Wedding in Scotland

[Droid]

This thread helped me in planning my wedding. Daytime = Argyle jacket, not Prince Charlie.

[Jock Scot]

Is the wedding in the Highlands ,or Lowlands?A tweed argyll will be perfect, start off with a white shirt and four in hand tie for the wedding service and then if the subsequent festivities get informal you can always take the jacket and tie off.

If you father is going to hire his attire, can I suggest he brings his own black shoes to avoid those dreadful ghillie brogue things and no doubt he will be issued with white hose. IF HE CAN, see if he can persuade the hire company to replace them for a solid colour.Failing that, go and buy some! I am sure that you can look after them for him, when you return home.

[josephkirkpatrick]

I've got several pairs of hose- he won't be in want of something other than white. The wedding is in Dundee, about an hour and a half drive from Glasgow. Unfortunately, I'll have to find a jacket... All I've got is a black suit coat that works only in a pinch.

The groom has told me that most of the younger guests for the reception will be kilted, so I should fit in well if I wear mine.

[Galician]

The groom has told me that most of the younger guests for the reception will be kilted, so I should fit in well if I wear mine.

Well, that's nice to hear!

[chrisupyonder]

All the weddings I have seen up here in Caithness have been kilted. The odd one or two men in suits have looked out of place.

As Jock said for jackets.

Chris.

[Jock Scot]

The non-kilted guests will be wearing semi-formal daywear, more sport coat than suit.

What is this "semi-formal" thing?

As this wedding is in Scotland, this also applies to the rest of the UK too. Formal(dress) day-wear is the morning suit= Kilt equivalent, black barathea silver buttoned argyll. Formal (dress) evening wear= PC, etc...


There is no such thing as semi-dress(semi-formal) in the UK. A lounge suit is a lounge suit and a tweed day jacket is the kilt equivalent and is not considered as "formal" or even "semi-formal"-------just, smart.. A beaten up up thirty year old tweed day jacket is, I suppose, a sports jacket equivalent. Although, I don't think there is really a kilt equivalent to a sports jacket.

[Phil]

I don't wish to contradict Jock's advice which is perfectly correct. It is odds on, however, that at a wedding in Dundee, the majority of guests will either be wearing Prince Charlies with white hose and ghillie brogues or as a less formal alternative, jacobean-type shirts (with white hose and ghillie brogues) and possibly swordsman-type jackets - the type of thing you see photos of P1M wearing. That is not to say that you should follow suit, just what you may expect to see everyone else wearing. Follow Jock's advice and you won't go wrong.

[Jock Scot]

Thank you Phil!!!!

That is why I asked where the wedding is to be and your prediction of the kilt attire to be worn in Dundee by the locals will, I suspect rather sadly, be spot on!

[Spartan Tartan]

Jock, I suspect our American version of "semi-formal" is essentially the same as what you think of as "smart". There are others here, I'm sure, who can better compared the two. However to me, I believe them to be essentially the same.

To the OP. I would return to the groom. Clearly he would desire his new father-in-law to be dressed properly. I suspect if you ask again with some guiding questions, you will get your answer.

[Father Bill]

What is this "semi-formal" thing?

As this wedding is in Scotland, this also applies to the rest of the UK too. Formal(dress) day-wear is the morning suit= Kilt equivalent, black barathea silver buttoned argyll. Formal (dress) evening wear= PC, etc...


There is no such thing as semi-dress(semi-formal) in the UK. A lounge suit is a lounge suit and a tweed day jacket is the kilt equivalent and is not considered as "formal" or even "semi-formal"-------just, smart.. A beaten up up thirty year old tweed day jacket is, I suppose, a sports jacket equivalent. Although, I don't think there is really a kilt equivalent to a sports jacket.

It has become exceedingly difficult in North America to know what people mean when they identify orders of dress. The names of things have moved up the scale while the clothing itself has moved down the scale. In my non-kilted lingo, white tie and tails is formal, probably with a top-hat out of doors - morning suit during the day. Semi-formal was at one time what we called a dinner jacket - either white or black. Anything less was business suit.

Nowadays when I go into a menswear store and ask for a dress shirt (to go with my dinner jacket) they lead me over to business shirts - often button down, much to my disgust since it indicates that they don't know the names of what they are selling, or that they are assuming that I don't know the name of what I'm requesting. Either way I find it mildly offensive. I would never wear a buttondown even with a business suit, only with a sports jacket and slacks.

The result is that I have virtually no way of translating into kiltwear other than cumbersome descriptions of what I mean.

Jock - what do you refer to as a lounge suit? The other term with which I find myself unfamiliar is the "tattersall" referring to some form of shirt.

That's my rant for this morning!