How do you deal with a pocket watch when kilted?

[O'Callaghan]

When gentlemen wore pocket watches, they invariably wore waistcoats. Otherwise where would they put their watch? When wristwatches caught on, that was the beginning of the end for waistcoats. I think it's quite acceptable to wear a waistcoat without a jacket, although at one time it may not have been.

Perhaps waistcoats might come back as a fashionable way to wear a mobile phone?

A word of caution to our American friends. Yes, we know you call your waistcoat a vest, but did you know that in the British Isles a vest is what you might call an undershirt? If you said that you wore your vest outside your shirt people might think that you dress like some sort of comic book superhero, or that you are simply a bit eccentric.

[piperdbh]

A word of caution to our American friends. Yes, we know you call your waistcoat a vest, but did you know that in the British Isles a vest is what you might call an undershirt? If you said that you wore your vest outside your shirt people might think that you dress like some sort of comic book superhero, or that you are simply a bit eccentric.

Why are watches called watches, and not "wrist clocks" or "pocket clocks"?

Since the original question has been answered (and quite peaceably, at that), I'll respond to my cousin here and say that the garment which is called a vest in the UK is, in some parts of the US (and I hate this name and please don't think I made it up), called a "wife-beater". I wish that name had never been created, and I try to discourage anyone I hear using it from repeating it, but for the edification of our members in various locations, I'm presenting it here for general education.

[Cygnus]

...
In 1911 Cartier created it's first wrist watch (the Santos) which caught on with gentlemen (of means) due to its association with the dashing aviator, Santos Dumont.

Ah, that brings back memories of the couple of years I lived in Brazil. As Santos Dumont was a dual French/Brazilian citizen, the "fact" that he invented both the wrist watch and airplane is a matter of pride for many Brazilians. Mere mention of the Wright brothers can spawn hours of conversation or debate. It is interesting to talk and read about, though Dumont most certainly didn't invent the wrist watch (and most probably didn't invent the airplane, though it says as much in many Brazilian textbooks).

Why are watches called watches, and not "wrist clocks" or "pocket clocks"?

They are called wrist clocks and pocket clocks, just not in English!

The actual origins of calling portable time pieces "watches" is uncertain, though I've heard it said that once watches became more accurate, smaller, and more affordable, they quickly found military use - as MacMillan of Rathdown kindly pointed out. These timepieces made watches (the time that a soldier spent watching for the potential threats) much easier to divide and keep track of, though soldiers on watch tended to pay closer attention to their time-pieces than the actual task at hand, earning them the name.

As I said, I don't know the real reason behind the name, but this story I've been told certainly makes sense!

[AstroBen]

Why are watches called watches, and not "wrist clocks" or "pocket clocks"?

Since they don't have bells that chime every hour, you have to watch them

And, yes, I've heard the term "wife-beater," though I think the term refers to blokes who believe that type of shirt can be worn by itself without a shirt (the kind with buttons). I've always known them as A-shirts, because of the shape like T-shirts are named.

[Kornkob]

A word of caution to our American friends. Yes, we know you call your waistcoat a vest, but did you know that in the British Isles a vest is what you might call an undershirt? If you said that you wore your vest outside your shirt people might think that you dress like some sort of comic book superhero, or that you are simply a bit eccentric.

One could go back and forth all day long with examples of regional variations of English terminology and the confusion it can cause.

[macwilkin]

When gentlemen wore pocket watches, they invariably wore waistcoats. Otherwise where would they put their watch?

Some put their pocket watches in the left breast pocket, with the chain bar pushed through the lapel buttonhole.

T.

[Old Hippie]

A couple of years ago, while climbing in the Jamieson Range behind our farm, I took an unplanned tumble down a steep scree slope. While self-arresting I felt a ripping pain inside my left wrist as it was torn open on something sharp. Once the horizon stopped going around I had time to check out the wrist, which was not ripped as badly as I'd feared. I've since recovered full function in it, but I have an interesting scar there.

Because I couldn't wear my wristwatch for a while I started wearing various of the pocket watches I've accumulated over the years (I've inherited watches from each of my grandfathers, as well as been given them now and again). I haven't gone back to the wristwatch. I've been known to brace the manager of a clothing store for buying a batch of jeans with too-small watch pockets. Amazingly, it worked and the next shipment had larger pockets.

In a Freedom Kilt, I hook the chain over my belt and put the watch in the side pocket on the right side. The chain disappears in the fringe, and since I don't put anything else in that pocket the watch is easily accessible. Likewise in a UK Mocker. In a UK Workman I run the chain down the front of the kilt and drop the watch in an outside pocket.

On rare occasions, I wear a casual vest with the kilt, and do the watch-pocket thing with it when I do. Often, though, I'm not in a situation where a casual vest/waistcoat is appropriate or needed, and I don't have a formal one.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I wear a wrist watch. Is this a big no-no?

Actually, the wrist watch has been around for more than 150 years. The first really big use of wrist watches happened in 1880 when Kaiser Wilhelm I ordered 2000 of them to be issued to officers in the Germany Navy. Prior to the first World War wrist watches were not terribly popular with men, although extremely popular with women. In 1911 Cartier created it's first wrist watch (the Santos) which caught on with gentlemen (of means) due to its association with the dashing aviator, Santos Dumont. During the 1914-18 war tens of thousands of wrist watches (nick-named "trench watches") were issued to the troops of all the belligerent nations. By 1920 the popularity of the wrist watch was assured, with sales of wrist watches outstripping pocket watches 50 to 1 before the end of the decade.

So, is the wrist watch a big "no-no" with the kilt? I hardly think so.

[AstroBen]

I wear a wrist watch. Is this a big no-no?

I should think not.

[nagod]

pouch on belt is how i wear mine.