Black Tie, Blue Tie
About.com informs us that “A Black Tie invitation calls for formal attire. Men wear tuxedos, women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.” Of course this is cultural.
Traditional wedding gowns, for example, from…
China:
from Morocco:
From (someplace in) Africa:
We all know what the Scotsman wears for formal attire. Wikipedia lists “black tie Scots Highland dress” to include:
- Black kilt jacket — Prince Charlie coatee (the most popular style), Montrose doublet, Sheriffmuir doublet, regulation doublet or Argyll jacket are suitable (a black or red mess jacket is also an option)
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Black waistcoat (low cut, fastened with three Celtic buttons)
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Kilt
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White shirt
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Neckwear: black bow tie
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Shoes: black Ghillie brogues (tongue-less brogues with long laces that wrap around the lower leg and tie above the ankle) or black dress shoes
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Hose: kilt hose (knee-length wool socks) in monochrome, diced, tartan or off-white
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Accessories: flashes (a pair of decorative pointed vertical strips of fabric attached to garters used to hold up kilt hose)
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Accessories: dress sporran (a sporran is a decorative pouch worn at the front of the kilt)
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Accessories: sgian dubh (optional) (a small ornamental knife tucked into the kilt hose)
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Accessories: dirk (optional) (an ornamental cut-down sword)
Pictured below is the “Royayl Stuart” style coat from the Highland Wear site. Too bad these guys look like such dufuses (is that the right plural of dufus?). That’s a lot of shiny buttons. I can’t even see the full kilt and socks and shoes. I wonder what they put in those man purses. Maybe just weights to keep things on the down low, if you know what I mean.
I prefer men having more fun. This pic is a lot easier on the eyes for obvious reasons. It may not pass FORMAL inspection, but who wants to be formal? I usually hate leaf blowers…
Although kilts are probably accepted among most men with Irish descent, I would think most American men who actually sport the kilts in daylight have a good sense of humor.
Now kilts with boots, that’s what I like. However, kilts with boots with WHITE laces – which could indicate support of white supremacy – not so much. So if I cut off the racist’s feet, then yes, more attractive. But formal or informal, hot or not, white laces on tall black boots shouldn’t be let in the door.
I’ll leave you with a YouTube version of the only real joke I know about men in kilts. I first heard it at a Robert Burns birthday party.
About Jojo-a-Gogo
Oh my…from faux fur to kilts and what {isn't} underneath them… Yikes. I think I'm speechless! For the first time… ever…?
Great post and what a great tune with which to finish! As someone with mostly Irish descent (some English and I'm sure some Scottish scallywag is in there somewhere too), I have to say I've never worn–nor want to wear–a kilt. But I respect it nonetheless!
I have some Scottish blood in me and therefore wanted a formal-wear kilt until I learned that formal kilts are sewn in such a way that the plaid is uninterrupted where the pleats meet and, therefore, are very expensive. I have some Scottish blood in me so I no longer wanted a formal-wear kilt.