How would you accessorize my kilt?

[KiltedSergeant]

Note: I still beat my wife

You must admit that is a direct quote, and I am shocked!

[McMurdo]

Here is a recent photo of myself with a blue and black based tartan, I am wearing orange hose and brown leather shoes and sporran and I think it works just fine:



Here is the same kilt with blue hose and black shoes and brown sporran



Brown sporran, black shoes and grey hose and tweed



My point is that there are several ways you can wear your kilt but each will look good, experiment with colours and you will find a few combinations that suit you.

[SunriseEarth]

The closest kilt I have to this one is my Sport Kilt in their "Big Blue" tartan. The last time I wore it was during the week before St. Patrick's day. I wore a hunter green v-neck Calvin Klein sweater over a black t-shirt, black belt with polished metal buckle, black Wyvern Rob Roy sporran, lovat green hose & tartan green garters from House of Cheviot, and my black Clark loafers.

[John_Carrick]

Some sound advice here. I would just add make sure the kilt is hitched up on the body (comparable to McMurdo's) to mid knee or higher.

[frikke82]

It is acctually mid knee (casual), I know the angel of the pic wasn't the best ;)

But thanks for all the advice, I guess it would be a bit of trial and error too. I will see what my decisions will be.

[kingandrew]

The great thing is you can try new combinations each time you wear it. And after you enjoy the comfort and the compliments the first time you wear it, you'll find yourself reaching for the kilt quite often.

All the suggestions above seem good to me. Black and brown leather will look fine with that tartan (feel free to have a sporran in one and shoes in the other--it will look OK). I would go for hose with some color, rather than black, since the tartan is already dark and a contrast will look good.

The key is to wear it with confidence. That ensures you'll look great.

Andrew

[Riverkilt]

No need for a belt - kilts hold themselves up with the straps (or Velcro). For knocking around sporrans are difficult to access and don't carry much. Get a vest for all your stuff.

If you buy kilt hose, don't scrimp...get the good stuff. If you're not paying $30 or so what you're buying won't last long. And get some ties for the kilt hose...a lovely accessory

[PatrickHughes123]

First of all, make the kilt itself complete. Get a sporran, a belt with a buckle and a pin. I think a kilt is incomplete without a belt and I think it does actually help to keep it in place. Although not entirely necessary, it will give you a bit more security as well as give off a great look.

Then, get hose (diced, tartan or plain), flashes (solid colour or tartan), Ghillie Brogues or Buckle Brogues (strongly suggest Ghillie Brogues) and a sgian dhu.

And for the upper body, a Ghillie Shirt, with your choice of colour.

Anything else is entirely up to you, but the stuff stated above, I think is essential. Please remember, this is my opinion and not fact. You wear with it what you want.

A little tip for you, be careful with diced bonnets, dicing has a stigma around it, might want to research that.

[OC Richard]

So, I've finally gotten my first kilt, yay!

Now, I'm in the process of choosing accessorices. I know it is personal preferences but would be fun to know how you would do it with this tartan.

The first things I guess would be sporran and hose to go with it.

Attachment 33578

I'll start by congratulating you on your first kilt!

About where to go with it, it all depends on what sort of look you prefer.

I'll speak to what appeals to me, traditional Highland Dress.

When I started kiltwearing in the 1970s traditional Highland Dress was the only sort of kiltwearing that existed. All the hyphen-kilts like casual-kilts and utility-kilts had yet to be invented.

So traditional Highland Dress is the only sort I've ever worn.

I've always been a "student of Highland Dress" with loads of books and such, and more recently I've got into collecting vintage photographs and vintage Highland Dress catalogues. This has given more breadth to my traditionally-grounded "eye".

So coming from Traditional Highland Dress as I do, and fully cognizant that nowadays there are many other sorts of equally valid modes of kiltwearing (it's mere fashion, after all) I myself, if given your kilt there, would first put together a Day Dress outfit.

That would consist of:

-outdoor brogues, that is, sturdy leather shoes in black or brown, plain or wingtip.

-selfcoloured/plain/solid-colored hose. For the colour of these I personally would avoid blue- your kilt provides all the blue your outfit will ever need! Due to blue being a cool colour I would go with a warm colour and get hose in claret or scarlet.

-flashes. Flashes aren't needed, but they add a nice touch of colour. With the warm red hose I would go with cool flashes, probably a blue that contrasts with the blue of the kilt. (There's a general thing in art including the art of fashion of co-ordinating colours rather than matching them, and cool colours usually co-ordinate well with warm colours.)

-sporran. For a traditional Day Dress outfit a plain brown leather sporran would do very nicely. Yes you would wear a brown leather sporran with black leather shoes, it's been standard in Highland Dress to do so for 300 years.

-shirt. I myself would go with a Tattersall style shirt.

-waistcoat and/or jacket. I myself would choose a nice tweed. In the old days it was common to wear brown tweeds with blue kilts, it does look nice. Grey tweeds would be great too. With that blue kilt I would avoid blue or green tweeds.

-necktie. If worn, I myself would go with a stripe (from the heart) or all-over pattern traditional-looking tie.

-hat. If out in hot sun or what have you I would wear a practical hat like a Tilley hat or bucket hat, whatever you prefer. Not traditional but I think in this case, here in the hot USA anyhow, we need to be sensible. Other than that I would wear a nice Mackey-made Balmoral in a nice colour that co-ordinated with the rest of my outfit.

Note what I didn't mention: kilt pin or sgian. I usually don't wear either.

I also didn't mention Ghillie brogues. They've always been most popular with pipers, and as a piper I've always worn them. But if I was starting out my Highland Dress outfit as a non-piper I'd pass on them.

I just now searched online for a photo that would more or less illustrate the outfit I'm imagining. I didn't find anything exactly right, most of the blue tartans were paired with blue jackets! Oh dear! It's like wearing a blue shirt and blue tie with a blue suit, not a good look.

I did find this, a nice grey-brown tweed and claret hose worn with a blue kilt, which is what I was getting at. (McMurdo's topmost outfit is also along the lines I was thinking of; I didn't see that top photo until after I posted this.)

But this outfit has the wrong sporran, an Evening Dress sporran, which should be worn with a formal Evening outfit.

Switch out the sporran to a brown leather Day sporran, and dump that horrid tie, and Bob's your Uncle



For the sporran I'd use an ordinary traditional Day sporran, perhaps an understated classic one such as this (which I bought today on Ebay for less than $50)



or a more ornate one such as this



or this. Day sporrans have always been offered with fur fronts:

[CollinMacD]

Again, my taste for accessorizing is rather conservative.

Sporran, for full dress, I would go with a grey type fur with black leather. This would break up the darkness of the blues and blacks. For semi-dress or day, I would go with black leather.

Hose: I agree with black or navy blue.

Shoes: Black

Now if you need a semi dress or day jacket I would go with light grey, that would pick up the kilt and allow a lighter matching color

One other note, I never mix blacks and browns, If I wear a black leather Sporran even trimmed in black, I will wear black shoes, never brown.

As noted American Comic George Gobble told Johnny Carson, "I feel like a pair of brown shoes with a black tuxedo."

For a cap, Glengarry, black, with silver clan pin, or a navy blue TOS, again with silver clan pin.

No belt, especially if you are wearing a waistcoat.

Best of like, post photo when your kit I complete.