Mixing tartans - yes or no?

[OC Richard]

Just to bring us back to my original question - what do the style guys think of the idea of kilt in one my clan's tartan and hose in another of the same clan's tartan.

To take a long look at things, going back to the earliest Highland Dress we have clear images of, in the late 17th century and early 18th century, the hose never matched the kilt. Hose were not knit, but cut out of woven fabric yardage and sewn up. The tartan used for hose was a thicker stuff than that used for kilts and tended to be woven in simpler patterns, often using red and white.








These traditional red and white hose were adopted by all the Highland regiments raised in the 18th century are are still worn by the military today:



So when you see nonmatching diced or tartan hose worn in modern times, it's harkening back to the earliest Highland Dress we have good images of.



Knitted hose made to mimick the tartan of the kilt as closely as possible didn't get popular until the mid 19th century. You see a load of those kind of hose in The Highlanders of Scotland (1860s).

Not in hose, but in plaids, there's an entire pipe band that wears mismatched tartans, though it's subtle, two different MacDonald red tartans (the only difference being the presence or absence of a central black line). I really like that, as it's very much in keeping with 18th century Highland Dress. It's the Isle of Skye Pipe Band and here they are:



(I'm talking about the pipers. As you can see the DM is wearing a Cameron of Erracht kilt. I think that guy was a QOH DM but I'm not sure, and he may be wearing his ex-army kilt.)

The tartan of the plaids was copied from the painting above, the jacket worn by the boy holding the golf club.