What colour hose and flashes would work best?

[davidg]

I have a Weathered MacKay kilt on order and I am a little stumped as to the best colours for hose and, in particular, flashes

The colours can be seen here at http://www.lochcarronweavers.co.uk/t...st/mackay.html

The image (bottom one) is a little more faded than when viewing the actual tartan, which generally gives off a brown/beige hue

For evening wear I have had a pair of tartan top hose made to match, but I'm at a loss as to what colour flashes would go best with them. For daywear I am not sure whether to wear charcoal grey hose or not and, again, what colour of flashes?

I do not like bright colours so a subdued and co-ordinated look would be preferable

Any suggestions will be most welcome

[Jock Scot]

How about lovat green,or, bottle green hose, both with dark blue flashes? Or even, no flashes at all?

[piperdbh]

Claret, mustard, heather purple

[creagdhubh]

Mustard, lovat green, lovat blue, St. Andrew's blue, oatmeal (stone or fawn), grey, claret, tartan red, ancient red, purple, and of course...just about any colour combination of chequered top hose (see photos on the forum of me, Sandy MacLean, David Pope, Matt Newsome, HRH Duke of Rothesay, etc, wearing such hose).

Cheers,

[ForresterModern]

Weathered tartans from Lochcarron are beautiful but can be tough to choose hose for because of the washed out color palette. I would suggest Lovat blue, claret or even darker red/maroon, or even a heather brown if you can find a nice pair (I got lucky with the pair I found). I would suggest the same colors for flashes, maybe in addition to a weathered blue or grey, just don't make them the same color as the hose at the same time. I have a pair of grey/weathered blue flashes I picked up from a bargain pile at a vendor's a couple years ago simply because they were cheap---just looking at them alone you would think them ugly and not likely to work with anything, but they have become a go to pair with a lot of different tartans, as it is a neutral and relatively light color that can pop against darker or more vibrant colored hose.

[xman]

Hose?
Ancient Red or Claret if I wanted to be bright.
Lovat Blue, Lovat Green or Oatmeal to be subdued.

Flashes?
Tartan Red or Bottle Green
but I'd be curious to see Mustard or Purple

[davidg]

Many thanks for your thoughts so far, they are very helpful and give me some colour combinations I would not have thought of by myself

[Newfoundlander]

I'm a big fan of the claret myself. That being said, I'm somewhat partial to red flashes in general.

Here's a thought/question to pose to those in the thread. I gave a cousin of mine some of the leftover Newfoundland tartan fabric from my kilt so he could have a set of flashes made, and he tends to wear them most of the time with his kilts (a MacDonald and an Irish National).

What's your opinion on differing tartans for the kilt and the flashes?

Slainte!

[Jock Scot]

I'm a big fan of the claret myself. That being said, I'm somewhat partial to red flashes in general.

Here's a thought/question to pose to those in the thread. I gave a cousin of mine some of the leftover Newfoundland tartan fabric from my kilt so he could have a set of flashes made, and he tends to wear them most of the time with his kilts (a MacDonald and an Irish National).

What's your opinion on differing tartans for the kilt and the flashes?

Slainte!

I am personally not keen on tartan flashes in any circumstance. One needs to keep in mind that wearing tartans of different CLANS ( different tartans within the same clan is OK, I suppose) is considered rather bad form and can, in some circumstances, cause offence. I can't see any problems with mixing a district tartan with a CLAN tartan though, if that is your wish.

[davidg]

I agree with Jock about not mixing tartans, including not mixing versions of the same clan or sett

I am not so opposed to tartan flashes in general though. I think they can sometimes look quite nice and certainly better than those awful modern ones made of floppy and fraying russian braid. I'm thinking about getting some of the traditional tie garters as I think they look better

Like you I like claret but I am not convinced that colour would work well with the overall brown effect of my new kilt. I am tending towards the greys and greens and I like Kyle's suggestion of the chequered tops, perhaps in dark green or a biscuit colour