Advice from the "rabble"

[macneighill]

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my first kilt and now, I'm pulling my hair out (LOL, no not really) trying to match up a pair of hose that would look well with it. My kilt is, the MacNeil of Barra (Ancient colors), 8 yard, Lochcarron heavyweight (here is a photo of the tartan):

I have seen a number of photos of others that also have an ancient kilt and, what they wore for hose and shirts, and . . had seen quite the variety of outfits. Some wore dark, some light, the remainder wore a white or off white hose. To me, they all looked great, in their own way. As for the shirt, some matched it with their hose, others something close and then still, others wore something completely different.

Are the darker colors OK to wear with a lighter colored (ancient) kilt? I was thinking along the lines of black hose, paired with a black polo and, black work boots. But, wasn't sure if that was too much black???

I figured I would start with the hose and then, find a polo shirt to match (or other decent looking shirt to wear with it). I'm just looking for something to wear out and about. Nothing formal, of course, just something "daywear-ish".

I just don't want to go out and look hilariously ridiculous . And being my first time wearing a kilt, I would rather ask the "professionals", you all .

[Panache]

I would wear black hose, brogues, matching flashes or blue flashes, black belt, sporran strap, and sporran (all daywear), and wear a white polo shirt to bring out the white stripe in the the tartan. A yellow polo (in the right shade) would also work well.

Cheers

Jamie

[ardchoille]

Let me state the rules for you:

1) There are no rules

That said, I usually match anything that doesn't clash with the colors of my kilt. Easy, eh? There are going to be people who feel the need to tell you "you're doing it wrong", this can't be avoided, but the only person who is qualified to police what you wear is you.

Be comfortable, that is job one, and wear your kilt with pride and dignity.

[Big Mikey]

IMHO, buy the best hose you can, oatmeal or grey in colour. These colours will go with any tartan. As to shirt, try to match a colour in the tartan or white, black or grey. Again, you will usually avoid a glaring clash using them. Following are some examples.

White shirt with oatmeal hose, Maple Leaf kilt.



Blue shirt with grey hose, "Blue Meanie" camo kilt.



I hope this was of some help.

[macneighill]

Thanks guys .

[Jock Scot]

There are really no rules,but you are quite right to not want clashing colours.I can't remember who said it,but the advice given was:"dress with your eyes"----excellent advice.I find Lovat green hose goes with anything and have a dislike of white.

[mbhandy]

Is every one else seeing macneighill's Tartan because I can't in Explorer or Firefox???

MrBill

[McMurdo]

I can see the tartan if you are still having a problem click here his is the first one.

I think you can get away with black hose and shirt but you could also wear a Lovat Blue, or even Lovat Green or a combination of the two, also as Panache has said you could wear a yellow provided it is the right shade, nothing too bright.

For the Black something like this perhaps


or this


As Big Mike said oatmeal works well with almost everything


or there is the Lovat Green option

I hope these help a little.

[sharpdressedscot]

Good pics, McMurdo! I think I might get a pair of those lovat green.

[Riverkilt]

Ahhh, welcome to the fold.

The beauty of tartans is you can coordinate with any color in the tartan, either matching the color, or using a color that "works" with a tartan color, or going with a neutral color like white,black, grey, oatmeal, ecru, etc.

Play, have fun, take pictures for future reference. You'll soon find what you like best with your tartan and what else you can do that also looks good.

Men with fashion sense seem to wear kilts.

And do go through Ham's album if he has one up. The ultimate in color coordination.

Ron