5 looks of 10 looks

#5 Day Wear
Notes: I have worn this outfit to work, I would equate it to a sport coat and jeans. I have also worn something similar to the Highland Games when it's not too hot. I would not hesitate to wear something like this to a day time wedding as a guest. I've found that many people look upon an outfit such as this as being proper. I know some kilt wearers really like the Crail style cuffs, I have however become accustomed to having the Argyll style cuffs, this jacket is in Harris Tweed and I found it at a local Tartan shop for sale on consignment. I really like the look to me it hearkens back to an earlier time, not to say I am wearing this as a costume because I am not, it is simply that I am comfortable with this style of jacket. Notice that I have matched the colour of my tie with my hose, Green is also a secondary colour in the tartan, thus bringing it all together.

Look 4 of 10

#4 Dressy Highland Games Wear



Notes: I have worn an outfit like this to the Highland Games I find an outfit like this is perfect for the March of the Clans, or if you just want to elevate your outfit a wee bit. I was wearing an outfit almost exactly like this at last years Fergus games a couple of Japanese tourist said I was the most Scottish looking person there. I am wearing a Braemar Jacket in the Burns Check, with a green tie as there is green as a secondary colour in the tartan, I am also wearing Hawick hose green with Argyll tops. I am wearing my Balmoral which has been shaped to my head by soaking it and letting it sit all night, it has also been kicked down the street a bit helping to work it in a we bit, one thing I've learned over my time on X-Marks the older the Balmoral the better. I am wearing Brown leathers with this outfit and again I made the belt. I am wearing a shirt with French cuffs the cufflinks I chose were my late Uncle's pair that are decorated with a thistle. The sporran is one of my Ferguson Britt sporrans this one in brown elk hide and muskrat fur.

Look 3 of 10

#3 Casual Highland Games Wear


Notes: I would wear this outfit at a Highland Games as I'm wearing a golf shirt with the Stewart buckler, I would also wear it to a pub or for an afternoon get together with friends, the difference from this outfit and the last are the hose and shirt, again a very classic look that really looks like an outfit anyone else might wear, save the kilt of course. An outfit like this I think shows that the kilt is not a costume but a normal clothing option, I wear this outfit or something similar for quite a bit of the summer months up here. With this outfit flashes could be worn if you wanted to, to me it really just depends on my mood for the day.

Look 2 of 10

#2 Sporty



Notes: I wore an outfit almost exactly like this to a Toronto FC game last year, I've also worn it out to the pub and would wear it shopping or just to do errands, a look like this with a rugby shirt works wonderfully for a myriad of events, a casual look like this simply works. I am wearing a Canadian Rugby Shirt, again with the Freelander Sporran the belt is one I made myself, I generally leave the Dress Belt for dressier outfits though many do wear the waist plate style belt and buckle combination with this type of outfit. I would say if a jacket is to be worn a denim, leather, or other casual style jacket would work very well. Again flashes are an option I tend to forgo for this type of outfit. 

1 Kilt 10 looks-Look 1 of 10

Not too long ago a new member to X Marks the Scot.com posted a question about the levels of formality in highland attire. The two of us each thought that the best way to illustrate this was to dig up various previously posted photos and offer them as guide to these various stages or levels of formality as we saw them. 

We got to thinking about how often this question comes up, especially for the North Americans on our forum. The world we live in is far more casual than the one of our grandparents' day and children are not generally taught about, or familiar with, expected levels of dress as they grow up. 

We thought it would be a useful project for each of us to take a single tartan kilt and come up with ten different outfits that ranged from the utmost casual to white tie formal. This would also be a chance to show how truly versatile the kilt is. To make this as helpful as possible, to the most people, I chose the red-based Royal Stewart tartan and Jamie chose the green-based Black Watch tartan for their kilts. These are universal tartans that many own and most are familiar with. Both kilts are traditionally made and of traditional wool tartan cloth. 

Using what we have learned on XMTS over the last couple of years and combining it with our own personal sense of style we present this visual guide to help others better understand how to dress up or dress down a kilted outfit. 

I have decided to post my photos from this little project here with my explaination of each, I will start withthe first outfit being casual and move up to White Tie.

#1 Very Casual

Notes: Here would be a typical hiking outfit for me in spring or fall, the hose can be rolled down and if it gets too hot I'm wearing a shirt under the sweater. I could just as easily wear a Rugby shirt or a T-Shirt with this outfit depending on the weather. I tend to forgo head wear unless necessary. Even though it is a simple hiking outfit, there is no reason to be sloppy, so I have ensured that the hose and sweater match, thus if I feel like going out after the hike to the local pub to watch a game I'll fit in as well as kilted guy ever does in a Canadian pub. For the most part recently with our climate I've been wearing an outfit much like this one, so much so that my twin brother who is very much used to seeing me in a kilt is now threatening to call me sweater guy. I am wearing a Freelander Sporran that seems to work well with the Hiking Boots, notice no flashes are really needed for hiking.

1915 Waltham Pocket Watch

A while ago there was quite a bit of talk about Pocket Watches on XMarkstheScot. I decided to go onto ebay and see what I could find. I thought instead of one of those new chrome pocket watches, or the type that costs about $10.00 I would pick up the best one I could afford. Well I found a Waltham from 1915 that was running and won it. My only problem was that I did not have a watch chain for it, again I started looking for a vintage chain, I found one after some searching that was not quite the same vintage the chain is from the 1960 or 1970's. The Chain came in yesterday morning, and I finally got the entire thing together, I'm really happy with it, now it feels like the waistcoat is complete.