Kilt outfits and colour selection

[OC Richard]

A topic that comes up on these boards regularly is the one of matching.

I put together some collages- what are called "mood boards" in film costuming- showing three different levels of matchiness.

First are outfits where everything matches, that is, there is only one colour chosen. In other words the kilt's main colour is chosen for all accessories.

Here are monochromatic outfits in white, cream, black, grey, and blue. Note that one photo of an all-grey outfit could be mistaken for a black & white photo if it wasn't for a swatch of red tartan on a shelf behind.



The next level in complexity is outfits using two colours. In other words, the kilt's main colour is one of two colours chosen for all accessories.

Here are outfits in red/black, purple/yellow, and grey/blue.



All the outfits above look over-designed and over-simplified to my eye.

The next level is outfits using three colours. Now we're getting to the sorts of outfits generally chosen by Pipe Bands and pipers, and many non-pipers too.

Note that none of these outfits actually employ three colours. Rather, they use a kilt that's neither black nor white, with entirely back and white accessories. This thing of having the only colour in an outfit being the kilt, the rest being black or white, was a huge fad in the Pipe Band world starting around 1990 and has not yet entirely abated.



I haven't yet hunted for photos showing four-colour outfits, that's next.

But just as food for thought here's an illustration from a Highland Dress catalogue from the 1930s. Note that there are no repeated colours save for some accessories echoing colours in his kilt's tartan. We also may note that his bonnet and hose, while blue, are different from each other and also from the blue in the kilt.

navy blue bonnet
Lovat green jacket
tartan green/royal blue tartan kilt
brown sporran
light blue hose
black shoes



Also here's a piper playing in a higher-level solo competition. His kilt is primarily green and purple and neither of these colours appear in his accessories. Once again his bonnet, jacket, and hose are different from each other and from his kilt. (There might be a tiny splash of purple in his flashes!)