Need help! (White hose and in-laws)

[carlb]

Last Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a pair of kilt hose. She didn't know I had a kilt; she thought they were a "down-payment" for when I actually got one. Not quite joke gift, but not entirely serious either.

They are, of course, white.

We'll be spending some time with them around New Year's, and I plan to be kilted at least some of the time (Dunedin, FL seems an appropriate place to do that, don't you think?) I feel like I should wear the hose she gave me at some point; my mother always made sure that, as kids, we wore gifted items in the presence of the gifter, and I guess it stuck.

So, is there anything I can do to either tone them down, or otherwise soften their effect? I have one kilt (in the German Heritage tartan; see profile photo), and not much else that's kilt-specific in my wardrobe. I tend to wear it in casual-ish environments with just a polo shirt, a solid-colored button-down long sleeve shirt, or a solid-colored sweater. I have both black and brown leathers.

At the risk of being too "matchy" I wondered if I wore a white shirt if it would help - the hose wouldn't be the only white piece of the ensemble, and so maybe wouldn't stand out quite so much. Every other combination I can think of would leave the white hose popping out kind of garishly.

Any and all advice or comments are more than welcome.

[Chas]

Depends on what they are made of, but you could try dying them. If there is any natural fibre in them they will take some dye, but they will end up a lot lighter.

Personally I would not wear a white shirt with them. You might have to just bite the bullet and wear them as is.

[Father Bill]

Just wear them a few times, then let them disappear into the "rarely used" category. After the dust settles, then you can try the dye!

[carlb]

Oh, they will definitely be a one-time-only thing. And, yeah, Artificer, I'm not really going to stress about it; just looking for tips.

[GRKilt]

Depending on your style and the event, maybe wear them with boots, scrunched down. That will reduce the impact of all that white! Also, make sure to wear them ironically. You know they are 'wrong' but nobody else will.

[Kilted Cole]

I'll be honest....I do wear white hose. BUT, I tend to wear them with my Doc Martens and scrunched down for a more casual look. You could do that if it would ease your mind. As the above post has mentioned....it also takes away the "pipe band" look.

[artificer]

They were a gift,
wear them to make the MiL happy. Wear whatever you'd wear for the rest of the outfit.

Enjoy the holidays without worrying about the hose.

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