First Kilt is coming together. Advice on accessory colors.

[ktk1961]

For me a wedding demands a white shirt. I also think it would help to showcase the tartan.

I think a white shirt ... or perhaps a white shirt with a tattersall pattern ... would also allow the tie to pop a bit more visually (given the shadowing caused by your beard), whichever tie you decide on.

[12stones]

I think all configurations shown within this thread look fantastic. I think that the jacket, vest, tie combo with such a magnificent beard hides the shirt almost completely; therefore, the color of the shirt doesn't really matter to me in this case. I definitely agree with the keeping the jacket unbuttoned, but congrats on dropping a few pounds.

[KennethSime]

I think a white shirt ... or perhaps a white shirt with a tattersall pattern ... would also allow the tie to pop a bit more visually (given the shadowing caused by your beard), whichever tie you decide on.

Agreed! I particularly enjoy a good tattersall.

[OC Richard]

Having looked at OCR's examples that he posted a just while later, I can see the different hose colours used as his examples, but try as I might, I cannot see any effect of the hose colours on the tartan at all. The tartan colours look just the same in all three examples to me.

That's the frustrating thing, colour-effects which are so vibrant and striking in person are greatly diminished in photos.

The same thing happens with recording sound! I did a YouTube video comparing several makes of Low Whistle.

In person each instrument had a distinctly different timbre. On YouTube they all sounded alike.

Stuff like that is why one needs to have the kilt fabric and jacket fabric in hand. Photos just aren't enough.

When I got my half-dozen tweed samples it was sobering to view those fabrics on a couple different online sites. The photo on Site A, the photo on Site B, and the actual in-hand fabric looked three different colours!

[Jock Scot]

That's the frustrating thing, colour-effects which are so vibrant and striking in person are greatly diminished in photos.

The same thing happens with recording sound! I did a YouTube video comparing several makes of Low Whistle.

In person each instrument had a distinctly different timbre. On YouTube they all sounded alike.

Stuff like that is why one needs to have the kilt fabric and jacket fabric in hand. Photos just aren't enough.

When I got my half-dozen tweed samples it was sobering to view those fabrics on a couple different online sites. The photo on Site A, the photo on Site B, and the actual in-hand fabric looked three different colours!

I am not qualified to discuss the theory of our senses OCR, but I do understand from a lifetime of practical situations that we all see, sense, hear, smell, feel the various aspects of life differently. I recognised that as a child and learnt that we as humans perceive these sensory perceptions differently, but getting into the theory of all that does not concern me as life is too short to bother about it. I recognise that you see what you see and you are able to analyse that and have the ability to put it into words. I am afraid that I don't to the same extent.

Hey-Ho, such is life.

[OC Richard]

Here's the various tweed samples I received from Marton Mills just now laid on my Isle Of Skye (16 ounce Lochcarron) kilt.

CHE256 Evergreen & Redstart_____________________________________CGE147 Plover

CGE158 Heath Bog_______________________________________________CHE120 Dunlin Coffee

CGE121 Heath Coffee_____________________________________________CHE254 Lovat & Antique



There are no "bad" choices, though the weakest IMHO is the lower-right Lovat & Antique, which is quite similar to the colour of US WWI uniforms, which we call Olive Drab.

My band-mates universally picked centre-right Dunlin Coffee, a very nice soft muted brown leaning toward taupe.

All of the left-hand tweeds look super with any of my kilts.

The standout for me was upper-right Plover which has an amazing chameleon character and looks great with anything.

[12stones]

The photo on Site A, the photo on Site B, and the actual in-hand fabric looked three different colours!

You'd be amazed at how many people pay no attention to proper lighting, white balance, and their shooting environment when making product photos. As a former professional photographer, it's quite frustrating.

[Recon1342]

You'd be amazed at how many people pay no attention to proper lighting, white balance, and their shooting environment when making product photos. As a former professional photographer, it's quite frustrating.

I’m a hobbyist photographer, but I shoot film, not digital. I am terribly finicky with making sure color and light are just right, cause film is getting pricy. So, yes. I agree.

[Jock Scot]

Here's the various tweed samples I received from Marton Mills just now laid on my Isle Of Skye (16 ounce Lochcarron) kilt.

With my rather basic colour and pattern interpretations I am not enthused with any of those choices, but if they are your short list then left middle is the one.

[OC Richard]

You'd be amazed at how many people pay no attention to proper lighting, white balance, and their shooting environment when making product photos. As a former professional photographer, it's quite frustrating.

I'm just taking pictures with my phone, however I adjust the colours on my laptop with the tweed samples beside me, in natural light coming in the window.

The conundrum is when, such as the photo I posted above, I have multiple fabrics in the same image, and there's no adjustment that makes them all look right!

I had better luck with individual photos of each tweed.

Of course that's just the way they look on my laptop monitor! And on ten monitors they would look ten different ways.

The reason, seems to me, is that these tweeds have been purposely designed to be subtle and complex.

In my photo above the upper-right tweed, Marton Mills' "Plover", is particularly so, and changes its apparent colour according to context, looking grey, Lovat green, Lovat blue, or taupe. As a result it's that tweed that "goes best" with my kilts as a whole.

There's a scene in Downton Abbey when the Earl is wearing a lovely tweed Norfolk jacket and the jacket changes colour from shot to shot. Not surprising, as the filmmakers would set up one shot (camera placement and lighting) then take a break and set up everything all over again for the next shot. When edited the scene cuts back and forth between the two shots, and with subtle tweeds you can get two noticeably different colours.

There's even more variety when you trace the same tweed through an entire film, such as Dr Henry Jones Senior's Harris Tweed suit in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. It tends to look anywhere from slate grey to taupe in interior shots and anywhere from tan to deep walnut in exterior shots.