Less Can Be More

[creagdhubh]

Interesting side note: check out the age of the individuals and compare them to the height of the kilt. It might explain that those who have been wearing it longer, and who are more rooted in tradition, are showing more knee.

Good point. Other factors may include that their kilts "fell" a wee bit throughout the course of the day and may just require a simple adjustment, or they may be ill fitting to begin with, causing the length to be entirely too long. With some of these lads in the Highlands, kilts are often passed down or borrowed from a family member, making them not the precise, tailored fit. Another factor is that you often see kilt hose worn too high up on the leg, and with a kilt that already has a selvedge hitting too low, may cause the overall appearance to look dreadfully awkward with virtually no part of the knee and upper leg just below the knee visible.

[tundramanq]

There are two practical aspects that caused me to select the top of the knee length standing.
First when sitting I can put one ankle over the other knee without ankle pressing pleats or apron.
Second is when I am kneeling, I am not soaking my hem when scrubbing the floor or dragging it through the dirt when gardening.

Sure for winter I have hems that are 1.5 inches longer, but they are Utilikilt Workmans and who cares. My knobby knees are warm.

[Nathan]

Interesting side note: check out the age of the individuals and compare them to the height of the kilt. It might explain that those who have been wearing it longer, and who are more rooted in tradition, are showing more knee.

Judging by his jacket and waistcoat, I think far left looks like he lost weight or, as Kyle says, is wearing a bigger man's clothing. The other two look good to me. Middle guy is just a wee bit lower than what I learned in the military (could be the camera angle), far right is more like what I see on most xmarksthescot member upload photos.

Colin, your post is spot on.

[TheOfficialBren]

I would hazard a guess here (playing a little devil's advocate) that perhaps we might have a few trends of our own here among the rabble?

We do seem to have some (mostly) universal views on some of this stuff. I'm not complainimg by any means. I really appreciate the wealth of knowledge and experiemce that is gathered here and readily (and gratefully) admit that I have gleaned much from that knowledge and experience.

Thank you, rabble.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I don't know how I managed to miss this thread for so long. But I wholeheartedly agree that "less is more" can be wonderful fashion advice. I would much rather wear a few understated items of high quality than adorn myself with every possible accessory in fancy patterns and designs head to toe. When I speak of "fancy patterns and designs" I am obviously not talking about tartan kilts, or checked or windowpane jackets. I think mixing a variety of that sort of pattern lends texture and interest to an outfit. So you will commonly see me wearing my tartan kilt, tattersall shirt, striped tie, and checked tweed jacket and waistcoat all together.

What you will not see me doing is wearing a kilt belt embossed with celtic knotwork, tartan garter flashes, a belt buckle with the Scottish flag on it, a sporran with my clan crest embossed on it, and kilt hose with thistles embroidered into the cuffs as a part of that outfit!

I think there is a tendency to go too far with this sort of emblem motif. If you go into some kilt shops or browse the booths at a Highland Games you'd think that in order for any Highland Dress accessory to be considered truly authentic it must feature 1) your clan crest, 2) your clan tartan, 3) the Scottish flag, 4) a thistle, or 5) celtic knotwork.

Don't get me wrong, any one of these items might make a nice touch to your ensemble. But when worn all together it gets to be a bit overwhelming. By contrast, patterns such as stripes and checks can be subtle and textured and run less risk of making you look like an Edinburgh tat shop mannequin.

Here are some photos from my own collection that illustrate my take on this.











Notice in this one above I do have a thistle motif knit into my pullover. But together with the whole outfit, it is not overwhelming.


"Simple, but elegant" works for formal wear, too!

[Domehead]

Aye, Matt
Well Done.

Slainte,
Domehead

[CMcG]

I don't know how I managed to miss this thread for so long. But I wholeheartedly agree that "less is more" can be wonderful fashion advice. I would much rather wear a few understated items of high quality than adorn myself with every possible accessory in fancy patterns and designs head to toe.

...

I think there is a tendency to go too far with this sort of emblem motif. If you go into some kilt shops or browse the booths at a Highland Games you'd think that in order for any Highland Dress accessory to be considered truly authentic it must feature 1) your clan crest, 2) your clan tartan, 3) the Scottish flag, 4) a thistle, or 5) celtic knotwork.

Don't get me wrong, any one of these items might make a nice touch to your ensemble. But when worn all together it gets to be a bit overwhelming. By contrast, patterns such as stripes and checks can be subtle and textured and run less risk of making you look like an Edinburgh tat shop mannequin.

Good post, Matt. I think the problem with overusing emblems and motifs on accessories stems from trying to symbolize Scottish identity, rather than embodying it. The former involves grasping at signs with conventional meanings, while the latter takes Highland style as an index pointing to one's heritage and/or values in a more subtle way.

One of my points in this thread has been to maintain the Highland type of pattern/colour mixing as a tasteful approach filtered through one's own personal style. If one replaces all the emblems and motifs with the idea of "mismatching" or wilfully clashing colours and patterns, they have switched one set of symbols for another equally contrived one...

I've always admired Matt's approach to Highland attire and I think he does a good job of balancing his stripes and checks against tartan. I've also drooled over some of his high quality sporrans or fancy kilt hose, though they might be a bit much for my personal style.

[creagdhubh]

Aye, Matt
Well Done.

Slainte,
Domehead

***

[creagdhubh]

One of my points in this thread has been to maintain the Highland type of pattern/colour mixing as a tasteful approach filtered through one's own personal style. If one replaces all the emblems and motifs with the idea of "mismatching" or wilfully clashing colours and patterns, they have switched one set of symbols for another equally contrived one.

Do we have any supportive, visual examples of this (more of "what not to do," perhaps?)? They could prove to be a good/educational resource to some of the rabble.

[Father Bill]

Do we have any supportive, visual examples of this (more of "what not to do," perhaps?)? They could prove to be a good/educational resource to some of the rabble.

It's the sort of thing that's best appreciated by "This Rabble!" Much better than the verbal pot-shot type criticisms.