Coordinating A Pipe Band ~ City of Dundee Tartan

[PiperChick]

Okay, Rabble, I would love your help. I have now acquired a sample (aka:scarf) of the tartan our new pipe band kilts are being made of. The scarf was apparently sent to the weaver to match, so it should closely resemble the photo below. I can't say it will be the easiest tartan to coordinate, but I know you guys have a good eye for this, so I'd like to hear what you think. This is one of many versions of The City of Dundee tartan, so chosen to honor the heritage of the band's (and my) hometown, which was named after Dundee, Scotland. It's a big departure from the Royal Stewart we've worn in the past, but it was in the original game plan to move to this when we were able, and that day is here.

Pipe band attire, other than the kilt, would include a glen (black), shirt, tie, vest (black), kilt, sporran (black), belt/buckle (black and silver), hose, flashes, and ghillies (black). The pieces that we expect to change to coordinate with the new kilts are the shirt, tie, hose and flashes. We're leaning towards a medium grey oxford shirt, as white and blue are both done to death these days in the pipe band world. We'd like a different look than everyone else, if possible, but would like to look nice. The kilt will be pleated to the blue stripe. I've fallen for the sporran Field Marshall Montgomery wore at The World's (sigh!) and could possibly get my wish. It's a cantle top black hunting with petals and an engraved band logo where the targe would be.

This is my Pinterest file, which might be helpful. http://pinterest.com/clairbear226/wo...~-dspb-attire/

I've spent some time today looking at all the bibs and bobs and pieces, and what colors might look nice. I'll be able to voice my input about accessories as son as our kilts arrive. Assuming we go with a grey oxford, I was thinking a grey hose with ancient blue tie and flashes might look nice, and would bring out the blue in the tartan. What are your thoughts?


City of Dundee cropped.jpg1185407_10201036617972240_1579877642_n.jpg

[pbutts]

You've got a great pallet to work with there! Have you considered something less traditional on the top like a brown or khaki shirt, or possible going with a different colored vest -- maybe picking up the green? St. Laurence O'Toole looked really sharp at Worlds in their grey vests.

[PiperChick]

I had considered a brown and black hunting sporran, but had not thought of a khacki or brown shirt. That's a thought. I had also considered bringing out the green rather than the blue. Maybe a nice ancient green? One thing to consider: we have playing members ranging in size from a 7 children's, to petite women's, plus sized men and women's, and one gentleman who is 6'5". We really run the gamut as far as sizes go. Finding attire for everyone that is "off the rack" isn't easy, especially when you want to be a bit different. And I thought outfitting a pregnant bridesmaid when I got married was tough, lol!

I'll have to look again at St Laurence O'Toole's vests. I do remember Vale of Athol wearing burgundy on the back of theirs. It was so nice to see someone do something different.

Is their any sort of kilted "virtual model" available that you guys are aware of? I know they do this sort of thing for men's suits and tuxes, but it would be great if there was something like that available for this purpose.

[pbutts]

Is their any sort of kilted "virtual model" available that you guys are aware of? I know they do this sort of thing for men's suits and tuxes, but it would be great if there was something like that available for this purpose.

You could coordinate bag covers, cords, drum colors.....that would be awesome!

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Grey hose would look nice with the tartan and coordinate with your grey shirts. But might I also suggest loval blue hose as a color that would also look nice with your tartan, coordinate with the grey shirt, but add a bit more color to the outfit at the same time. You could wear with ancient green flashes.

[KD Burke]

I've been considering this from the "coordinating vs. matching" point of view.

I like the idea of grey shirts, perhaps with a royal blue, jewel tone tie. Grey hose with royal blue flashes.

The blues won't match, but I think they will coordinate nicely.

[OC Richard]

Pipe band attire...

glen (black)
shirt
tie
vest (black)
kilt
sporran (black)
hose
flashes
ghillies (black)

The pieces that we expect to change to coordinate with the new kilts are the shirt, tie, hose and flashes.

We're leaning towards a medium grey oxford shirt, as white and blue are both done to death these days in the pipe band world...grey hose with ancient blue tie and flashes...

I've been playing in bands nearly 40 years now and have seen various fashions come and go. As your list exhibits, there was a strong trend in the 1990s to suck all the colour out of band kit, with (in many cases) every single item of the kit except for the kilt to be either black or white. When this look was new it looked quite crisp and professional (the pure white hose looking far more clean than the ubiquitous cream of the previous period).

This Scottish band well shows this period, save for the flashes, which more often than not would be black too.



This black/white thing has the advantage of not interfering with the internal colour harmony of the kilt; in other words all the kilt's various colours can be seen pure, neither amplified nor muted by the presence of other colours.

The antithesis of this, perhaps, is what I tend to do: choose strong colours for the hose, flashes, shirt, and necktie. Moreover I try to avoid using any of the colours present in the kilt (or at least any of the main colours). My Isle of Skye kilt looks best with strong blue or claret hose, neither colour present in the tartan



The strong royal blue of the bagcover does a nice optical thing which juxtaposed on the purple of the kilt; ditto the claret of the hose with the brown of the kilt. In person wearing royal blue, skye blue, claret, and scarlet with IOS (which contains none of those) makes the colours of the kilt "zing", somehow created when you wear a colour in the neighborhood of one of the tartan's colour, but more intense. It's as if the eye picks up this extra saturation and applies it to the duller tones in the tartan.

Most serious competition pipe bands the world over wouldn't do any such stuff, but keep things basic and simple, with black predominating.

I can imagine most bands going with black hose and waistcoats with blue shirt and flashes. It would be a middle of the road kit which would strike most pipe band people as being up-to-date and professional-looking.

Navy blue hose might look very good with your tartan. I would stick to a dark colour, navy blue or black (or maybe charcoal, which is dark enough to "read" more or less like black). That tartan has very delicate colour harmonies which would be easy to water down or destroy if the wrong colours are chosen.

I'm a big fan of bands wearing blue shirts. My PM many years ago put it like this: when a band wears white shirts, it looks like the PM told everyone to go home and grab a white shirt out of their closet. When a band wears blue shirts, it looks like a uniform. Plus, I think that tartan screams out for light blue shirts.

Just for yucks, try your tartan with the combination my band wears, seen here. I think it would work great, and be a noncontroversial crisp look that will seem "right" to the other bands, and judges (who after all are your target audience!) The purpose is to capitalize on the light blue/black (or is it navy blue?) portion of your tartan. I wouldn't do anything which would emphasise the brown portion, personally, if you're going to be using black waistcoats and sporrans and glens.



About grey, be aware that mid-grey hose, waistcoats, shirts, etc have the effect of draining the colour out of the kilt, and making the tartan appear much more dull than it actually is. I have seen this happen many times, the clearest local example when the LA Scots switch from white hose and shirts to mid-grey, and all the lovely colours, at a distance, washed out of their kilts. Ditto when the hose match one of the kilt's main colours: that very colour is sucked right out of the tartan, diminishing the tartan's beauty. This is especially a danger with a tartan like yours, having rather delicate colouring.

[OC Richard]

Contrast the colours I wear with IOS to what The Spirit Of Scotland Pipe Band wore



BTW PiperChick, are your old band kilts pleated to the stripe? If so, might you sell one (in a big size)?

[AFS1970]

In that tartan the color the jumped out to the front (at least to my eye) was orange. Not sure if you could find an orange set of flashes, but that might be interesting. Not sure if I would do an orange tie to match at that point. I also liked the dark green flashes and tie idea with the grey hose and shirt. If you do decide on the khaki shirts, maybe a dark green vest might work.

One thing to remember however is keeping cost down. Almost anything is possible but the more custom you get the more it is likely to cost you.

[plaid preacher]

I'm kinda feeling what AFS has said. What about an orange tie? Orange on a gray shirt may give the "pop" needed to keep from looking washed out - as Richard mentioned. And it certainly would make your band stand out.