Questions

[OC Richard]

-The basis is a kilt and preferably you should have some connection, no matter how tenuous, to decide what tartan to choose.

-hose, and the choice here is fraught with minefields for the uninitiated.

-Shirts I have seen can be controversial...

-jackets...here be dragons!

Totally confused. So what should a newcomer choose as his starter outfit bearing in mind he might need to dress up a bit for the odd wedding, rugby etc.?

I don't think it has to be too complicated.

I see people at our local Highland Games, and for that matter just walking around, in all manner of kilts and kiltlike things, Doc Martens and black canvas Utilikilts and t-shirts and Sport Kilts and trainers and golf shirts and cowboy boots and cowboy hats and traditional kilts and tweed jackets and Balmoral bonnets and ghillie brogues- it's all good.

I myself would wear a different outfit to a wedding than I would to a rugby match.

I only wear traditional kilts so if I were starting out "the basics" for me would be three things:

-kilt
-sporran
-hose

Everything else can come along in due time, or not, as the case may be. With these things, adding ordinary shoes and shirts and ties and waistcoats as needed, I can dress for most occasions.

My attitude is to have high-quality UK-made things, preferably vintage things if I can find them.

So to flesh out my "starter" list I would have:

-kilt: handsewn all-wool full-yardage kilt. The tartan could be just about anything, or not tartan at all, say a nice tweed.

-sporran: a quality UK-made sporran, preferably vintage, probably brown leather, or sealskin.

-hose: quality hose from Cheviot.