Questions

[Allan Thomson]

Well if predominantly for weddings & rugby matches then I'll risk sticking out my neck& saying go with a more formal outfit that could do for dinner & get an extra pair of hose which could even be a pair of thicker turnover hiking socks (cheaper than normal kilt socks) & then could just wear your rugby top with the hiking hose (Rugby socks even?) & walking boots...

Look at ex rental to keep the costs down, can get some good deals.

[The Wizard of BC]

What do you envision your kilt being primarily worn for?

This is probably the best piece of advice one can give another.

Always pick the kilt and the accessories most suitable for the event or the use.

One of the very first questions I ask my customers is - "What are you going to do in your kilt?" This leads me to suggest the fabrics, the construction and the accessories that best suit his needs.

For example - If the customer tells me he wants to use this kilt at his wedding I would suggest a totally different kilt than if he tells me he wants to attend, or even compete, in a rugby match.

The fabric range I would suggest would be different. The styles of construction I would suggest would be different. The overall style of the kilt may be totally different.

The same goes for the accessories I would show him. I would not suggest a Tweed jacket with matching vest paired with a fur sporran and diced hose, if his intended use were a casual event, a beach wedding, or a rugby match.

[Tobinn]

...and don't be overly scared of white hose. I have a nice pair of thicker hose (about as thick as you'd find in wool kilt hose in the $20 - $40 range; actually, they're a pair I've had for about 20 years from my Revolutionary War reenactment uniform - who knew back then they have a second life?) that looks great with the white stripes of my Scruffy Wallace USAK semi-traditional kilt. In fact, I wore that with a button-up white silk short-sleeved shirt just this week for an outdoor Tashlich service at the Dunedin Causeway here in Florida (USA). I received several compliments including a very nice one from the rabbi.

[Allan Thomson]

...and don't be overly scared of white hose. I have a nice pair of thicker hose (about as thick as you'd find in wool kilt hose in the $20 - $40 range; actually, they're a pair I've had for about 20 years from my Revolutionary War reenactment uniform - who knew back then they have a second life?) that looks great with the white stripes of my Scruffy Wallace USAK semi-traditional kilt. In fact, I wore that with a button-up white silk short-sleeved shirt just this week for an outdoor Tashlich service at the Dunedin Causeway here in Florida (USA). I received several compliments including a very nice one from the rabbi.

Also Devil's advocate here, but it is often a sad fact that in many places it is often difficult to procure a set of kilt hose, certainly suitable for the more formal occasions which aren't white, it has become so ubiquitous.

I have several pairs of White (including one set of more offwhite embroidered with the 3 legs), a Grey Pair, a couple of Green in different shades (plus a set of Brown and a set of blue Hiking Socks with big turnoever I can press into service as Kilt Hose - Blue actually looks quiet good) and I must confess that when it comes to the more formal occasions I just don't think that the Grey or the Green matches the Black and White of the rest of the outfit as well as the White does.

One day I will get a pair of Tartan Hose (when I get a Dress Thomson Kilt Made + a Custom Montrose Doublet+ Waistcoat and the 18thC style of buckled brogues.... I wish...), but till then I haven't as yet had any adverse comments about my white hoes and nobody assumes I have rented my kilt at any event given the frequency I wear it)….. That said when wearing tweeds sometimes I will wear white, but I tend to go for the Grey and Greens then as a preference)…..

Incidentally has anyone noticed the term Stockings (as in Xmas) also used to be applied to Kilt Hose, but that seems to have vanished out of typical use. I guess it might be concerns about mixture up with ladies wear, but then Hose comes from Hosiery so could equally be applied as a masculine or a feminine term?...….

I was just thinking as well as an alternative form of Kilt Hose Supply for the less formal occasions is there not also (on top of the shooting market which is a bit crossover anyway) the option to consider Rugby and Football Socks if you're not opposed to the acrylic ones. Certainly the ones I had from School had big enough turnovers they looked ok as kilt wear too...… (indeed for the rugby and football supporters I think this offers a reason not to scrunch hose with their boots as you never see the professional Scottish Athletes wearing the kilt with their jerseys before international events scrunching theirs down - I am a hater of the scrunched look though as I think it just looks like a scruffy schoolboy back in the day when shorts were worn....

[OC Richard]

-The basis is a kilt and preferably you should have some connection, no matter how tenuous, to decide what tartan to choose.

-hose, and the choice here is fraught with minefields for the uninitiated.

-Shirts I have seen can be controversial...

-jackets...here be dragons!

Totally confused. So what should a newcomer choose as his starter outfit bearing in mind he might need to dress up a bit for the odd wedding, rugby etc.?

I don't think it has to be too complicated.

I see people at our local Highland Games, and for that matter just walking around, in all manner of kilts and kiltlike things, Doc Martens and black canvas Utilikilts and t-shirts and Sport Kilts and trainers and golf shirts and cowboy boots and cowboy hats and traditional kilts and tweed jackets and Balmoral bonnets and ghillie brogues- it's all good.

I myself would wear a different outfit to a wedding than I would to a rugby match.

I only wear traditional kilts so if I were starting out "the basics" for me would be three things:

-kilt
-sporran
-hose

Everything else can come along in due time, or not, as the case may be. With these things, adding ordinary shoes and shirts and ties and waistcoats as needed, I can dress for most occasions.

My attitude is to have high-quality UK-made things, preferably vintage things if I can find them.

So to flesh out my "starter" list I would have:

-kilt: handsewn all-wool full-yardage kilt. The tartan could be just about anything, or not tartan at all, say a nice tweed.

-sporran: a quality UK-made sporran, preferably vintage, probably brown leather, or sealskin.

-hose: quality hose from Cheviot.

[McMurdo]

Thanks for a very detailed reply and that is something I have to give some thought to. As I said in my OP it is probably weddings/ rugby matches (in Scotland) initially but everyone’s suggestions gives me more fiod for thought so thanks everyone.

To my mind, a rugby match and a wedding would require two different outfits. As far as a Rugby match goes lets break it down from the bottom up

Shoes, anything comfortable, boots, trainers, even dress shoes, but as it's a casual setting really anything goes.

Hose, I would go with solid colour hose.

Kilt, this would be whatever kilt you have.

Sporran, a day sporran in brown leather would be my choice but black leather would work just as well.

Shirt, I would go for a polo type shirt or a rugby shirt.

Something like this:


Now that outfit is not something I'd wear to a wedding, so for a wedding I would say ensure you match the formality of the event, wedding can run the gamut of formality so based on that anything from an Argyll jacket and tie to a doublet may be needed.

For most weddings though something like this would probably be appropriate:


This is what I wore to my nephews wedding 2 years ago, as he was going with a PC and the piper was wearing a black Argyll I went out and purchased one:


Not shown is my brown hose black shoes and my horsehair sporran.