Tartan and Diced Kilt Hose

[McClef]

Having seen so many pictures of tartan and diced hose I decided to investigate their cost.

Google produced some frightening costs of between £90 and £120+ for one pair which apparently all have to be hand-knitted. This is between a third and half the price of many full made to measure kilts!

Plain hose on the other hand cost considerably less, between £5 and £25 for the most expensive.

Whereas it would not be economical for hose manufacturers to stock every tartan I was unable to find them for even the most popular ones under that kind of figure.

Diced tartans were not to be found for much less either, considering that they can be produced in a range of colour variations that would match many tartans, I was staggered to find that they too were very costly and were not in stock even in a limited range.

I even tried to find ranges of tartan or diced socks that might suit in a large size but was equally unsuccessful.

I was wondering if anybody knows of any reasonably priced sources or does price condemn the vast majority of us to plain hose and flashes?

[Joe Gondek]

I found diced hose here,
http://www.jhiggins.net
They have them in
Red/Green
Red/Black
red/White

$60.00 U.S.

I plan on ordering a pair soon
will let you know how they look

[Oatmeal Savage]

Thanks for the link, now I can get a reasonably priced set of diced hose!

Kevin

I found diced hose here,
http://www.jhiggins.net
They have them in
Red/Green
Red/Black
red/White

$60.00 U.S.

I plan on ordering a pair soon
will let you know how they look

[Jack Daw]

Thanks for the link, now I can get a reasonably priced set of diced hose!

Kevin

I had a pair of diced hose from J.Higgins. They are synthetic and were not measured to my 16" calves. Being too tight, I gave them away.

I replaced them with some reasonably priced diced hose from Skye Highland Outfitters (See Panache's thread). I have been very pleased with thiese custom fit hose.

[McClef]

Jock - I started this thread back in 2006 and I assure you I have not been worrying too much in the intervening three years.

[OC Richard]

The Higgins machine-made diced hose are straight-legged, not shaped, so that the pattern is quite distorted around the calves unless you have very thin calves. They would work OK with girls perhaps (though girls who do Highland dancing can have large calves too).

Boy those MacLaren tartan hose match perfectly!!! What a great find.

I recently bit the bullet and ordered full tartan bespoke/custom hose.

They cost $200 but are well worth it. They did an admirable job matching the tartan's odd colours and the fit is perfect. (Well it would have been perfect, but for the fact that I lost 40 pounds between ordering and receiving the hose!)

Here they are...

[cavscout]

These are probably the best deal if you are willing to pay a bit more. A few members here have them and swear by them.

http://www.almostunwearoutable.com/system/index.html

[macwilkin]

These are probably the best deal if you are willing to pay a bit more. A few members here have them and swear by them.

http://www.almostunwearoutable.com/system/index.html

...except I do not believe Victoria is offering tartan or "diced" hose...they offer hose with dicing, but not the red and white, red and green, etc. checked hose that are worn as dress hose. Almost Unwearoutble does make the BEST kilt hose I have ever own, bar none! Their hose is better suited for day wear, INHMO.

I haven't had good luck with J. Higgins recently; their customer service seems to be "off" at times, and the custom tartan hose I ordered from them one time "grew beards", even after I followed the "care and feeding" instructions. I would recomend instead:

http://www.tartanthistle.com/Argyll_...tan_socks.html

I have a pair of their tartan hose, and they are grand!

You get what you pay for.

Cheers,

Todd

[sirdaniel1975]

Possible Alternative!

I don't know if these will work, but some might make a decent contratsing look or even match some tartans... possibly Wallace or something..

Over The Calf Argyle Socks

fixed link*

Play around with the different color combinations... It all depends on how high over the calf they actually are. If you're short like me (5ft 5 1/2 inces), they might work...

as stated: I don't know if they'll work, or their quality... just an idea.. I've seen a kilt aficiando wear 18th century leggings as kilt hoes before and it looked pretty decent.. so maybe if someone wanted to be the Ginny pig (not me )?!.

Daniel S. Williamson

[sirdaniel1975]

Or you can make your own "cadhadh" (I hope I spelled that right).. I've seen Bob Martin wear them with one of his box pleat kilts and everthing else(accessories) were modern. You can make them out of wool, pv, or cotton (for comfort).

Mine are Wallace Hunting, 11oz cotton from Wally World (AKA wal-mart). I've recently seen Campbell/Black Watch, Royal Stewart, & dress Stewart at Wally World..



Daniel S. Williamson