“Don’t call what you’re wearing an outfit” November 16, 2009

Despite what Jason Isbell sings, I have been most definitely putting together an outfit in my head for the wedding. I find it a bit odd to walk into the shoe department at Macy’s on 34th, which I did yesterday, and have very definite opinions to explain to the saleslady about what I want my shoes to look like. I am not used to having strong opinions about these things. Right now, I can pretty clearly visualize what I will be wearing when I am standing in the front of Emmanuel Episcopal Church on January 2, waiting for my love to come down the aisle to me.

My jacket: I have a charcoal grey tweed Crail jacket and three-button waistcoat on order from Thistle & Clover, the Scottish/Irish store on Main Street in Old St. Charles. They have ordered it from a supplier in Scotland, and hopefully it should arrive in the first week of December. Stephanie got a look at the version they had in the store, and I assume it will look pretty much like this (only in my size):

My shoes: I wanted to buy shoes that looked nice, were appropriate to wear with a kilt, but which I might wear other times when I was dressing up, and not just with my kilt. After poking around online to see what I liked, I went twice down to DSW to see if they would have what I wanted, and ended up yesterday at Macy’s, settling eventually on this pair:

They feel pretty comfortable for dress shoes, and look good with the kilt stockings.

My belt & sporran: We haven’t chosen these, really, but from Stephanie’s scouting trip to Thistle & Clover, I saw a belt and sporran that I like. For the belt, I favor the one with the embossed thistle design:

For the sporran, I didn’t want anything with fur on it, and I didn’t want anything with tassels that would clatter when I walked. This one, with a Celtic knot design looks good to me:

My kilt: I have a kilt in the Dunbar tartan, custom-tailored, which I wore in Andrew’s wedding.

Flashes and Socks: Finishing it all off, I have cream-colored woolen kilt hose, and the flashes I got when I originally got the kilt from my grandparents, way back in high school:

Tie & shirt: I’ll be wearing my green Burns tie, and I’ll get a new white shirt, but a regular buttoned one, I imagine, not one needing cuff links. We’ll see about that, though.

Colors: Lapis, lavender, and red November 21, 2008

 

From pinks to purples.  After much discussion and examination of the David’s Bridal catalogue, it seems hopeful that a dark blue/purple will look lovely and not clash with the tartan Matt will be wearing.  I will be taking the kilt to David’s soon with some girlfriends to double-check, but meanwhile: I’ve been dreaming in deep plum and lavender.

(The dresses in the upper corner of the Board above are actually from the David’s catalogue.)

 

(How amazing are these roses!?)

 

My thoughts run–deep indigo and lavender. Lavender and champagne (with 10 bridespeople, some of them would wear the lapis, and some would wear a lovely champagne/ivory color).  Lavender with ivory, and some pink.  Lavender with shots of crimson red, even.  Unexpected, and still romantic.

 

One potential wrinkle–Matt’s younger brother and his fiancee have chosen purple as their main color.  I want to be sure that our weddings don’t “match,” or steal her thunder via color scheme.  They’re using purple, gold, and white.  Hopefully, if we use the lapis, we would have lapis, lavender, ivory, and red–a soft palette, with lots of muted colors…hopefully this would make the two looks feel very different.

 

I would love to be inspired by my gorgeous engagement ring and go with greens, but red and green feels too Christmasy.  And I’m just not a navy blue kind of person.  

 

Finally, check out this bit of literary whimsy from Wikipedia’s entry on “purple”:

“Robert Burns rhymes purple with ‘curple’ in his ‘Epistle to Mrs. Scott’. Burns is, as far as we can tell, the only writer to have used the word. A curple refers to 1) the small of the waist before the flare of the hips or 2) a derriere, rump or behind.”

 

(Last bouquet on Martha Stewart.com  Inspiration boards from Style Me Pretty.  Dragonfly print from Etsy.com via Style Me Pretty.  All other bouquets from Google.)

Twill, Fireflies and Cottonwood October 5, 2008

I have been thinking about what I will wear for the wedding. So far, my published thoughts on the matter have gone little farther than knowing I wouldn’t wear a flame shirt, guayabera or Hawaiian shirt. Stephanie posted some reflections on what I and my groom’s men might wear, but there hasn’t been nearly as much movement on this front as she might like. So, waking up on a grey and rainy morning in New York, I started thinking of wool and cotton, and here is some of what I have come up with:

I am really leaning towards wearing my kilt. I first got a kilt in my junior year of high school. My grandparents gave it to me for Christmas, and I believe I even wore it to school once. Anyway, my great grandfather had bought this kilt to have as a special thing to wear on a cruise when they were going to cross the equator. As I understand it, he had thought he was buying the Dunbar plaid, but the kilt he bought had the Bruce plaid, one of the most popular tartans. So the family significance isn’t in the tartan, but in the story, and the fact that it has been in the family for quite a while. My brother Andrew got married wearing this kilt — we had an exchange where he got the more family-significant kilt, and I got a brand-new kilt with the Dunbar tartan. He had his groom’s men wearing kilts (Chris and I wore matching Dunbar kilts, while his best man and brother-in-law wore rented kilts), and he wore a formal Prince Charlie Jacket (like the two bottom ones). I am not sure if what the rest of us were wearing were less fancy Prince Charlies (which I think) or were wearing Argyll (or Crail? I can’t figure out if there is any difference) jackets, like the two top ones. For me, I think I would prefer to wear an Argyll jacket and waistcoat, with a necktie. For colors, I would think a grey jacket would be best, with a green tie (maybe my Burns tie). I would think my groom’s men could wear kilts (my brothers may take that option) or grey pants with matching jackets and green neckties. That’s where I am right now. Any thoughts?

In my perigrinations around the web this morning, I also came across these pictures, which don’t exactly match my thoughts about fireflies and cottonwood, but are as close as I can find on Google images:

Suits and such August 7, 2008

For a consideration of what the groom and his folk could wear:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kilts!  But I don’t like the black shirt, black tie, black jacket look.  Too boys’ school gone bad. (From Scottish Shop and Kilt Hire.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More traditional, and this looks like what Matt already has, or would have. (From Linda Clifford Scottish and Irish Merchants.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice cream-colored suit.  I’d like a darker tie to keep it from looking Easter-y.  This would be good for a hot July in St. Louis. (Inspiration board from Style Me Pretty, including image from Brides.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another cream-colored one…and I think all the guys in the party look nice and crisp. (Real wedding inspiration board from Style Me Pretty.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pretty standard suit, but I think he looks appropriately formal and nice.  And I love their shoes! (Real wedding inspiration board from Style Me Pretty.)

Of course, he has an entire year to decide.  Just because I found my dress right already doesn’t mean I need to know what he’s wearing right away…