Checkered Kilt Hose Etiquette?

[keith_b]

Jeez Matt!!! I think we just posted our messages at the same time!

[Joel]

I'm wondering if Matt has the ability to read minds...

...well, at least kilt a wearer's mind.


Concratulations on the find!

[PiobBear]

Pipers of the RHR wear red & black diced hose:

[Drillagent]

Great deal on some nice looking hose. I've been looking for some like that myself. I'm jealous.

[McMurdo]

So where did you buy them? I'd love to add to my growing hose collection.

[Coemgen]

$35!!!!!!


I WANT!! I WANT!!

[Chef]

Great find! Enjoy them.

[Phil]

You asked about the etiquette and the answer is diced or tartan hose are only worn with evening wear. Daywear you wear plain self-coloured hose. I like the hose by the way and they tone in well with your kilt, but please don't wear them through the day.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

No offense, Phil, but says who? Oh, I know all the "Highland fashion experts" say that Argyle hose and diced hose are for formal evening wear only (or maybe full day dress), and solid knit hose are for day wear. But why the restriction?

In 1901, the Hon. Stuart Ruaidri Erskine commented in The Kilt and How to Wear It that "modern fashion decrees that tartan [hose] shall not be donned for day wear." Granted, he is talking about tartan Argyle hose here, and he gives three exceptions" liveried servants, pipers, and for full day dress. Regarding diced hose, he mentions them only as an alternative to full Argyle. "For evening wear, I strongly recommend diced hose in preference to tartan stockings… Red and white diced hose are the kind most generally worn nowadays; and they would appear to have been the most popular in the past… Black and red, green and red, black and white diced hose are all suitable for evening wear."

But what I wanted to draw attention to was the fact that he is talking about "modern fashion," implying that this was not always so. He's writing in 1901, so I'd suggest that this rather arbitrary regulation of different socks for different times of day or levels of formality dates back perhaps 150 years at most.

J. Charles Thompson, in The Kilt and How To Wear It, written in 1979, pretty much echoes what Erskine says. Tartan Argyle hose are for evening wear only, and diced hose are an acceptible alternative for Argyle. The only difference is that he says these days solid knit hose are also considered proper for evening dress, as they are now more popular due to the high cost of Argyle or diced hose.

I think one of the main reasons people tend to reserve Argyle or diced hose for evening wear is for that very reason -- the high cost. If people are spending over $200(US) for a pair of socks, they are understandably going to reserve them for fine dress occasions!

But I am still of the opinion that there is nothing inherant in diced or Argyle hose that dictates they must be reserved for formal evening wear. They are the modern day equivalent of the traditional tartan cadadh, which were worn with Highland Dress by all classes, day or night. I think, like solid hose, one should be free to coordinate diced or Argyle hose with an outfit, be it evening or day dress, depending upon the colors, texture, and their own sense of style.

That same Stuart Erskine also said (in a passage I quote quite often), "The Highland dress is essentially a 'free' dress -- that is to say, a man's taste and circumstances must alone be permitted to decide when and where and how he should wear it... I presume to dictate to no man what he shall eat or drink or wherewithal he shall be clothed."

To give an example, my wife knit for me a pair of "shepherd's check" hose in brown and white. Technically they are diced hose, and I suppose should be reserved for "evening wear" if I were to go by what the experts say. However, I don't think the color or size of the pattern lend themselves to formal dress. I think these socks work much better with day dress. I made a fashion judgement based on the color and pattern, taking the whole of the outfit into consideration -- not any rules that say certain types of hose must be reserved for this or that time of day.


I have a lengthy blog post about kilt hose that goes into some detail here:
http://kiltmaker.blogspot.com/2005/07/on-kilt-hose.html

[ChattanCat]

No offense, Phil, but says who? Oh, I know all the "Highland fashion experts" say that Argyle hose and diced hose are for formal evening wear only (or maybe full day dress), and solid knit hose are for day wear. But why the restriction?

In 1901, the Hon. Stuart Ruaidri Erskine commented in The Kilt and How to Wear It that "modern fashion decrees that tartan [hose] shall not be donned for day wear." Granted, he is talking about tartan Argyle hose here, and he gives three exceptions" liveried servants, pipers, and for full day dress. Regarding diced hose, he mentions them only as an alternative to full Argyle. "For evening wear, I strongly recommend diced hose in preference to tartan stockings… Red and white diced hose are the kind most generally worn nowadays; and they would appear to have been the most popular in the past… Black and red, green and red, black and white diced hose are all suitable for evening wear."

But what I wanted to draw attention to was the fact that he is talking about "modern fashion," implying that this was not always so. He's writing in 1901, so I'd suggest that this rather arbitrary regulation of different socks for different times of day or levels of formality dates back perhaps 150 years at most.

J. Charles Thompson, in The Kilt and How To Wear It, written in 1979, pretty much echoes what Erskine says. Tartan Argyle hose are for evening wear only, and diced hose are an acceptible alternative for Argyle. The only difference is that he says these days solid knit hose are also considered proper for evening dress, as they are now more popular due to the high cost of Argyle or diced hose.

I think one of the main reasons people tend to reserve Argyle or diced hose for evening wear is for that very reason -- the high cost. If people are spending over $200(US) for a pair of socks, they are understandably going to reserve them for fine dress occasions!

But I am still of the opinion that there is nothing inherant in diced or Argyle hose that dictates they must be reserved for formal evening wear. They are the modern day equivalent of the traditional tartan cadadh, which were worn with Highland Dress by all classes, day or night. I think, like solid hose, one should be free to coordinate diced or Argyle hose with an outfit, be it evening or day dress, depending upon the colors, texture, and their own sense of style.

That same Stuart Erskine also said (in a passage I quote quite often), "The Highland dress is essentially a 'free' dress -- that is to say, a man's taste and circumstances must alone be permitted to decide when and where and how he should wear it... I presume to dictate to no man what he shall eat or drink or wherewithal he shall be clothed."

To give an example, my wife knit for me a pair of "shepherd's check" hose in brown and white. Technically they are diced hose, and I suppose should be reserved for "evening wear" if I were to go by what the experts say. However, I don't think the color or size of the pattern lend themselves to formal dress. I think these socks work much better with day dress. I made a fashion judgement based on the color and pattern, taking the whole of the outfit into consideration -- not any rules that say certain types of hose must be reserved for this or that time of day.


I have a lengthy blog post about kilt hose that goes into some detail here:
http://kiltmaker.blogspot.com/2005/07/on-kilt-hose.html

Matt,
Always informative, thanks. But you have a lengthy blog? It seems that it just may be a chapter in a book. You have an excellent way with words. I can see it now "The Historical Wearing of the Kilt and Accessories" by Matt.