Checkered Kilt Hose Etiquette?

[gilmore]

Gilmore

Matt carries Hawick hose, so they really are not that hard to find, you just have to know where to look.

I recently reviewed some Hawick hose that I purchased from Redshanks Scotland, here is the link, so rest assured you can find Hawick hose if you look for them

Matt carries Hawick hose, but not their argyle, according to the museum's website. I went to Redshanks' website but found no merchandise listed other than Inverary tweed.

Perhaps it was a one off thing, but a vendor at the last Stone Mountain games had a bin full of Hawick's argyle hose, and was selling them at $50 a pair.

[Nervous Jock]

Not quite right... Hose TOPS as they were called in the army,

I would disagree, this may have been the case initially but in my experience they are more commonly known as "footless hose" now unfortunately both my sets have been washed sufficent times to remove the details :-)

[fluter]

Perhaps it was a one off thing, but a vendor at the last Stone Mountain games had a bin full of Hawick's argyle hose, and was selling them at $50 a pair.

Whoo-eee, that would epitomize "being in the right place at the right time!" I hope you bought some... Serves me right for not making SMHG.

[Bugbear]

Oh, so they do have tweed hose, te he he, I just found a new thing to jones for.

[gilmore]

Whoo-eee, that would epitomize "being in the right place at the right time!" I hope you bought some... Serves me right for not making SMHG.

I didn't buy any. They were wonderfully thick, but there were none that had colors matching any of my kilts, or even coming close.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Perhaps it was a one off thing, but a vendor at the last Stone Mountain games had a bin full of Hawick's argyle hose, and was selling them at $50 a pair.

They must have been getting rid of some inventory and didn't mind selling them off well below wholesale.

I'd be curious who it was. House of Cheviot (Hawick Sock Company) sales in the US are all handled through one distributor, and as far as I know we are pretty much the only other retailer they have set up -- and both the distributor and ourselves had booths at Stone Mountain, neither of which had a bin full of $50 Argyle hose!

[Jack Daw]

What a find.

They originated with the military, are often worn at formal events, rarely match the kilt and by convention don't have to at all, and are not usually worn with spats. It is the diced tops that are more often worn with spats.

Spot on, Gilmore. I have three pair - black-and-red, red-and-white, and off white-and-red castellated diced hose. The important thing is not whether they match, but whether they get the ladies' attention. Answer: They do. I generally wear them as a piper and with the tartan kilt that the military matches.

[Clockwork John]

[QUOTE=Pleater;464818]So Sam Vimes' thoughts on boots are not current on the forum?

Samuel Vimes is the character on Discworld (a literary creation of Terry Pratchett) in charge of the city of Ankh Morpork Night Watch.

He points out that when a poor man needs boots he buys a pair for ten dollars, which begin to let in the water after a few months. In a year they are worn out and he has to buy another pair for another ten dollars.

When a rich man needs boots he buys a pair for fifty dollars which keep out the water and last a long time.

So, ten years down the line, the poor man has spent twice as much as the rich man on boots, and he still has wet feet.
QUOTE]

I know this thread is about hose, but since someone brough it up...

Here are my thoughts on boots and frugality:

I've been through several pairs of cheap boots. They might last a year if I go easy on them. But most people, myself included, don't wear boots to go easy on them.

Roughly eight years ago, I was given a pair of steel-toed Doc Martens. With a price tag of $130 retail, they were far outside of my price range at the time, and truth be told, they still are.

After eight years of daily wear, I have finally worn them into the ground. The soles are worn slick and no longer provide any traction on any surface, and the leather has finally given out and cracked.

I'm thinking that eight years of wear warrants the $130 investment for another pair. So I started myself a boot fund. I took an empty jar and started tossing all my change in it, plus a few dollars here and there as I could afford it. I had about $50 saved up, with the promise of a retroactive raise at work, so I started shopping for boots.

I found DMs online (not the exact style I wanted but close enough) for $79 shipped. I was all set to buy myself a pair when my wife let it slip that I was getting a pair for Christmas that she had purchased at that incredibly low price.

So now I'm looking at (hopefully) another eight years of boot wear, at a cost of roughly half of retail.

I'd say that hunting for a quality product at an affordable price is pretty darn frugal. Maybe not cheap, but definitely prudent,wise, and frugal.

And that $50 in a jar has been relabeled "kilt fund."

[Jack Daw]

I forgot that I have visual aids. My red-and-off white castellated are featured to the far left. I was a judge at the Houston Highland Games' shortbread contest.

[saecoman99]

at $35 buy them and run