Wow, this is getting silly.

One of my oft-repeated mantras is that the kilt is "clothing, not costume." This means that, unless you are wearing your kilt as a part of a uniform, the only "rules" you need to be concerned with are rules of good taste and fashion. Perhaps these should be better thought of as "guidelines."

Yes, Highland dress is a "free" dress, as Erskine said. That's one of my favorite Highland dress quotes. But that doesn't mean it is a "free for all." You cannot completely ignore fashion guidelines, or throw them out the window. Otherwise you could show up to your white tie affiar dressed like the gent I saw at a Highland Games once, wearing his kilt with a leather biker vest, no shirt, a horned Viking helmet, and green, furry, dinosaur-feet bedroom slippers. Really.

We all want to look good when we wear our kilt. This is why there are so many threads on this forum about what height to wear the sporran, or what shirt looks good with this tartan, or how to modify a men's blazer to wear with the kilt. All these things are done with an eye towards looking good and fitting in with Highland dress fashion.

And that's all this thread needs to be -- a fashion question about what hose look best (or are most acceptible) when worn with the ultra-formal styles of dress doublets mentioned.

Suggesting that argyle or diced hose are the most appropriate with this style of dress is just a statement of the understood norms of formal Highland dress fashion. It is not a dictation or demand or a "thou shalt not wear white hose" from on high. Just a statement of fashion, which anyone is free to follow or ignore.

I'm a bit bothered by the suggestion that by simply stating what the popular fashion norms are, one is being a hypocrit, a "kilt nazi" or infringing on others' freedoms. Anyone heard of hyperbole?

Some people wear the kilt as a symbol of fashion freedom, but that doesn't mean that everyone who wears the kilt is doing so in order to buck the fashion norm or express anything other than Scottish heritage. Let's recognize that different people wear the kilt for different reasons and this will influence how each of us approaches Highland dress fashion. Let's also recognize that there are fashion norms and guidelines in Highland dress (just as with any other mode of dress), and even if we do not choose to abide by them ourselves, respect others who choose to adhere to them more closely.

I think the original poster has had his question answered by now, so maybe this thread is nearing its end.