A Different take on White Kilt Hose

[ThistleDown]

He insisted that white hose and Gillies are what Scots wear for formal occasions - weddings, funerals, Sunday services, etc. When I commented that neither Rothesay nor the Clan Chiefs have been photographed with white but rather diced or Argyle, and rarely Gillies, he said "We don't care what Rothesay or the chiefs wear; we all wear white. What's going on?"

Not much, FB. I think the man was finding justification for his costume selection. I suspect, too, that he made his statement because you asked about his white hose.

Having said that, there are many Scots -- even Highlanders -- who wear white hose when they are kilted for those special occasions you noted. There are even some who wear white socks when they are not kilted. There was a time when white hose with the kilt and white socks with trousers was de rigueur in the Lowlands, and perhaps that was the reason for the recent slop-over into the Highlands. Today it is simply a matter of choice whether we want to adhere to tradition, with the kilt-hire mandate, or move on in today's tentative fashion world.

Edit: I must admit that I *shudder* to think of gillie brogues without hose, if we are headed in that direction.

[Jock Scot]

Many traditional kilt wearers would not have worn diced hosed to that level of black tie event either!

There is also quite a large element in Scotland who do not care one jot what the " Scottish Establishment" do or say. I also think there is a large chunk of defensive bravado in the chap's reply too, based on the "facts" that he quoted. Another clue to the fellows inexperience is the fact that he was prepared to talk kilt attire in fairly specific terms and in public place and to a relative stranger. It something that old hands just don't do, they observe, note, question silently, approve or even disapprove, but not one word about kilt attire is ever spoken.Its just not done. Apart from on a website such as this.

There are plenty of Highlanders who have no ken on how to wear the kilt and come from families that have no kilt wearing tradition to guide them. Make no mistake, there are plenty of those around and about in the Highlands. I wouldn't mind betting my best fishing rod, that there is a kilt hire inputput in some form going on. That may be advice given indirectly by internet picture form, or the fellow just walked into a hire shop.When you think about it, kilt hire is probably the most cost effective option in the circumstances. Purchasing a complete set of traditional kilt attire in one go is not a cheap option, when all said and done.

Which reminds me, about that thread of mine that I posted a wee while ago, about hire company kilt attire and the poor advice that kilt hire companies offer to the unknowing. Bill's experience probably illustrates my point well! I wonder if any thought has been given to a kilt hire awareness section on this website yet?

[PatrickHughes123]

I recently ran into a Scot on a cruise. We were both kilted for a black tie evening - I with diced hose. He insisted that white hose and Gillies are what Scots wear for formal occasions - weddings, funerals, Sunday services, etc. When I commented that neither Rothesay nor the Clan Chiefs have been photographed with white but rather diced or Argyle, and rarely Gillies, he said "We don't care what Rothesay or the chiefs wear; we all wear white."

Not what I read here. Jock? Neloon? Alex? Others over there?

What's going on?

Patrick Hughes here, actual Scot.

Well, I wouldn't say he is lying completely here. It is just exaggerated.

The last time I was at a wedding was years ago, and if I remember right, all of the kilt wearers wore white hose. I can't exactly remember the tartan, I think it was Pride of Scotland. So as I remember it, all plain white hose and all PoS tartan!

Now, things may have changed since then. I'm not sure, I would need to go to a wedding again to find out. But according to other people on this, it is no longer really acceptable anymore and people do tend to wear different colours or patterns now. But weddings as I know them and my personal wedding experience as I remember it, is white hose, all white hose.

But again, this guy appears to be exaggerating.

[ThistleDown]

The last time I was at a wedding was years ago, and if I remember right, all of the kilt wearers wore white hose. I can't exactly remember the tartan, I think it was Pride of Scotland. So as I remember it, all plain white hose and all PoS tartan!

White hose and Pride of Scotland tartan is a dead giveaway -- kilt rental. In the Lowlands that's the norm and in the Highlands it's often the case, but most of the Scottish hire firms don't rent out hose these days. They sell them for higher profit, instead, and frugal members of the wedding party have no use for them after the day, so they buy the least costly pairs -- always white. Many Scots -- Highlanders or Lowlanders --have their own kilts, but go off to the outfitter for a new pair of hose prior to the wedding . If you look again at the pic Steve posted, you can see the difference between new hose and those simply pulled from the drawer for the occasion. At least one pair is beautifully hand knit.

I'm at a wedding in Germany this Summer and I can (almost) guarantee that several of the men will be wearing newly-purchased white hose, but all will be wearing their own kilts. The last wedding I attended (at Inverness in December) there was not a white pair to be seen. No tartan garter flashes either, as I recall.

[Steve Ashton]

I am of the suspicion that the white hose thing came from the 1960's when you just were not anyone unless you had a pair of hand knit hose in fisherman cables knit with love by your granny. They were almost always cream or ecru, thick and terribly hot. But they were made by granny so you wore them with pride.

It seemed in those days that everyone had these hand knit cable hose Some had large 'bobbles' which I am told were called "Piper's knots".

[kingandrew]

Steve,

Those are some pretty impressive white socks. I can't say I would ever feel underdressed wearing them, no matter what the occasion. But there is no doubt that the cookie-cutter look of hired kilt outfits has done much to undermine the white sock cachet.

Andrew

[OC Richard]

I am of the suspicion that the white hose thing came from the 1960's when you just were not anyone unless you had a pair of hand knit hose in fisherman cables knit...almost always cream or ecru, thick and terribly hot.

At least in my experience the thing went in three distinct stages:

1) cream/ecru ordinary Day hose beginning to be worn with Prince Charlies. This, as you say, possibly came in around the 1960s. These hose were the ordinary mass-produced fairly thin Day hose with large diamonds knit into the turnover cuff.

These were the standard Day hose when I started kiltwearing (mid 1970s) and came in Ecru, Lovat green, Lovat blue, and Oatmeal (the colour-names used at the time). Sometimes I also saw these offered in Navy blue, Bottle green, moss green, sky blue, claret, and black.

Pipe Major Evan MacRae (right) wearing ecru Day hose and ghilles with Evening dress 1980



2) cream heavy handknit Arran hose. These had elaborate diamond and cable patterns. They came in AFAIK in the mid-1970s. By around 1980 if your band didn't have these, and was still wearing the thinner hose mentioned above, you announced to everyone that your band was out of the loop.



It was quite a fad for bands to wear Arran hose with Prince Charlies, no vests, long ties, hairy sporrans, Balmoral bonnets, and Ghillie brogues.

Two Canadian pipe bands in 1976





3) Pure white bobble top Pipers Socks. These were rather plain except for the super-thick "popcorn" or "bobble" tops. These blew into the pipe band world around 1990 and if your band was still wearing their heavy cream Arran hose you looked like you just came in from the sticks. BTW you could buy the bobble/popcorn tops separately, and put them over the cuffs of inexpensive ordinary Day hose.



The pure gleaming white hose held sway for decades, until around five years ago when they just as suddenly became unfashionable. Now it's "anything but white" in the pipe band world.

[PatrickHughes123]

If you look again at the pic Steve posted, you can see the difference between new hose and those simply pulled from the drawer for the occasion. At least one pair is beautifully hand knit.

Yes, I can tell. The reason I can tell is that I actually own a pair of plain white hose, they go good with my Royal Stewart kilt. And I have worn them so often that they are no longer bright white and they no longer look clean. They have started to go slightly grey-ish because of all the dirt and sweat. Should probably wash them.

[tokareva]

Patrick, out of curiosity, do you prefer only white hose or have you just not gotten around to getting another color? What other color would you get, if any? To me one of the most fun things about the kilt is choosing the color of socks for the desired look. Do you dislike colored hose?

[PatrickHughes123]

Patrick, out of curiosity, do you prefer only white hose or have you just not gotten around to getting another color? What other color would you get, if any? To me one of the most fun things about the kilt is choosing the color of socks for the desired look. Do you dislike colored hose?

Tokareva,

When I first bought all of my kilt wear, I knew less about kilt wear than I do now. And I was just so desperate to get a kilt, I bought standard white hose. I bought white hose because I thought they looked good at the time and I still do and also because they are stereotypically Scottish. It is weird that you asked this because recently I have been thinking about getting tartan hose or diced hose, quite like the look of them. I have nothing against solid-color, although they aren't really my thing. But not right now, I want to wait until I need to buy a new kilt (by wearing my current one out after wearing it so much) and it means I will get the use of the stuff I have right now.