Another hose advice thread...please humor me!

[longhuntr74]

I know there have been a few threads recently about "what color hose should I wear with my Clan MacMuggle kilt?" At risk of sounding stupid, I am posting another one...but with a bit more "substance" to it (I hope).

I have been gradually acquiring the pieces of my formal kilt outfit...and you all probably saw my recent thread where I just finished making my bias cut waistcoat to go with my US Army tartan kilt. I had originally planned on getting some Argyll hose made to go with my kilt and waistcoat...but I have recently started questioning if it might not be a bit much of the same pattern to wear matching waistcoat, kilt, AND hose.

To answer my own question, I went through my rather extensive collection of kilt pics that I've harvested off this forum and other places and have noticed that in most of the pics where gents are wearing tartan waistcoats, they have opted for solid or contrasting diced/triced hose. Likewise, where gents are wearing tartan hose that match their kilts, they tend to wear a contrasting waistcoat (typically black, but sometimes a contrasting color). Here are some visual examples.

Tartan waistcoats with contrasting hose:




A slightly unique case where the seated gentleman is wearing Argyll hose with the same colors as the tartan...but with a different dominant color:


An example of the majority of cases observed in my pics where Argyll hose are worn...who better than PM Gordon Walker to demonstrate this look:


A couple of "exceptions" where all three (vest, kilt, hose) match:



So here's the question, then. If I intend to wear my US Army tartan waiscoat and kilt (as in the picture below), what type of hose would look the best?


I've come to the conclusion that yellow flashes or garters are a likely top choice...but what type of hose? I've considered diced hose in green and blue, green and black, blue and white, or black and white (perhaps even yellow and black for a "loud" option). I've also considered having Argyll hose made to mirror the US Army tartan, but in a "muted" color scheme (interestingly enough, the STA colors for the tartan thread count call for "olive drab" as the main color of the tartan...even though I would say that every weaver uses "tartan green" or "forest green" as the base color). If you would recommend a solid color rather than Argyll or diced hose, what color and why?

Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

[Zardoz]

Very sharp outfit Longhunter!

I've got a couple of ideas about hose, for what they're worth;
I think if I was wearing that same outfit I would sport some black or charcoal hose with green flashes, or.... if I was gonna spring for some diced hose, Green and black with some yellow flashes sounds pretty good.

[McMurdo]

I`m going to throw another option out there and suggest diced hose in either red and white or red and black. Here are my diced hose both in red and black and red and white





I think either would make a good choice, the red and black were purchased at the Scottish Tartan Museum and are a treat to wear as they were made for me. The Red and White are from House of Cheviot and are very good for commercially made hose, just as comfortable as the Lewis line.

[Tobus]

I have to second McMurdo's suggestion. It doesn't get much more traditional than diced hose, and either red/white or red/black would be perfect with the outfit you describe. It's plenty "formal", and makes for a nice accent to the rest. Don't worry about the fact that it doesn't match the colours in your tartan. It's perfectly OK, and indeed, expected for diced hose to sort of stand on their own, colour-wise.

Personally, if it were me, I'd go with red/black.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Well, I for one think that tartan Argyle hose would not look bad. I completely get what you are saying about it perhaps looking like "too much" tartan, and I might agree with you if the tartan in question were a rather loud or bright one. Then again, my photo of Eph MacLean which you posted shows someone pulling off the look rather well even with a bright red tartan (and a red velvet doublet, to boot!). So perhaps there is not as much to worry about as you might think.

In your case, with the US Army tartan, the overall colors are much more subtle and dark. I think a pair of Argyle hose made to match in this case would look rather nice with the outfit. I wouldn't worry about it being "too much" at all.

Other options are certainly viable. As Glen suggested, red/white diced hose would look great! (And they would certainly "pop" more than tartan hose would). If you wanted to go with more subtle diced hose, you could opt for green/blue or some other combination.

Another point to consider; if you do have tartan Argyle hose made, you don't have to always wear with with the tartan waistcoat. You could wear them with or without, and it would certainly give you multiple options for formal wear.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Some other color options for diced hose that might look nice with that tartan.

Green/black


Navy/green


Claret/green


Red/navy

[artificer]

[QUOTE=M. A. C. Newsome;1057894]Some other color options for diced hose that might look nice with that tartan.

Claret/green


[Quote]

I don't think there would be anything wrong with Argyll hose in the Army Tartan colours, but if you wanted something different, the claret and green has my vote, with red and white coming in a VERY close second.

ith:

[fshguy]

I've seen others who have chosen diced hose which are colored to set off branch colored garters. For example one chap I ran into at a banquet had green and black diced hose and orange garters for the Signal Corps. Another had red and black dicing and Infantry blue flashes. I cannot, at present, recall if either gentleman was wearing a tartan waistcoat.

[AFS1970]

I would initially say that I liked the idea of Green/Black diced, possibly with Yellow flashes. That would tie in the colors but not looks so identical as to get into too much tartan.

I say this even as I have a pair of yellow flashes on order to wear with my new XMTS kilt, but in looking at the thread on those kilts, the yellow is allot brighter and more prominent than I thought it would be as a choice for flashes. So I am not sure my advice is all that great.

Allot of this is going to biol down to personal preference, some of my tastes are clearly not in the majority on this forum, but when assembled I think they work well. I may actually have to take pictures to prove it some day.

[longhuntr74]

I've seen others who have chosen diced hose which are colored to set off branch colored garters. For example one chap I ran into at a banquet had green and black diced hose and orange garters for the Signal Corps. Another had red and black dicing and Infantry blue flashes. I cannot, at present, recall if either gentleman was wearing a tartan waistcoat.

My branch color is purple. I had considered that I could wear green and blue diced hose with either purple or yellow flashes/ties. I think either would look good.

I would initially say that I liked the idea of Green/Black diced, possibly with Yellow flashes. That would tie in the colors but not looks so identical as to get into too much tartan.

I say this even as I have a pair of yellow flashes on order to wear with my new XMTS kilt, but in looking at the thread on those kilts, the yellow is allot brighter and more prominent than I thought it would be as a choice for flashes. So I am not sure my advice is all that great.

Allot of this is going to biol down to personal preference, some of my tastes are clearly not in the majority on this forum, but when assembled I think they work well. I may actually have to take pictures to prove it some day.

Agree 100%...it boils down to personal preference. I don't personally feel that red and white or red and black diced hose would look all that great with my tartan. Those colors are a bit too much like trying to copy a uniform to me, which is something I'm trying to avoid (I acknowledge that wearing rosettes as I do may give some the opposite impression, however.)

I like the idea of green and black or green and blue diced hose with yellow flashes.

I have also contemplated claret and green or red and green. I think they both would complement the tartan better than the traditional military diced hose by picking up the green, yet throwing a contrasting color into the mix (much like PM Burgess in that photo with the black and blue hose).

For the edification of the masses, these are the hose that I wore last night (Stewart Hunting, I believe). They are a tad bit on the short/small side (size US 8.5-9.5 when I wear a 10 or 10.5)...but I got them for so cheap that I bought them regardless of whether they were the right size or not, figuring that I could always sell them and make a couple of bucks if I really couldn't make them work.