Kilt hose?

[Moose McLennan]

To me at least, regular socks don't look right with a kilt. So if I'm not barefoot or wearing sandals, hose are a must, and also the first most important accessory for a kilt. You can push or fold them down for looks and/or ventilation (incidentally, I've taken to folding mine down when walking so they won't catch on undergrowth, and if they do, folded hose are 'in side out' so any snags are on the inside).

Black is smart, modern and IMHO rarely ever out of place. Some have commented that the may lend the wearer a 'bottom heavy' appearance together with a dark kilt. You might need well developed calves if you wear them high, as they can have a 'slimming' effect on the legs.

I've become a bit of a freak with hose, with off-white, black, lovat blue, navy, lovat green and oatmeal in the sock-drawer to date. I like to match with whatever I'm wearing on the top-half. Off-white get little use but seem (along with black nowadays) standard for formal events. Oatmeal goes with anything.

Most will state that pure white hose (if you ever even find them) are worn only by pipers. I would imagine they might look a bit odd, like football socks, on anyone else.

Although I own flashes I rarely wear them, and all of my hose seem to stay up fine without garters.

Hose are fun and need not be expensive (do a search on W. Brewin hose if you haven't found them already) and make a big difference to your outfit.

M.

[Cawdorian]

I have three pair of kilt hose, they are cream, navy blue and oatmeal, the oatmeal hose are fast becoming my favorite.

One of the color matching ideas that seems to work is to match the hose to your shirt (when dressed casually) and the flashes to one of the less dominant colors in your kilt. One thing for certain you will accumulate quite a collection of kilt hose in various colors.

Never fear, Hamish will keep all of us on our toes and make sure we get our colors coordinatied correctly.

[davedove]

One of the color matching ideas that seems to work is to match the hose to your shirt (when dressed casually) and the flashes to one of the less dominant colors in your kilt.

To further expand the color matching, match the color of your hose to the predominant upper garment. So, like was stated, match the hose to the shirt for casual wear. It also looks pretty good to match the hose to the jacket when one is worn. For instance, I like to wear black hose to match my formal black jacket, and charcoal hose to match my charcoal jacket. I also have a charcoal sweater, so I match charcoal hose with that.

This isn't an absolute rule. For instance, the oatmeal hose that have been mentioned are very versatile and match with many colors, especially the earthier or weathered colors.

[Andrew Green]

So, these tips point me towarsd a couple pairs of black hose, and perhaps a good "more neutral" colour like oatmeal. Most of what I own/wear as casual shirts are black in base, whether shirts, or t-shirts. I want to pick up a couple "Jacobite" shirts as well, again, likely in black, as I just think black looks better.

[davedove]

So, these tips point me towarsd a couple pairs of black hose, and perhaps a good "more neutral" colour like oatmeal. Most of what I own/wear as casual shirts are black in base, whether shirts, or t-shirts. I want to pick up a couple "Jacobite" shirts as well, again, likely in black, as I just think black looks better.

It's not so much what colors you wear. That's your personal choice and only you can decide what colors are good for you. The main thing is to coordinate.

[Moose McLennan]

So, these tips point me towarsd a couple pairs of black hose, and perhaps a good "more neutral" colour like oatmeal. Most of what I own/wear as casual shirts are black in base, whether shirts, or t-shirts. I want to pick up a couple "Jacobite" shirts as well, again, likely in black, as I just think black looks better.

If you're wearing all-black anyway, any colour of hose should be OK - might even be a nice feature in a dark outfit. You'd probably have them rolled down most of the time anyhow, which makes the colour choice even less critical. Oatmeal will look terrific with black - I've worn black flashes with mine and I reckon it looks pretty sharp. The oatmeal hose I have more or less match my peely wally Scots skin tone, so they're a good compromise between casual rolled-down - a look I was sceptical about at first - and the smarter/cold weather/anti-mosquito kneesocks look.

M.