Another daywear outfit, featuring a new kilt in Lochcarron's Niagara Tartan

[OC Richard]

That's a very nice tartan!

I do tend to like blue tartans.

I have a quirky and much-flawed book

World Tartans
Iain Zaczek
2001, Collins & Brown, London

which has a tartan that looks roughly similar called Niagara Falls which the author calls "a modern trade tartan".

The differences between the tartan they show and your kilt could be just another of numerous errors in that book. (In some cases the computer-generated illustration has errors, in other cases it's a different tartan altogether.)

About colours to co-ordinate with that kilt, I've seen photos of Glen wearing brown and/or tan tweed jackets which would probably look fantastic. The colour-theory behind it is that blue and orange are complimentary colours, brown being a very dull orange.

My old Pipe Major wore a lovely brilliant turquoise Anderson tartan kilt and he invariably wore blue jackets with it. He even had a bespoke Royal Blue Argyll jacket & waistcoat. It was a bit too much blue, seemed to me.

About the leather straps on kilts, I've been wearing kilts for 45 years and I've got very used to the usual thickness of the leather used. I recently got a USA Kilts kilt and I don't care for the uber-thick stiff straps. It's difficult to shove the left-side one through the slot in the kilt, and difficult to shove all of them through the buckles. It makes dressing and adjusting the kilt more difficult than it ought to be. I've worked the leather to make the straps more flexible, though they're still far too thick.

I'm planning on switching them out for normal straps. I might make my own, from brown leather, just to be different.

[GG]

Congratulations to your new kilt. I really like the tartan - being in favor of bluish tartans in general.

[KennethSime]

Congratulations to your new kilt. I really like the tartan - being in favor of bluish tartans in general.

Thank you, sir!

[KennethSime]

I have a quirky and much-flawed book

World Tartans
Iain Zaczek
2001, Collins & Brown, London

which has a tartan that looks roughly similar called Niagara Falls which the author calls "a modern trade tartan".

The differences between the tartan they show and your kilt could be just another of numerous errors in that book. (In some cases the computer-generated illustration has errors, in other cases it's a different tartan altogether.)

I actually had to do a search through the tartan register prior to ordering this kilt, as there was no digital representation available at the time of ordering, but was up against the sale deadline (and my bedtime).

I figured it was either the Niagara Falls Tartan or the Niagara Region tartan, and for the price I'd be happy either way. According to the Register, Niagara Falls is a color variation on the Maple Leaf tartan dating form the 1964, and the Niagara Region tartan is a District tartan designed by Lochcarron in 2007. Once B&S confirmed for me that the tartan cloth came from Lochcarron, I was pretty sure it was the Niagara Region tartan.

About colours to co-ordinate with that kilt, I've seen photos of Glen wearing brown and/or tan tweed jackets which would probably look fantastic. The colour-theory behind it is that blue and orange are complimentary colours, brown being a very dull orange.

My old Pipe Major wore a lovely brilliant turquoise Anderson tartan kilt and he invariably wore blue jackets with it. He even had a bespoke Royal Blue Argyll jacket & waistcoat. It was a bit too much blue, seemed to me.

I had never thought of brown as a dull orange, but it makes a lot of sense - you get brown by mixing complementary colors, right? I have a pair of oatmeal-colored hose which I haven't worn much, but I think will pair nicely with this tartan.

About the leather straps on kilts, I've been wearing kilts for 45 years and I've got very used to the usual thickness of the leather used. I recently got a USA Kilts kilt and I don't care for the uber-thick stiff straps. It's difficult to shove the left-side one through the slot in the kilt, and difficult to shove all of them through the buckles. It makes dressing and adjusting the kilt more difficult than it ought to be. I've worked the leather to make the straps more flexible, though they're still far too thick.

I'm planning on switching them out for normal straps. I might make my own, from brown leather, just to be different.

I think the thick straps might be nice on a 16oz 8-yard, but they do seem a bit overkill on a 5-yard. It's a bit of a straw man sales technique, solving a problem where one doesn't really exist in the first place. I think brown straps would look very nice on your tweed kilt - nice and subdued.

[OC Richard]

Yes the register does have the Niagara Falls tartan shown in the Zaczek book.

The one as seen here https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/ta...Image?ref=3132 is much nicer than the one in the book, the book as usual having some colour errors.

About the orange > brown thing, hopefully this "color picker" will be active when you click on it.

You can move the slider across the bottom to get orange, then move the white circle around in the box which gives you all the possible tints, shades, and intensities. A very dull orange is brown.

https://www.google.com/search?q=colo..._AUoAHoECAEQAA

Here's a crude snapshot of a brown

[RichardtheLarge]

This looks great to me. I would suggest wearing a belt or a vest with this outfit—The belts from McRostie are very good quality.

[KennethSime]

This looks great to me. I would suggest wearing a belt or a vest with this outfit—The belts from McRostie are very good quality.

Good point, I think a belt would've helped complete this outfit. I didn't feel the need for the belt because this kilt fits so well, and it was too warm for a waistcoat. But I do have a matching khaki pigskin belt from WE Scott & Son in Edinburgh that I like very much.

[OC Richard]

I go back and forth with the belt issue.

Generally I don't wear one. However most of the time I'm out in Highland Dress it's because I'm performing on the pipes somewhere, and for those occasions I usually button my jacket.

Yes I know that it's standard to not button Argyll jackets! But if I don't, when I strike in the pipes one side of the jacket can get pulled up by the bag, an unsightly look.

Since I'll be buttoning the jacket when it's Showtime the belt wouldn't be seen anyway.

When in Highland Dress and not playing the pipes (which is rare) I will keep the jacket unbuttoned and wear a belt if not wearing a waistcoat.

I did just throw together this belt a couple weeks ago to sort of go with my new Margaret Morrison hunting sporran.

I guess the belt should be darker...it's the leather I had. (I bought the buckle in the early 1970s at a craft fair in West Virginia.)

[Jock Scot]

The belt looks fine to me OCR. What on earth are you fussing about?

[ShaunMaxwell]

I go back and forth with the belt issue.

I did just throw together this belt a couple weeks ago to sort of go with my new Margaret Morrison hunting sporran.

I guess the belt should be darker...it's the leather I had. (I bought the buckle in the early 1970s at a craft fair in West Virginia.)

I agree with Jock that the belt looks fine as is, but a coat or two of Red Wing boot oil would darken it to a more chocolate color, if that would be more your preference.

Cheers,

SM