Going "off topic" here, I suppose:

Oh, and cajun, if it is of any interest to you...Black socks are like white and are rarely worn with anything short of black tie, white with white tie although he prefered spats with white tie. All other "semi-formal" dress he considered casual and colored socks were worn to match a part, usually the shirt, of the outfit. All part of the balance that Ham speaks of.
Are we talking about "saxon" dress, or Highland dress here? If the latter, white kilt hose (but not off-white or cream) are frowned upon by the purists when it comes to formal attire, be it black tie or white tie. Tartan (sometimes called Argyll) hose or diced hose (red & white, red & black, etc.) are the preferred hose for formal occasions, or a dark one colour hose.

From the Tartan Authority's web site:

"Is it OK to wear white socks with the kilt?
Despite the fact that very many people do wear white hose (we call kilt stockings ‘hose’) we would say No! . . .No! . . and No! . . again. White hose first came about for pipe bands and with the increase in popularity of the kilt, it was a lot easier for kilt-hire companies to only stock white. Just like Henry Ford in the early days of the automobile - you can have any colour you like as long as it’s black. In this case however . . . it’s white.
White hose really are for pipe bands only and if you want to be regarded as ‘Highland Hip’ then you should wear coloured hose - something that tones in with the kilt. Off-white hose is quite acceptable - it has a slightly yellowish tinge - but do try and avoid the sparkling white variety - especially if they have little knitted bobbles around the top!"


I've seen fellows wear white spats with formal Highland wear, but on a civilian, it just looks odd. Spats or leggings really belong to the pipe band or military uniform, in my opinion.

Apologies for being "unclear" in my previous posts; I meant to say that the tie should reach the top of the buckle.

Cheers,

T.