Monochrome sett pictures here please

[AKScott]

I actually think most of what you have works,

Thanks for breaking the ice in this thread.

except I'm not keen on the blue against the PC jacket.

I concede, it isn't my favorite.

The kilt looks a fraction high on the waist to me, maybe the lack of a belt is creating that illusion because it looks good with the PC jacket.

My made to measure green tank does indeed sit about half an inch lower on the waistline. In the Christmas Eve pictures I changed kilts without retying my neck tie. Kudos to you. The monochrome was made to someone else's measurements close to mine and clearance priced.

With the light blue shirt, either hose would work. With the dark blue shirt I'd try a dark grey hose to match the grey of the kilt.

I'll try it with the medium grey and charcoal hose I already own.

For the PC I like to see non coloured hose so that would be dark grey or probably black to match the jacket, maybe with white flashes to match the kilt? The black/white diced hose look like they'd work too but these are usually pretty expensive.

I'll try white flashes with charcoal hose first since my wife has lately taken up knitting. I think for now I like the shepard check hose better because the chop is closer to the position my own legs were in. Next time I am in black tie I'll try to stand more like Littrog was so I can chop it again and have it look more natural.

Thank you for speaking up.

[Jock Scot]

Well alright as you are asking! I seldom comment about tartans, it causes less offence that way, but suffice to say I have not seen a tartan like the black and white one before.

The simple answer is, you go with what you have and my word you have plenty of kit to play with! Plus some picture adjustments too. Any of the hose and shirts on display actually work perfectly well and proves, really well, how versitile kilt attire can be. Ok, I have my personal "not so keen" bits of your proposed attire-----red shirt------black and white diced hose----- but frankly if that kilt is the way you want to go, then just shut your eyes grab a shirt out of the wardrobe and take the first pair of hose out of the drawer that comes to hand and you will not be far out. In all honesty,I think you are in danger of overthinking all this.

On having a quick re-look at your pictures before I post, the claret hose do illustrate just how versitile the colour is, but any hose that you are showing work well.

[The Wizard of BC]

Because you specifically asked sir.

Some advice I try to get across to my customers when they are first getting into the kilt may be very appropriate here.

Let the Kilt stand on its own.

I try to get them to stop thinking that just because they put on a kilt that every part of their outfit must now be color coordinated to the kilt.

I often do a little trick where I stand in front of my rental fleet. I ask the customer if my outfit works with the kilt I have on. When they say yes I reach over and pull a completly different Tartan out and hold it in front and ask again. As long as everything else of my outfit works together it really does not matter what Tartan I put with it. You should see their eyes bug out. Then a little light goes on. "You mean that I can use what is already in my closet? I don't have to buy eveything special to create a single kilt outfit?"

Nope. This only thing you have special are your hose and flashes. Everything else can be what you already have.


Try this-----
You can start with the hose you currently own, Lay them out on your bed.
Then look in your closet for a shirt that goes with the color of the hose. Lay this out with your hose.
This builds the basic color of your outfit.

If you can find a good combination of hose, and shirt then lay out the flashes you have and find a tie that goes with it. Or try flashes and pocket square if you are wearing a jacket.
This becomes your accent color.

Notice that we have not yet talked about the kilt.

Lay all this out on your bed and then lay any kilt out with it and I think you will find that it works.

If it is me the only thing I would avoid is too much texture or pattern in the outfit. This is a strong Tartan so keep everything else simple. For example - A simple, plain Sporran would work very well with this Tartan where a fur sporran in black and white cow would look horribley busy. In fact I would avoid fur all together with this outfit.
KISS,,, Keep-It-Simple-Stupid. Plain, classic, understated never goes wrong.

[AKScott]

This is the version of the recurring theme got my eyes to bug out:

I often do a little trick where I stand in front of my rental fleet. I ask the customer if my outfit works with the kilt I have on. When they say yes I reach over and pull a completly different Tartan out and hold it in front and ask again. As long as everything else of my outfit works together it really does not matter what Tartan I put with it. You should see their eyes bug out. Then a little light goes on.

On behalf of future search button users, thank you one and all.

I'll order a properly fitting light blue shirt straight away, and see if I can lift some colored diced hose images from elsewhere on the internet for future use.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Tartans that only incorporate black and white are fairly rare beasts, but they are out there. In addition to the black and white Scott you are wearing, there are black and white tartans for Menzies, Stewart, MacFarlane, and of course the shepherd tartan (Northumberland). They seem to present a challenge for people in terms of matching accessories, but I actually think they are fairly versatile.

One trap that people fall into is to color match their accessories with their tartan. This is a "safe" thing for people new to kilt wearing to do. If your tartan has green, blue, black, red and yellow, then wearing a shirt, tie, kilt hose, flashes, etc., chosen from that color palette is a pretty simple way of making sure your outfit looks well put together. I would consider that a good place to start for most people.

The problem comes when people fail to realize it is ok to branch out beyond that. That many times a color NOT contained in your tartan will also look great with your kilt, and may actually serve to better compliment the tartan. Very often branching out and NOT matching the kilt will give a bit more visual interest to your outfit. And indeed, you should consider the entire outfit, not just the kilt.

This problem tends to be magnified when people wear a black and white tartan. Suddenly one's color choices seem to have been whittled down to black and white! Which might be ok (if not a bit boring) for formal evening wear, but what about all other times?

Here it is essential that people get past the "wear the colors in your kilt" mentality. Indeed, when you consider that your kilt is only black and white, it really presents a neutral tone, and just about any color can coordinate well with it, so long as it does not clash with other parts of your outfit.

I sold a fellow a lovat grey tweed kilt once and he was confused about what color kilt hose to wear with it. I asked him what color shirt he thought he might be wearing. He said claret. So I suggested claret hose. Or charcoal grey hose with claret garters. And if he were wearing a light blue shirt, I'd wear lovat blue hose, etc. He caught on pretty quick. I told him since the kilt was a pretty neutral color, so long as the rest of his outfit looked good together, it didn't matter whether they "matched" the kilt or not.

So that would be my advice here, as well. Don't worry about matching the kilt. If your hose and flashes, shirt and tie, jacket, what have you, look good together, then they should work pretty well with the kilt.

As a personal note, if it were my kilt, I would definitely get a pair of black and white diced hose to wear with it for formal occasions! But for daily wear, I think I would wear any and every color hose BUT black or white.

[LitTrog]

But for daily wear, I think I would wear any and every color hose BUT black or white.

***


For once, Mr. Newsome seems to know what he's talking about. I would definitely avoid the B/W for day wear also. I do like your claret and ancient blue hose.

[pascs]

In this photo you have the best accessory

[McMurdo]

I think you are doing quite well with the outfits pictured. I will say that when I first started wearing the kilt I was worried about matching everything with the tartan. As I've grown in confidence this has not mattered as much. If I were to make suggestions I would say I would make more use of the claret hose you have, as I think they really are versatile. I think they can work very well in a casual outfit.

I do not own a black and white tartan however I think you can create a monochrome look with any number of tartans or you can go the other way, and not match much of anything, there is no wrong answer. For example my clan tartan is blue and green. Here it is with a monochrome outfit:



And here it is with a more colourful outfit:



The jacket, the kilt and the shoes are the same it is the the shirt tie and hose that make the difference of course you could change out the jacket as well. So I'd say play around with the accessories you have, you are doing very well as it is.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

First of all, I think that all of your outfits work, with the exception of the t-shirt look, something that to me always looks "unfinished". I think t-shirts, polo shirts, and rugby shirts look better if they are loose fitting, and bloused at the waist.

Okay, aside from the size issue this looks good. Were it I, I'd have worn this over a shirt with the collar showing at the neck. I'd turn back the cuffs and blouse the sweater at the waist. I'd also drop the sporran a couple of notches.

You made the right call when you said you thought the claret shirt was a bit too much with this kilt. (Claret hose, however, might tone things down a bit, so I wouldn't throw out the shirt, just yet. ) Really strong colours tend to visually distract from this tartan, unless mostly covered with a jacket or waistcoat. The yellow tie was a smart choice.

Both the shirt and tie work well with this kilt. Something you may want to consider, however, is how this shirt will work if worn with a jacket. I think it would probably be fine with a linen jacket (or some other light coloured fabric), but it may be too dark to wear with tweeds and dark woolens, especially with a brightly coloured tie, such as you have on here.

[AKScott]

I agree I should bring the claret hose I have into the daywear mix with this kilt and my existing wardrobe. Right now my claret hose are the nice ones I try to reserve for evening wear.

I looked at a lot of hose today, diced, argyle, tartan, castellated, bunch of options. Than I looked at the prices, and I looked in my closet again, and I googled up DIY cadadh.

This half meter of doublewide remnant I learned to purl on is going under the scissors before I pay that kind of money for a pair of socks.