Monochrome sett pictures here please

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Tartans that only incorporate black and white are fairly rare beasts, but they are out there. In addition to the black and white Scott you are wearing, there are black and white tartans for Menzies, Stewart, MacFarlane, and of course the shepherd tartan (Northumberland). They seem to present a challenge for people in terms of matching accessories, but I actually think they are fairly versatile.

One trap that people fall into is to color match their accessories with their tartan. This is a "safe" thing for people new to kilt wearing to do. If your tartan has green, blue, black, red and yellow, then wearing a shirt, tie, kilt hose, flashes, etc., chosen from that color palette is a pretty simple way of making sure your outfit looks well put together. I would consider that a good place to start for most people.

The problem comes when people fail to realize it is ok to branch out beyond that. That many times a color NOT contained in your tartan will also look great with your kilt, and may actually serve to better compliment the tartan. Very often branching out and NOT matching the kilt will give a bit more visual interest to your outfit. And indeed, you should consider the entire outfit, not just the kilt.

This problem tends to be magnified when people wear a black and white tartan. Suddenly one's color choices seem to have been whittled down to black and white! Which might be ok (if not a bit boring) for formal evening wear, but what about all other times?

Here it is essential that people get past the "wear the colors in your kilt" mentality. Indeed, when you consider that your kilt is only black and white, it really presents a neutral tone, and just about any color can coordinate well with it, so long as it does not clash with other parts of your outfit.

I sold a fellow a lovat grey tweed kilt once and he was confused about what color kilt hose to wear with it. I asked him what color shirt he thought he might be wearing. He said claret. So I suggested claret hose. Or charcoal grey hose with claret garters. And if he were wearing a light blue shirt, I'd wear lovat blue hose, etc. He caught on pretty quick. I told him since the kilt was a pretty neutral color, so long as the rest of his outfit looked good together, it didn't matter whether they "matched" the kilt or not.

So that would be my advice here, as well. Don't worry about matching the kilt. If your hose and flashes, shirt and tie, jacket, what have you, look good together, then they should work pretty well with the kilt.

As a personal note, if it were my kilt, I would definitely get a pair of black and white diced hose to wear with it for formal occasions! But for daily wear, I think I would wear any and every color hose BUT black or white.

[LitTrog]

But for daily wear, I think I would wear any and every color hose BUT black or white.

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For once, Mr. Newsome seems to know what he's talking about. I would definitely avoid the B/W for day wear also. I do like your claret and ancient blue hose.