I know there have been a few threads recently about "what color hose should I wear with my Clan MacMuggle kilt?" At risk of sounding stupid, I am posting another one...but with a bit more "substance" to it (I hope).

I have been gradually acquiring the pieces of my formal kilt outfit...and you all probably saw my recent thread where I just finished making my bias cut waistcoat to go with my US Army tartan kilt. I had originally planned on getting some Argyll hose made to go with my kilt and waistcoat...but I have recently started questioning if it might not be a bit much of the same pattern to wear matching waistcoat, kilt, AND hose.

To answer my own question, I went through my rather extensive collection of kilt pics that I've harvested off this forum and other places and have noticed that in most of the pics where gents are wearing tartan waistcoats, they have opted for solid or contrasting diced/triced hose. Likewise, where gents are wearing tartan hose that match their kilts, they tend to wear a contrasting waistcoat (typically black, but sometimes a contrasting color). Here are some visual examples.

Tartan waistcoats with contrasting hose:




A slightly unique case where the seated gentleman is wearing Argyll hose with the same colors as the tartan...but with a different dominant color:


An example of the majority of cases observed in my pics where Argyll hose are worn...who better than PM Gordon Walker to demonstrate this look:


A couple of "exceptions" where all three (vest, kilt, hose) match:



So here's the question, then. If I intend to wear my US Army tartan waiscoat and kilt (as in the picture below), what type of hose would look the best?


I've come to the conclusion that yellow flashes or garters are a likely top choice...but what type of hose? I've considered diced hose in green and blue, green and black, blue and white, or black and white (perhaps even yellow and black for a "loud" option). I've also considered having Argyll hose made to mirror the US Army tartan, but in a "muted" color scheme (interestingly enough, the STA colors for the tartan thread count call for "olive drab" as the main color of the tartan...even though I would say that every weaver uses "tartan green" or "forest green" as the base color). If you would recommend a solid color rather than Argyll or diced hose, what color and why?

Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?