Vest and hose advice

[AKScott]

As a kilt newbie and admitted victim of the dreaded matchy matchy disease I present a couple of questions to the rabble.
I am looking for a vest to wear with my kilt when I attend events that require a little nicer attire than what I currently have. It will be worn with a Mackay modern kilt. Primarily, it will be worn to events where the rest of the people in attendance will be wearing clothing ranging from khakis with polos to dress slacks and shirts; so it doesn't need to be something overally formal.
I would like the advice from those here concerning color options as well as vendors. The budget available is very tight, and I would perfer to deal with a US vendor so as to save on international shipping rates.

I can't help with the vest, I am trying to figure one or two out for myself. opcorn:

You will likely want a belt when kilted with a tucked in polo style shirt. Should be a useless fashion accessory if your kilt fits correctly, but chicks dig it, so...

The Lewis line of hose from Scottish Tartans Museum (clickable ad above) are made by House of Cheviot. I love them. Not cheap. Their standard hose at $27.95 per pair are pretty good. Open link/ giftshop / men's wear/ footwear/ hose.

I have yet to read a single negative review of anything about Rocky at USA Kilts either. Picking between those two seems to be a good kind of dilemma to have.

Also, I am looking for color options for new hose and flashes to wear with this kilt.

Looking at the online swatch from Loch Carron Strome I personally (quite pale skin tones) would stay away from bottle green. I could make Lovat Blue work with a lot of stuff, claret would be a good choice for day wear and smart daywear, and I could probably make yellow hose work. Bottle green would be very difficult for me to carry off without looking like a leprechaun. Lovat green would be easier than bottle green, but still a lot of green.

I might try ancient (very light) blue hose with that kilt.

Another (cheaper) option would be to buy inexpensive white hose with 50-70% wool content and then home dye them in a bucket of coffee. Darker roasts, longer soaks and higher wool content lead to darkest browns, but a very light oatmeal sort of brown is possible.

I have read (more than once) that those living in Scotland can use either bright blue or bright red garter ties 99.44% of the time.

I would like suggestions in both solid color as well as diced.
Sorry for the long winded post but wanted to be sure I give enough information.

Anytime I have rendered an opinion on diced hose those with more experience than me have disagreed (politely) with my opinion and uniformly suggested some other combination.

red/ white, green/ white, red/black and green/black are the "players". You have a lot of green and black in that kilt already. I bet the top two responses are going to be red/white and red/black, but I am not quite clear (yet) on why that will be.

Good luck!

[Downunder Kilt]

If your on a tight budget Thrift/Op shops are your friend in the search for a waistcoat/vest to wear. For the price of a new tweed one you could feasibly buy 10 from a thrift shop, if not more. I have found Harris tweed ones, doeskin ones, linen ones, wool (as in suit wool) ones in a wide range of colours.

As for kilt hose, I have to go with others on that one and say the Lewis hose range, once you have worn them you won't look back.