Black Watch tartan and white hose?

[Presidential33]

I am just about to order my first kilt ever from Stillwater. It is a Black Watch Tartan and I would like to wear it to work (an office). Therefore I would wear it with a dress shirt and a tie, and possibly a sweater vest, a black button-up vest or a black sports coat.

Since most of my dress shirts probably wouldn't match with the kilt, I would most likely be wearing a simple white dress shirt.

I have read that the hose (socks) should match the shirt, so this would mean using white hose (socks), as even the cream and off-white coloured socks would not match the simple white colour of my dress shirt. But I read another rule that white, off-white and cream hose should never be worn unless you are in a pipe band or renting the outfit. Is this true?

Some have said that black hose are nice, and they would indeed match with my black sports coat or vests, but then that would make for a very dark outfit. Lots of black...

Others have mentioned green hose (from lovat to dark green) or blue hose (from navy to lovat). Is there a particular blue or green that will match the kilt? And should these hose be purchased from a particular vendor? Another suggestion has been oatmeal hose, but I do not own an oatmeal coloured shirt.

Perhaps I should just get the white hose afterall? Is this not what looks best with the Black Watch tartan anyways? Does it not help to brighten the outfit a little?

Again, off-white and cream hose would not exactly match my pure white dress shirt...but maybe this is not a big deal either?

Thanks for any help and suggestions!!

[xman]

Socks matching shirts is a trousers thing. Complimenting (not necessarily matching) the kilt with your hose colour is a far better idea. I believe that White/Off White hose ONLY look acceptable with black/white tie dress. Navy or Bottle Green hose would go best IMO, even Black or Red would go better 99.9% of the time.

[davidlpope]

I am just about to order my first kilt ever from Stillwater. It is a Black Watch Tartan and I would like to wear it to work (an office). Therefore I would wear it with a dress shirt and a tie, and possibly a sweater vest, a black button-up vest or a black sports coat.

Since most of my dress shirts probably wouldn't match with the kilt, I would most likely be wearing a simple white dress shirt.

I have read that the hose (socks) should match the shirt, so this would mean using white hose (socks), as even the cream and off-white coloured socks would not match the simple white colour of my dress shirt. But I read another rule that white, off-white and cream hose should never be worn unless you are in a pipe band or renting the outfit. Is this true?

Some have said that black hose are nice, and they would indeed match with my black sports coat or vests, but then that would make for a very dark outfit. Lots of black...

Others have mentioned green hose (from lovat to dark green) or blue hose (from navy to lovat). Is there a particular blue or green that will match the kilt? And should these hose be purchased from a particular vendor? Another suggestion has been oatmeal hose, but I do not own an oatmeal coloured shirt.

Perhaps I should just get the white hose afterall? Is this not what looks best with the Black Watch tartan anyways? Does it not help to brighten the outfit a little?

Again, off-white and cream hose would not exactly match my pure white dress shirt...but maybe this is not a big deal either?

Thanks for any help and suggestions!!

Welcome. Don't try to get things to match. It looks contrived and is not consistent with traditional highland attire. Try instead, to pick several pairs of hose in colors that will tone well with the kilt. Dark red, lovat blue, lovat green, and bottle green all look nice with the Black Watch tartan. Steer clear of black and white/ivory.

David

[Woot22]

Steer clear of black and white/ivory.

Could not have said it any better.

[RB51]

Dark red, lovat blue, lovat green, and bottle green all look nice with the Black Watch tartan. Steer clear of black and white/ivory.

David

...as do dark grey or charcoal.

Laurie

[Spc. Scott]

I like oatmeal, stone colored as well.

This is a pretty nice set as well. Can't go wrong with what gets issued with them.

[rtc872]

Here is me with a pair of hose from the dunadd trading company. I reckon these would go with anything.

[nagod]

glad you made it here from the other site,welcome from kalamazoo

[Jock Scot]

Alright it's old Jock on his hobby horse, yet again! If I were you, I would avoid white hose(unless you are in a pipe band) and wear any colour you like other than white---frankly white hose spoil the look of the kilt.

I know that many North Americans seem to require that things should match, it is not the traditional kilted Scots way. From the many threads/posts that have been on this website about NOT matching your kilt attire, there really does seem to almost a mental block by those that fail to understand that matching things with the kilt is quite unnecessary. I don't think I am exagerating when I say that many non Scots seem to think that we Scots almost make a concious effort not to match things! In fact we traditional Scots wear almost what comes to hand without much concious effort whatsoever. Try it?

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I have read that the hose (socks) should match the shirt, so this would mean using white hose (socks), as even the cream and off-white coloured socks would not match the simple white colour of my dress shirt.

Let me ask you this: if you were wearing a blue suit and white shirt, would you wear white socks? Probably not. The same really should apply to choosing "the right hose" to wear with your kilt. In other words choose positive "colours" other than white/cream/very light tan, etc. as this helps to pull the look together, rather than isolating the kilt between two bands of white.

But I read another rule that white, off-white and cream hose should never be worn unless you are in a pipe band or renting the outfit. Is this true?

Generally speaking white hose are most often seen as part of a band uniform, or when worn with rented attire. Since you are going to be wearing your kilt in an office environment, you will want to present to your co-workers (and the public) a professional, well kept, appearance. For this reason alone I would advise against white or light coloured hose; even the slightest smudge on white/light hose will give the appearance of wearing dirty socks at work, which is probably not the image you wish to project. Likewise, if you intend to be kilted at work on a daily basis, I'd suggest that you invest in half a dozen pair of hose of different colours, lest co-workers form the opinion that you never change your socks.

Since, in practical terms, there is no cost difference between a pair of sharp looking coloured hose, and the "pipe band uniform" look of white hose, my advice would be to buy greens, blues, and darker reds for office wear with the kilt.