Puzzle of the Brown Kilt Hose

[Bugbear]

And how did the tea taste?

Ted, I have a pair of brown hose from Gaelic Themes. For some reason, the fibers in these are tighter and tougher than in their other colors. I usually buy mediums, and they serve me well. Last year I bought a pair in medium at a Scottish festival in Kentucky, but they were so tight I couldn't pull them up my legs (I have sturdy calves, let's say). I gave them away.

Last month I found another pair in large, so I thought I'd try again. These do fit, but just barely. I haven't worn them with anything yet, and I haven't washed them. But when I do, if they shrink in the slightest, I'll send for your address.

As anyone who would watch "What Not To Wear" on TLC (as far as I know, they've never had anything to say about kilts), brown is a neutral and it can go with just about everything. I don't see a problem in mixing different shades of brown (as Glenn just demonstrated with his IoS) just as you could put it with many different shades of red, green, blue, yellow, orange, or purple - though perhaps not all at once. Sometimes, I think, if you get too matchy-matchy it looks like you tried too hard - I'm running into that with my new MacCreary. A little insouciance goes a long way.

Regards,
Rex.

Wow, this thread grew while I was out and about; I'll start with Rex.

I understand what your saying, rex. There would be several shades of brown and other colors here with the sporran, bunny fur, shoes, belt, and the tie. I've decided to use silver for the buckles, and so on, instead of the standard gold for brown, and even having a mixed gold and silver kilt pin. There is always a option to use a non-matching pocket square or something like that.

I don't like the thought of an actual kilt suit too much for the same reason you stated. However, in my mind, I like how the matching or close-in-color jacket and hose would frame the tangle of colors of the kilt. Different shades of brown hose to the jacket, or soon to be jackets, would be fine too if for no other reason than to not look like I always wear the same thing. (That's not to say that in the trouser world an all matching suit and tie like navy blue with a crisp white shirt couldn't be impressive and attractive in some situations.)

Where I have to be very careful is in which colors I wear because my skin tone, hair color and so on do not work well at all with several colors: bright orange, yellow, red.... If I stick to nutrals and pastels,I look much better. People react to me better too.
I think the insouciance is mostly in the long hair ponytail thing and tweed flat cap for me.

Good luck with the hose.