OK, now I have questions on attire....

[skyy]

1) I have read that ratcatcher is appropriate for cubbing. I thought a ratcatcher was a show shirt (you know, shirt with a button standup collar and then you put the other collar around it that buttons in the back, and your stock pin goes through that collar). But now I think I'm wrong because in the same post I read that you should wear a patterned stock tie. Please clarify.

2) I was given a lightweight black wool jacket but it has 4 buttons. Is that okay for formal season? I need to get it altered to fit better but if the 4 button thing is a killer, I won't. The buttons are black if that makes a difference and it is single vented.

[JSwan]

The final arbiter of what is appropriate attire is your hunt club. When in doubt, you call the Hunt Secretary and ask.

"Ratcatcher" is a type of shirt but it's also a type of turnout. Tweed type hacking jacket, shirt (dress shirt with man's tie, colored show shirt with collar or colored/patterned stock tie), tan or rust britches, brown or black field boots, brown or black hunt cap. Crochet backed or tan gloves. Don't wear a white stock tie.

Think fall colors. You want to look like a forest floor in autumn.

Very generally, that's it.

The 4 button coat would not be permitted in my club. But again - you call the Secretary and ask. That's really the key - call and ask.

You can finagle a lot of this stuff - you don't have to go all out, especially if you're new. My club is fairly strict on turnout - not unreasonable just strict. For cubbing I usually wear my Wal-Mart button down shirt and my Wal-Mart boy's tie. 3$. :D But I do have another tie that I love to wear - I stole it from my husband. It's black with little cartoon characters on it. Marvin the Martian, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety and Sylvester, etc. Shhhh.... don't tell anyone. :winkgrin:

[Equibrit]

I liked cream cotton turtlenecks under my hacking jacket.

Ratcatcher is also a place to get really good stuff !http://onlinestore.ratcatcher.com/Default.aspx