Help me decide (making hose for a groom)

[sydnie7]

My niece is getting married next spring and I've offered to knit the groom a pair of hose. This will be his first kilt outfit and my sister is having a kilt made for him in Black Watch (he's a LEO). I think Bonnie Heather is on the job there, selected from a short list that I provided of reputable makers gleaned from my time here at XMarks.

We've also found him a nice black Argyll, purchased from another XMarker, so this is shaping up nicely. I believe the wedding will be late afternoon-into-evening.

Anyway, back to the hose. I'm leaning toward a dark blue, with simple details -- perhaps a cable running up each side and cabled cuff. I'm thinking solid color but could add some multi-color details in the cuff, if I don't stick to cables. But I've yet to attempt an Argyll cuff and this is probably not the time to try

I think dark blue is better than black, yes? Not as funereal. I don't think the young man would be comfortable with a completely "non matching" color such as burgundy.

Dark green is another option but somehow the green hues seem more difficult to coordinate between knitting yarns and tartan. And unless I prevail upon Bonnie to send me a little scrap, I don't have any of the fabric to compare with.

So. . . thoughts? suggestions? Not many choices, as I've outlined, but maybe there's a brilliant idea out there!