Hose color help

[Joe Gondek]

I have two kilts
one in the tartan that is on my Avatar and the other in Blackwatch,Modern

What color hose should I wear with my X-Marks T-Shirt with either of them?
I don't have a pair in navy blue but I do have them in Black,oatmeal,cream and Lovett blue

Is cream or oatmeal the way to go If you don't match your shirt?
or do match your kilt if you can't match the shirt?

[Rampant Lion]

I went to a highland games near here this past weekend and I wore hose that matched the green(second most prominent colour next to red) in my kilt and it looked fine. I've seen a lot of people that wear hose that matches one of the secondary colours in their kilt; looks good.

If your blue hose matches the blue in your avatar tartan wear those. With the Black Watch tartan you might want to go with the black hose.

I'd say match either your hose to your shirt or to one of the colours in your kilt.

[Andrew Green]

I have heard a lot of guys wear oatmeal coloured hose. I guess it's just a very neutral colour. I haven't seen any in person, but it seems like a good way to go. Just coordinate well, and you should have no worries.
Black and off white just seem like natural choices to me, since they will go with about everything.
Take this with a grain of salt though, as I am still waiting for my kilt hose to arrive in the mail. Right now I am making do with low top boots, and pushed down socks

[Bob C]

Your lovat blue hose should look great with the tartan in your avatar.

I would not wear the oatmeal ones unless they match a color in your kilt or match your shirt. I bought a pair, mostly because of the opinions on this board, and found that they only look good with one of my shirts.

[Scott Gilmore]

Oatmeal hose works well for casual wear. You could use them for evening (but probably not formal) wear under just the right circumstances. I think it would depend on how you put it together.

White hose are generally best for more formal occasions. I have a pair I use only rarely.

In the snapshot below, I had worn my kilt (Morrison green, modern) to work for the first time, and I purposely dressed formally enough that no one could criticize it as too informal. On the other hand, I certainly didn't want to look like I was getting married. I left my sporran at home - didn't need it anyway - and the pen in the work shirt breast pocket was just the touch.

Rather than wear pure white hose, I wore blue wool hose that complimented the rich cobalt blue in the undercheck of the kilt. I capped it off with a navy blue wool tie. (Sorry, this isn't a very good picture. The hose were blue, not black. The image below is a better illustration of the tartan used for the kilt.)

This was, in my opinion, tasteful business formal, and it worked. Everyone from the clerical staff to the Director had positive things to say.

Regards,
Scott Gilmore

[pdcorlis]

Looks like you've had plenty of good advice here and Scott - as usual - you look sharp in both photos. My only concern with navy or black hose is looking too "bottom heavy" if that makes any sense. If I could only have three choices for hose color they would be oatmeal, lovat blue, and lovat green - they tend to work well with lots of tartans.

[Hamish]

I have two kilts
one in the tartan that is on my Avatar and the other in Blackwatch,Modern

What color hose should I wear with my X-Marks T-Shirt with either of them?
I don't have a pair in navy blue but I do have them in Black,oatmeal,cream and Lovett blue

Is cream or oatmeal the way to go If you don't match your shirt?
or do match your kilt if you can't match the shirt?

Hi Joe,

Since I am still awaiting my X Marks T-shirt, I cannot tell exactly the shade of blue it might be, but I guess standard Navy Blue is about right.

In my opinion, cream hose should be avoided with both your kilts, especially when worn casually with T-shirts. Navy, which you do not have anyway, and black will present a solid, dark block, especially with the Black Watch tartan, when worn with the T-shirt, but you may have no alternative as the Lovat Blue will NOT be right!. Your avatar tartan would, as Bob suggests, look really good with either Oatmeal or Lovat Blue.

Ideally, one should as far as possible try to match shirt and hose colouring, but that is obviously not always possible since we tend to select our shirt next in line after deciding on the kilt we want to wear, and there are a lot more shirt colourings than there are hose - unfortunately! Black Watch tartan, being so very dark, is notoriously difficult to lighten up casually, especially if you are wanting to wear a Navy T-shirt, but I still think you can get away with Oatmeal in this instance.

Personally, I do not wear such dark tartans - plains yes, but not tartans - and so I am unable to speak from experience here, but I hope my thoughts will have helped - even if only slightly!

[Joe Gondek]

Thank you for you advice , Maybe we need X-marks shirts in a variety of colors. It would sure make hose selection easier.


Hamish with all your knowledge and experience why haven't you written a Kilt wearers guide book I know that everyone on this board would buy one