A couple of years ago I was competing with the band at a games where I'm also one of the co-directors (organizers) of the contest (it's not a conflict of interest as I don't pay the judges - the Games does).

Anyhoo - I don't usually wear my band kit all day, there's a lot of running around I have to do in the morning - through a wooded area with underbrush, etc. - so I usually wear my kilt hose & my tennis shoes (trainers) and shorts, then put on the kilt & rest of the band kit around lunch time, just before band tune up starts.

On the day in question, I was running short on time and forgot to change into my ghille brogues - I went into the comp circle wearing my tennies. I didn't realize I still had them on until we went up to the line! As I recall, there were a couple of remarks on the scoresheets (like "Nice shoes!"), but we still placed pretty well - I don't think it counted against us.