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14th June 18, 11:49 AM
#1
Looking for colour recommendations...
Good day rabble!
I am looking for recommendations around suitable colours and do's and dont's around colour use please and thank you. My kilt is comprised of bright blues, mid-greens, yellow and black colours. It is quite bright. Attached is a photo of my son's kilt being made (I included it because it shows up brightly in the photo like mine does in sunlight.
Specifically, I am looking for recommendations on the colours of:
- Shirt
- Tie
- Hose
- Jackets/Vests
- Any other items that you think might colourize well with it
I admit to being a bit gun-shy because it can be a bright kilt colour wise. Thus far I have stuck with cream and black hose and a black Argyle Coat and 5 button vest. I also have worn either a white or black long-sleeved dress shirt. I also wear a black tie usually. I have black ghillie brogues as well as a black glengarry (piper after all).
Please share with me your thoughts on colours that would be a good fit to enhance the kilt and my style.
The second picture I have included is of my son and I with me wearing my kilt after a formal event. Just ignore the fly plaid...I hastily threw it back on for the photo at the request of the photographer. ;) Being a night-time photo, the colour is quite subued, hence why I included the first image.
Thank you Rabble!
kilt_being_made.jpg
Scott and Drew.jpg
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14th June 18, 12:50 PM
#2
Wow! Do you like kicking hornets' nests? Just kidding, but I'd be very surprised if you don't get a lot of input from members here, because it seems each and every one has a little bit different idea of what colors go with the kilt.
To start, in my opinion, the outfit you have is quite nice, but I'm sure others will point out that, to a degree, it depends on the function you're attending. I would say that what you're wearing in the photo (sans plaid, which if worn, should be for formal events only) would look great at either a dressy day function, or a not-too-dressy evening event. That is how I would wear those clothes and colors.
As to colors that go with the kilt for a variety of levels of formality? I always look for hose, ties, flashes, etc. that pull one of the colors out of the kilt. You can also- if you have a knack for colors- find complimentary colors that will go well. That is, colors from opposite sides of the color spectrum.
For example, with the blues and greens in your kilt, you could look at accessories in orange and red hues. Bright colors can look garish, but I look for subdued or earthy tones, for example instead of bright orange or red, I might look for terra cotta, garnet, bronze, or berry.
I hope this gives you some ideas, and food for thought.
Cheers!
p.s. I'm looking forward to seeing others' responses.
Last edited by KiltedSergeant; 19th June 18 at 12:34 PM.
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14th June 18, 01:46 PM
#3
I'm one of those who does not try to use the colors from my kilt to decide the colors for the rest of my outfit.
To me, looking at this from an artistic standpoint, if you build all the colors of the outfit using the same colors as are in the kilt - you make the kilt part of the background.
We are peacocks, we want out kilt to be the centerpiece of our outfits and we want the kilt to shine.
So - What I do first is pick a shirt out of my closet. I have more shirts than I do kilts.
Then - I go to my drawer and pick a pair of hose that color coordinate with my shirt. (Notice that I said color coordinate and not match)
Basically I use nature as my guide. Any two colors you can find in nature will go well with each other.
Some people will say that brown and blue don't go together - Well, have you ever seen a tree trunk against the sky?
Once these two choices are made I put my kilt on. It really does not matter what kilt I put on. If the rest of my outfit is coordinated it will almost always work.
And the kilt stands proud as I want it to.
There is no brown in this kilt.

And if you care to look at the 1 kilt - 10 looks thread you will see other examples of not using the kilt as the color pallet of an outfit.

Sometimes things work out that I use colors for my outfit that are also one of the colors in my kilt. OK, as long as I am not pushing the kilt to the background I feel it works.

When choosing an outfit your best friends are a mirror and a girl. Girls are taught all this color coordinating stuff from a young age. We guys don't usually get to go to those classes so we have to come here and ask for help.
So - The best advice is - get dressed and stand in front of a mirror. Does how you are dressed look about like you would look in trousers? OK, it probably works.
Does how you are dressed look like some costume out of "Braveheart" or something out of some catalog from the 1930's? Then you are probably over thinking this whole thing.
You should be comfortable in your clothes. And it is only clothes.
Last edited by Steve Ashton; 14th June 18 at 02:04 PM.
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14th June 18, 01:50 PM
#4
I like colour
Personally I think the kilt can and will stand on it's own. I really don't think there is a necessity for matching each part of your kilt attire. I have 6 different colours of kilt hose and wear whatever colour strikes my mood ..........Day wear attire can handle almost any colour of hose.
I do match the colour of my shoes with my sporrans, only because I am able to, but am sure soon that will not be a preference either
Some don't like white hose, for me I don't really like black hose, it's too somber, and there are so many wonderful colours to choose from, why not take advantage of it. The two colours I wear most often are House of Cheviot Rannoch Mustard yellow and House of Cheviot Rannoch Claret. I recently bought House of Cheviot Lewis Ancient Green, but I will likely wear them at kilted events rather than celebrations as that colour doesn't quite "pop"
If you don't feel comfortable having nothing match then match your shirt and tie with your jacket and waist coat as you would in Saxon wear.......otherwise don't overthink your ensemble .....AGAIN I do reiterate that in my opinion the kilt and hose will stand on their own so not to worry ........you will look grand no matter what
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Last edited by Terry Searl; 15th June 18 at 02:27 AM.
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14th June 18, 02:16 PM
#5
The advice you have gotten so far is great. You might want to window shop shirt hose colors while keeping an open mind. I try to imagine, these things may go with my kilt and not with my other clothes. I am surprised at the choices I make that I had not ever bought but are on my wish list.
Examples: golden, rust and green hose, lavender, pink and canary colored shirts, and jacket with vests other than black, brown or blue. I have a scarlet and steel grey vest for instance. It is a slow and deliberate start.
Steve had mentioned using a color wheel (long ago) in finding the complimentary color to a base tone. If your kilt is mostly green, use a light brown hose and golden flashes to offset (thus enhance) the tartan. With such a good first photo, I expect you will do fine.
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14th June 18, 03:39 PM
#6
Ok my recommendations would be as follows:
Shirt
I find a tattersall works really well, as does a pale blue, or even pale yellow or pink.
Tie
A regimental or school tie would be the traditional choice but you could a striped tie that works for you if you do not have any of those. I went out and purchased the the Army Benevolent Fund tie and find it works with most every tartan
https://soldierscharityshop.org/coll...ts/charity-tie
Hose
Here you could go with Lovat Green or Blue, but I would also get a pair of Claret hose and Mustard Yellow. You could also go for darker Blues and Greens as well.
Jackets/Vests
I like a brown Argyll jacket but also a Charcoal Grey is never a bad choice another idea is again Lovat Blue or Green
Any other items that you think might colourize well with it
A nice brown leather day sporran would be a good choice as well.
Edit
I just found this photo from a few years ago but it shows me in my clan tartan Graham with a Lovat Blue Argyll and Claret hose with a Brown day sporran that was handed down to me from my father, the shirt is a white with red check and the tie is striped.
Last edited by McMurdo; 14th June 18 at 08:03 PM.
Reason: Added a photo to illustrate
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14th June 18, 04:47 PM
#7
McMurdo’ thoughts mostly mirror mine. I particularly like the recommendation of the claret hose. I also am very fond of grey hose. You can then add a splash of colour with garters (or flashes) that may pick up a colour in your tie or shirt. The tattersall shirt for day wear may surprise you but it works very well. For day wear I like a tweed jacket or lighter depending on the weather. My choice on the choice of a tie is to have a 2.5 inch width. (if you are wearing a waist coat the width doesn’t really matter.) Keep watching posts here and develop your own style.
Slainte
"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience
well, that comes from poor judgement."
A. A. Milne
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15th June 18, 02:54 AM
#8
Something Different-Plan a Wardrobe
I love this topic but I approach it from a different angle.
I’m going outside the box and using the kilt colours as the basis of a wardrobe plan.
My favourite site for palettes, ideas and common sense plans/formulas is The Vivienne Files
http://www.theviviennefiles.com
Now as it’s for a man, I used socks (instead of scarves or jewellery) for the accessories accent and colour and added a couple of Sporrans (day & dressy)
Using the 4x4 template and searching Google images, this is what I came up with- along with a few colour palettes for inspiration.
I chose what “I” like. Eg:Kilt & polo shirt (I’m doing this for fun)
What “You” like and need may be completely different.
I added 2x casual trousers 1x Jeans as the extra bottoms.
I do think more tops and casual toppers are needed but the 4x4 wardrobe is a great base to start with and to pack for a travel wardrobe.
I didn’t go near Ties, Flashes, Belts, Shoes & Boots.... too much for me to contemplate
Enjoy and I hope it helps? Or leads to more discussion?
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15th June 18, 03:18 AM
#9
Here are some combinations I put together
(Please excuse my woeful computer skills attempting this)
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15th June 18, 07:39 AM
#10
As I suspected the community here is awesome!
Thank you so very much for the perspectives and for sharing your thoughts. Thank you @Lady Gray; for the thoughtful and visually appealing images using the kilt and such. There are colour combinations that I can start to put together now with a couple of additions.
It also seems that some of the colours that do work are somewhat outside of my "comfort zone" but that might be a good thing too. I will have to literally wear my kilt and go shopping I think.
I agree that the earth tones are likely to work best instead of brighter colours. The kilt is certainly bright enough on its own! I find myself drawn to the greens, orange/yellows, and brown combinations so far.
I was playing with a colour wheel as per the suggestion (http://paletton.com/#uid=63-0V1kvsD7...oodRmRsPjOHWii). It did help me to see the combinations and play around as well.
I have been through a fair bit of the site. The 1 kilt 10 looks post is helpful for accessorizing in terms of types of accessories to wear at various levels of formality and uses but didn't inspire me a lot for colours. Seeing pictures (I am very visual) of others in their kilts can help, especially if their kilts are in the blue/green (preferably bright) part of the colour wheel.
Keep the posts coming, I am certainly getting a lot out of this - comfortable or not!
Airaghardt!
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