someone just hacked the bottom off. Major alterations are pricey, however, and might obviate any savings over just buying a kilt jacket!

And no, I'm not much of a tailor myself

Maybe something like what fellow Xmarker Paul is wearing in a pic he shared with us?

Or like the jacket that the gentleman on the second from the right is wearing in this picture?

**Mike_Oettle** · 29th October 10, 02:33 PM

Well, I’m not so sure about the jacket on the gent second from right, but I like his waistcoat (vest)!
And as for the gentleman in the blue shirt and blue tie, he is always well dressed in a kilt!
Regards,
Mike

**BruceBC** · 29th October 10, 02:40 PM

I like the look of unaltered old tweed jackets for casual daywear. The home page of 21st century kilts has a great example of the look.

**Snowbear** · 30th October 10, 02:07 AM

I only have two jackets for day wear. One argyll, and one crail. The crail jacket is a bit tight fit now, but the argyll is looser in order to play the pipes more relaxed. I don't use waistcoat a lot for a non-formal occasion.

Black argyll, and green crail. Good to have something to change between.

All my jackets are off the rack. It is a bit loose around the waist, and have good fit around my shoulders. I'm not A4, and my shoulders are bigger than my waist compared to the "standard". Still it fits really well, so I don't have to get a made-to-measure jacket yet.