Footwear

[Riverkilt]

Sandals made for the outdoors, like Tevas, look fine with contemporary kilts. Granted, they may look a tad unusual with tartan kilts.

Ain't it great...we're on the cutting edge of fashion here, trying old and new ways...some of us wear our zcoils (www.zcoil.com) with our kilts...combining function for total comfort to the lower half of our bodies...more if you consider the spine comfort of zcoils.

Ron

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Well then... there you go. Wear sandals.

Disregard anything from before that states otherwise.

[Big Paul]

These are similar the ones I have just bought..


Mine are a Sandro Comfortwalk. They are the most comfortable shoes I have ever put on my feet!

I’m dying to put it all together/on for my wedding day… 3-4-05 can’t come fast enough for two reasons. First is that I can’t wait to be married and lastly I can’t wait to wear my kilt!!!!!

[Jewddha]

The most comfortable footwear I have ever found (besides my own bare feet) would either be my Hush Puppies (dress shoes, and not for my everyday use though), and my Nat sandals (purchased in Israel, they are the better, not to mention more conscientous birkenstocks)

[Casey]

Ahhh! Spats with sandals? Now does one wear socks?

As you can see by the varying opinions, the normal state of affairs here, that just about anything goes. To me, one has to ask, "What is the look I want or I'm comfortable with?"

There is a wide variety between Jimmy's "traditional" look and Bear's "sandals & socks" look.

If you come to my place on a fine summer day you find me in bare feet.

Find your comfort level, BUT, wear a kilt.

Casey

[Graham]

I think that where you are wearing a kilt would determine footwear as much as anything.

To a Burns Dinner on the weekend I wore smart brown leather shoes to match my brown Freelander sporran.

Last week when hiking in a tartan kilt I wore hiking boots.

Today I went for a walk along the beach in a Bear 4 yard casual and wore Teva leather sandals, which eventually came off (the sandals I mean) when I walked in the sea.
I agree that it may have looked a wee bit lady-like, but on a big empty beach - who cares?

I wouldn't wear sandals to a dinner and I wouldn't wear good shoes in the water.

All this illustrates the incredible versitality of kilts IMHO.

BTW, I believe that a velcro kilt is an ideal garment for the beach. Easy to get on and off and good for changing in and out of bathers after a swim in comple modesty!

[zeytoun]

I personally like a basic oxford. Finer and dressier (like this perhaps: http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/232195/c/7.html) if I were doing something formal, chunkier, like a Tredair or Doc Martin if I'm just casual. Boots are great too (someone posted this link a while back, I'm going to get these eventually http://store.crownsurplus.com/produc...09c0db69c200e8). I've tried sandles and it only felt right with my utilikilt at the beach. Spats aren't bad; I've got a pair of WWII leggings that I wear sometimes. It seems that in picking out footwear the two important factors are color and shape. For color, finding something complementary is not too hard, and if you have trouble you can stick to just dark brown or black. For shape, you have to concentrate on what has been called visual balance. A hiking boot that reaches just past your ankle and kilt hose pulled up to your knee can be visually awkward; it breaks up your sight. But spats seem to work ok. Why? because they are fit snug to your leg and keep the look streamlined, whereas hiking boots are usually bulky. So in general I avoid shoes/boots are too loose around the ankle, and I only wear pulled-up kilt hose when I'm wearing an okford or a dress shoe.

I've been looking for a good buckle shoes, I think that would look great for dressy but the ones I've see look like girl's Mary Janes, does anybody have a link to a good-looking pair? I found this new website, it's a bit slow loading but has some very interesting stuff http://www.jacobeanshoes.com/acatalog/index.html

[macwilkin]

Spats aren't bad; I've got a pair of WWII leggings that I wear sometimes. It seems that in picking out footwear the two important factors are color and shape. For color, finding something complementary is not too hard, and if you have trouble you can stick to just dark brown or black. For shape, you have to concentrate on what has been called visual balance. A hiking boot that reaches just past your ankle and kilt hose pulled up to your knee can be visually awkward; it breaks up your sight. But spats seem to work ok. Why? because they are fit snug to your leg and keep the look streamlined, whereas hiking boots are usually bulky.

A little "off-topic" here, but I just wanted to clarify that "spats" and leggings" are not the same thing, although they do serve similar purposes. Spats are more for "dressy" attire to protect the shoe from wet conditions, mud, etc. -- hence their name, "spatterdashes". Leggings are longer, usually right below the knee, and are usually seen as part of military-issue uniform or for outdoor events, such as hiking.

I have a pair of reproduction US Army Issue Model 1894 Leggings I wear for Spanish-American War reenacting, and I quite like them -- not only do they look "natty", but they are also quite practical in keeping dirt, grass, rocks, critters, etc. out of your shoes -- and it's not too hard to put them on. But they must be worn TIGHT -- almost cutting off circulation.

There is a lot of evidence that Scottish Regiments serving in North America during the Seven Year's (French & Indian) War wore Native Leggings made of wool with beaded ties, as the French were doing. Again, very practical considering the dense forest that these campaigns took place in. In the First World War, the US Army abandoned the canvas legging for the British puttee, or leg-wrap, which was more practical for the damp conditions of the trenches,only to "re-adopt" them again in the Second World War until 1943-44.

Leggings are still around today, for skiing and other winter activities, and the Swiss & Norwegian armies still issue them as "kit". We still see them in the US as part of dress uniforms for colour guards (The US Navy comes to mind).

Sorry, reverting back to "reenactor mindset" there...

Cheers,

T.

[Andrew Breecher]

I wear sneakers all the time, with whatever kilt I happen to have on. I've met plenty of people who comment about the kilts, but never anyone who tells me I'm wearing the wrong shoes.

When I hike I wear gaiters, to keep stuff out of my shoes. My short gaiters are much like spats. This picture shows them clearly, and is, well, kind of funny (hiker humour)....



You can see the taller gaiters on my friend, who hikes in her skirt. Nothing wrong with that look, either, except they cover up her legs.

Andrew.

[Jewddha]

I think Casey has givin the best advice to my ears "find your comfort level, and wear a kilt"

In all honesty, I'm not TOO worried, I mean, hose/leggings/spats are all out of the picture for me unless its a real event, I'm a high school student, so likely sneakers, sandals or boots if I can find them. I was really just curious as per your opinions