Balmoral Toorie Colour

[Standard]

I have what I imagine will be a simple question for our longtime kilted members. My (black) balmoral has the standard issue red torrie. Is it acceptable practice to exchange the red toorie for one of another colour? Is there a standard colour which is most popular? Colours to stay away from? I think I'd like to change it to a dark green colour. Does the colour need to match your kilt colours? Thanks in advance for all the help.

[Jock Scot]

Change your toorie colour and no one will care a jot. Match the colour of your kilt? I would think that very few would bother,or, even think about it. Certainly in Scotland!

[piperdbh]

I replaced mine with one I made from the colors of my tartan (red, navy blue, and green). If you wear different colored kilts, you might want to pick a color that's common to all of them. Or replace it with black, since your Balmoral is black. You could rip the thing off and go without a toorie at all and it would be acceptable, unless it's part of a uniform.
There's another thread about Balmorals currently circulating, with answers to other questions you might have
Hope this helps.

[The Barry]

I had to look for a few seconds, but ended up buying a glengarry with a black torrie. I would do the same when the time comes to buy a balmoral. For whatever reason, I don't like the look of the red. My tartan is blue/green/purple with a touch of white.. Red just looks out of place.

I also like the idea above of buying one with a red torrie (easiest to find), ripping it off, and inserting one that you have made in a color that matches or compliments your kilt/jacket/eyes/hose/pinky ring/etc.

I might have to steal that idea, God bless X-marks!

[Standard]

Change your toorie colour and no one will care a jot. Match the colour of your kilt? I would think that very few would bother,or, even think about it. Certainly in Scotland!

Thanks Jock, I knew that I could count on you to give a view of the situation from across the pond. Thanks to Barry and Piperdbh also. The red toorie, to me at least, has always seemed to be a caricature if you will, of Scottish attire. I've been thinking of changing it to a more subdued colour which wouldn't seem to stand out and scream look at me. Dark green, or lovet green would be my first choice of colour.

So, if your toorie isn't red, what colour have you chosen?

[ThistleDown]

The red toorie, to me at least, has always seemed to be a caricature if you will, of Scottish attire. I've been thinking of changing it to a more subdued colour which wouldn't seem to stand out and scream look at me. Dark green, or lovet green would be my first choice of colour.

So, if your toorie isn't red, what colour have you chosen?

Well, we don't really think of it as a caricature (saving that thought for the Harry Lauder walking stick, perhaps). It's just that the Balmoral is readily available in colours of black, navy blue, and a few others and that the black and blue ones usually come with red toories. Choose a colour you like.

[JSFMACLJR]

Again, there is the obsession with everything "matching." If you want to change the colour of the toorie, sure, go ahead. Personally, I don't even think about it, or worry about it. Who actually cares???

As an interesting side-bar to all this talk about having a toorie that compliments one's tartan, the Duke of Argyll favours a red toorie with any balmoral!





So did his late father:

[thescot]

Whew! Glad you told me that was the duke. I first thought JSFMACLJR was showing us pix of himself at a recent gathering, and I was just anticipating the deluge of responses to his audacity at wearing the feather! :P

If Argyl can wear a red toorie and red freekin' hose with a rather worn looking jacket, who cares what we little commoners wear!

But personally--don't look too closely at my avatar--I prefer the black toorie on a black bonnet. Just looks better to me.

[Standard]

Well, we don't really think of it as a caricature

ThistleDown, I appologize, no offense meant, a poor choice of word on my part.

Since I'm pretty much the lone kilt wearer in my area I want to impart a good image to those whom I meet while I'm out and about kilted. I seemed to recall that most of the balmorals that I have seen "out in the wild" (they being roaming free of catalouge pages) didn't have red toories. I might be a bit confused on this matter however.

Thanks to JSFMACLJR for giving some fine examples of toories that do look very proper being red. I do notice a lovet green coloured one on the cap in the background of the first photo, and also on the cap of the gentleman speaking with the Dukein the second. The cap does appear to my eye to be of a like colour as the toorie, and perhapse that explains the colour choice. As to the colour matching my kilt, the red would definately match better than would green. However, I simply like how I imagine a green toorie would look.

TheScot, you look very distinguished in your avitar.

[JSFMACLJR]

Whew! Glad you told me that was the duke. I first thought JSFMACLJR was showing us pix of himself at a recent gathering, and I was just anticipating the deluge of responses to his audacity at wearing the feather! :P

Ah, but on occasion I do wear a feather in my bonnet, as I am an armiger.

I don't often do so, as my crest badge clearly indicates I am an armiger, but on "official" occasions such as when this photo was taken, I sometimes do wear a feather: