Argyle Hose for daywear...

[Spartan Tartan]

On the one hand, since they are more expensive than the solid hose I would be inclined to preserve/save them for more special (i.e. More formal) events. On the other hand, they are so nice looking I would want to wear them more often.

I happen to like the look of argyle/diced hose with smart daywear. So, "if" I had a pair, I would definitely wear them. You look great in them, so wear them!!

[Panache]

Answering the poster's original question (and this is just my opinion) I believe that while argyll hose can certainly be worn with daywear not all argyll hose are the same.

I have a few pairs and some (to me) really only look right dressed up like these that match my Black Stewart tartan kilt



Or my XMTS tartan hose



However this pair that matches my Nicholson muted hunting tartan kilt seem fine for daywear



I suspect it has to do with the colors and their intensity. To my eyes the darker and brighter colored hose only realy work for me with formal context while the lighter and more muted colors seem perfectly fine with a more casual look. It really depends on the specific hose, kilt, and kit.


Cheers

Jamie

[Panache]

Ready to work...

RAF,

To my eye your aryll hose work fine with your kilt for daywear.

Cheers

Jamie

[McMurdo]

I have to agree with Jamie here. I've worn Argyll hose in the daytime, though I do not make a habit of it, funny enough to my mind anyway Argyll hose would be better suited to day wear than Diced hose. Here are a couple of examples.

Argyll Hose for day wear, I tried this the day I got these hose, but I've only worn this combination twice in 3 or 4 years, this was one time and the other was for a photo shoot for a website.


Diced hose Formal wear, I've recently received these hose as a Birthday gift and for example I would not wear these during the day, perhaps it is as Jamie says it is because of the colour of them not lending themselves to day wear.

[Jock Scot]

Personally, I am not a fan of argyll hose at any time, but I really do think that they are overly elaborate for general smart day wear. Formal day wear and formal evening wear are another matter entirely, if you so choose.

[OC Richard]

I was curious as to whether these are more typically thought of as for formal use only.

As always, I like to take the long view of things.

Our earliest images of Highland Dress always show diced or tartan hose. Offhand I can't recall seeing images of anyone wearing plain hose until the mid-19th century, so plain hose could be considered a Victorian innovation, I suppose... in other words, one could make the argument that plain hose are not traditional.

In the mid-19th century we have a wonderful snapshot of the current state of Highland Dress called The Highlanders of Scotland, a collection of 56 portraits of kilted gentlemen painted in the 1860s.

At that time there often wasn't a clear-cut dichotomy between "Evening Dress" and "Day Dress" as we would call it today. Long hair sporrans were worn in all sorts of dress (our modern small pocketlike sporrans had not yet evolved) and shoulder plaids were often worn with quite plain tweed jackets.

Nevertheless, it can be seen that the men wearing more elaborate dress, with waistbelt and crossbelt and plaid, nearly always wear tartan/diced hose.

The men wearing plain tweed jackets without any of those accessories are split down the middle, half wearing tartan/diced hose and half wearing plain hose. The plain hose are grey or taupe, with a couple pair in brown and reddish brown. Overall, of the 56 kilted men, only 11 are wearing plain hose.

Here is a quick overview of "Day Dress" in the 1860s.















However, by the 1920s new sporran styles had emerged (some based, as you can see, more or less on 18th century styles), and Highland Dress had sorted itself out into discrete categories, each with a dedicated sort of shoe, sporran, and jacket. It is this 20th century highly dichotomised Highland Dress which has come down to us as "traditional", and which helps form the attitudes of what "looks right" to many kiltwearers today.

[Jack Daw]

I have worn more subdued argyll hose for dressy day-wear and for piping gigs and competitions. But, I've also worn my red-and-white diced when wearing very informal kilt-wear when I host a clan tent at a Highland games or Celtic festival as an attention-getter...sort of like a salesman who wears wild ties.

[RAF]

OC Richard, thank you for the great pictures!

[ForresterModern]

A couple other things are noticeable in those old paintings as well, Richard. Notice the paucity of sgian dubh and of hose ties/flashes showing in the older group compared to the newer. Not a particularly offensive look, IMHO.

[saxandpipes]

...

Here is a quick overview of "Day Dress" in the 1860s.








...

Thanks for the pics OC Richard.

Now, slightly off topic:

Has anyone else noticed that the gentlemen above, appear as if they could have had laces tied at the ankle at some point, and had them painted out? It could be the way the hose are "sagging", but to me it looks as if there used to be laces tied around the ankles, something like our ghillie brogues.

Anybody know the details? Were they changed? (Why were they changed?) Figment of my imagination?

Cheers!

Michael

(edit: especially obvious in the first picture)