Waistcoat with a belt

[Highlander31]

This is not a bad look, but the military in me would like to fix his gig line. ith:

That was my first thought as well.

Life is full of bad "solutions" to what should be non-existant problems. If one followed Thompson's suggestion to its (il)logical conclusion, one would suppose he'd advise Texas businessmen to tuck their waistcoats into their suit trousers so people could see their rodeo belt buckles. Sorry, but as this is the "Traditional" forum, I'm sticking to my guns with a very traditional comment:

Kilted, or in trousers, one should never "tuck in" his waistcoat.

I agree. I can't imagine tucking the waistcoat into my kilt, or the vest into my trousers (back when I was required to wear three piece suits.)

[creagdhubh]

This is not a bad look, but the military in me would like to fix his gig line. ith:

Lovely wildcat sporran the chap is wearing on our left. I woul donly wear a belt with a waistcoat for eveningwear and in the manner to wear the belt is hidden by the waiscoat and doublet-this of course is only if you will be wearing a dirk with the regulation doublet or the sheriffmuir-both of which have waistcoats.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Young Struan, chief of Clan Donnachaid, could use a few pointers from some of the old timers...that loose droopy belt he's wearing in this photo makes him look like an American tourist.

Could he be wearing a truss?

[Paul]

Young Struan, chief of Clan Donnachaid, could use a few pointers from some of the old timers...that loose droopy belt he's wearing in this photo makes him look like an American tourist.

I'm positive that he was wearing a belt with his waistcoat at The Gathering. My girlfriend had a short conversation with him as he is technically her clan chief (not that she'd bothered by that!). He looked like he was dressed very well, too.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Imagine, for a second, a belt almost an inch wider, with one of those chrome-plated index card belt buckles that most people own/wear... somehow I think that would look a whole lot worse...

[Asser 1]

That old chief is just crusty looking enough to pull it off.

I have seen the look on Thompson's book but I think the look would create a fine line between disaster and success.

[Tobus]

This is not a bad look, but the military in me would like to fix his gig line.

I'd also like to fix his garter flashes. Good grief.

[Asser 1]

His flashes aren't too far off. Especially his left, the regiments line the front flash up to the line of the shin. Maybe he is an old military man.

I'd also like to fix his garter flashes. Good grief.

[Tobus]

His flashes aren't too far off. Especially his left, the regiments line the front flash up to the line of the shin. Maybe he is an old military man.

I could appreciate that if the flashes were in roughly the same place on each leg.

[OC Richard]

Yes wearing a waistbelt over the waistcoat appears in many old images of people in Highland Dress. But to call it the only "proper" or "correct" way goes beyond the evidence I see.

As always, for a "reality check" I go back to The Highlanders of Scotland, for indeed that source is unique.

Of the figures which are wearing jackets and waistcoats, and the jacket is unbuttoned, I see:

16 men wearing no visible waistbelts

8 men wearing their waistbelt over both their jacket and waistcoat

2 men wearing waistbelts over the waistcoat

1 man wearing a waistbelt over his waistcoat but is jacketless

NONE of the waistcoats are tucked into the kilt, including the two men wearing waistbelts over their waistcoats. Here's one of them:



Also, NONE of the men are wearing waistbelts peaking out from under their waistcoats. This has always looked sloppy and "wrong" to me. It just wasn't done in the past... at least I don't recall coming across a vintage image of it.

Here's what it looks like:



Note how the black belt ruins the look of the shape of the bottom of the black waistcoat, foils the waistcoat's "line" and cut.

In a band, where you're stuggling to present uniformity, the waistbelts always fight against it, as they droop down to various level and are seen to various different degrees. How much better it looks, how much more uniform, and also how much more in line with tradtion it is to go without the belts: