PC Waistcoat

[OC Richard]

Can you spot the emergence of white hose in your catalogue archives? I see them in the 1960 page, but am wondering just how closely you can pinpoint their appearance.

It's devilishly hard to pin down dates of just when things started getting popular.

Good eye there, I hadn't noticed his hose, though they appear to be beige/tan rather than white. In any case, hose which traditionally wouldn't have been worn for Evening Dress.

Plain 'day' kilt hose (with a diamond pattern knit into the cuffs, the rest being plain) seemed to be offered in the same stock colours by several major firms when I started kiltwearing in the 70s: cream, tan, Lovat blue, Lovat green... you didn't often see hose in other colours. I remember in the early 80s seeing a place offering royal blue and red, which I'd not seen before.

At some point, safe to say by the 70s, one started to see cream/offwhite hose being worn with ghillies with Prince Charlies.

Around 1980 cream heavy handknit Aran/Arran pattern hose got very popular and these would be worn with Prince Charlies as well as for day dress.

Then by 1990 the pure stark white bobble top/popcorn top 'piper socks' became all the rage with pipe bands. Bands wearing the old cream hose stood out like sore thumbs, and they soon switched over.

That's about all I know.

It would be interesting indeed to look over a large number of kilt photos taken in the 50s and 60s and try to spot when offwhite/cream hose started being worn with Prince Charlies.

[Tartan Tess]

Ooh yes; you can NEVER have too much tartan.

[Tobus]

Bias-cut tartan waistcoat is what I'd be looking for as well. It's pretty difficult to match a waistcoat to a jacket if they weren't made to go together (i.e. not all black barathea wool is the same). But with a tartan waistcoat, you needn't worry about it. And you'll look 10 times as awesome.

[pinkpickle]

I think a tartan waistcoat would be the answer...and you will look awesome, a friend has a tartan waistcoat and it looks great

[MNlad]

Red could be quite striking, depending on your tartan.

Or, depending on the tartan again, a medium or pearl gray can look very formal.

[MacRobert's Reply]

I have a green three-button waistcoat that I used to wear with a PC until, quite unaccountably, it appears to have got smaller. I also have a red one that fits. This really stands out in a crowd! Cream (putty) also works well. IMHO a good contrast is always better than a bad match. Dark jackets often look good with light-coloured waistcoats and light jacket with dark waistcoats.

[Highlander31]

....IMHO a good contrast is always better than a bad match. Dark jackets often look good with light-coloured waistcoats and light jacket with dark waistcoats.

I agree with you, contrast is definitely better than a bad match. It might be possible for Geoff to order a waistcoat from a company with a good return policy. If the waistcoat color isn't close enough to his jacket, he can simply return it for another color.


Warning: A slight derailment from the thread.

Planning a wardrobe with multiple waistcoats is an economical way to increase your options.
Having multiple waistcoats for the Argyll or PC has been discussed multiple times on the forum. This should apply for day wear, as well. If a person purchases two jackets with waistcoats, one in charcoal and the other in a light grey. The waistcoats can be worn with either jacket. Allowing for eight different looks (including wearing the waistcoats sans jacket.) Of course that is before adding ties and hose. Taking the waistcoats when picking out ties will ensure the ties work with both jacket/waistcoat colors.

The two jackets and waistcoats along with four ties and four pair of different colored hose, allows one the option of 128 different looks (this assumes a person is only using one kilt, one sporran, and one set of garter ties.) If you are traveling, this would all fit in a carry on with room to spare for shoes, shaving kit, etc..

We now return you to the regularly scheduled thread.