Spats

[ccga3359]

Oh. I just assumed that they kept ketchup off your suede shoes.


j/k

Yep! clearly a member of DEKS.

[orangehaggis]

Just thought I'd share a wee comment here ... I once wore full tartan hose (acrylic from J Higgins, so not the most expensive ones) under spats with velcro. The velcro came slightly undone during the course of the parade, or whatever it was that I was piping in, and "napped" the hose near where the openings in the spats were. Needless to say, I did not try to wear full hose with spats ever again!

To echo Piobear, spats are good for hiding comfy shoes. I had a pair of Rockports or similar shoes that had a "notch" in the composite sole to mimic the look of a shoe with a proper heel.

Mark O - Ohio

[Prester John]

yknow, you can get vinyl white spats in the Highland pipeband style.

My son has a pair.

Eeeeeeeeasy to clean and keep clean.

Jealous? haha

[Nervous Jock]

Do piper's spats have real buttons, or are they snaps? If they're real buttons, a buttonhook works wonders, and the short hooks men used to use for their spats (not the long-handled ladies ones) can be easily had cheap. I use one when putting on mine. Otherwise, yes, it takes unnatural contortions of the body to button them.

Spats should be tailored to fit you correctly, this means moving the buttons, I couldn't see "snaps" working purely because you couldn't have the spats tight enough, my opinion only of course.

Agree 100% on the button hook though you do need to be carefull using it though a) not to scrape all the blanco off and b) not to rip the button off!! You need to be a pretty strong guy too

[Nervous Jock]

yknow, you can get vinyl white spats in the Highland pipeband style.

My son has a pair.

Eeeeeeeeasy to clean and keep clean.

Jealous? haha

Like patent brogues this is just wrong. although I have heard of Jocks emulsioning hteir spats in an emergency

[Nervous Jock]

As an aside, if you have spats with a leather loop underneath the trick is to cut half an inch out and replace with strong black elastic. This means the top of the spats will flex without overly cracking the blanco.


Jeeeez what a spotter I am

[Nervous Jock]

The velcro came slightly undone during the course of the parade, or whatever it was that I was piping in, and "napped" the hose near where the openings in the spats were. Needless to say, I did not try to wear full hose with spats ever again!



Mark O - Ohio

I rest my case

[okiwen]

Where does one get QUALITY spats? And, a button hook? I hate wearing jusnk but am told that the spats will become part of our uniform (dumb). Thanks for all the info. in advance.

[Nervous Jock]

Where does one get QUALITY spats? And, a button hook? I hate wearing jusnk but am told that the spats will become part of our uniform (dumb). Thanks for all the info. in advance.

Depends what you mean by quality.

As for a button hook, shops with aids for elderly or disabled folk are normally a good start