Did I buy the ugliest kilt on the planet?

[MacRob46]

Well good for you. I will tell Iain that you have decided his tartan is not so bad after all. And yes, I do know the chief quite well so with a good word from me your head will remain safely on your shoulders. It does look very nice on you.

[tokareva]

Well good for you. I will tell Iain that you have decided his tartan is not so bad after all. And yes, I do know the chief quite well so with a good word from me your head will remain safely on your shoulders. It does look very nice on you.

Thank you, and be sure to tell him what a snappy dresser he is too...please!

[mBoyd]

Well good for you. I will tell Iain that you have decided his tartan is not so bad after all. And yes, I do know the chief quite well so with a good word from me your head will remain safely on your shoulders. It does look very nice on you.

Too late! His head is clearly missing in all three of those photos.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I'm glad you decided to go with it, tokareva. I think it looks good.

[Tim Little]

A fine looking kilt! Add my vote to those who have recommended claret hose. You can get a sense from your latest pix how claret will really help accentuate the kilt in a positive way.

[kingandrew]

I really like the colors of this tartan. It looks fine with all the hose choices you have laid out in the picture, although I am another who would go for a red (tartan, claret, or whatever else strikes your fancy) pair to add a little punch and bring out the red stripe in the kilt.

I think the Chief looks great with his darker green jacket and vest. But I think you really can't go wrong with this tartan. Just about anything you can find will go well with it.

Now I can understand if you just don't care for the blue/green colors predominating. My own tartan (Boyd) is one of those "assertive" red and green patterns that most of us imagine when we first think of tartan and kilts. But the Gunn is a lovely tartan, and the muted hues give it a friendly, lived-in look.

It looks fine in the pictures of you wearing it. I encourage you to enjoy and wear it often.

[Good Egg]

I'm with the posse on this one. Nothing wrong with that kilt. I think a mauve or lilac shirt (let's call it heather amongst ourselves) would be spot on or a light green. Ditto hose, but it might be a tad twee to have matching shirt and hose. Red hose to match the line might also work.

Either that or throw caution to the wind and get a shirt with red and white diced checks. Always works well with a kilt.

[shamrock715]

Number 1, you did not buy the ugliest kilt on the planet. Most importantly this is you family tartan and is special to you. Who cares what others think of it. Be proud and own it. On a personal opinion, the colors are vibrant and beautiful.

Number 2, don't be stuck on the large colors you see in the tartan pattern. You have great red and black lines in there. You can compliment that with a pair of ash grey hose, black hose or red hose if you want to add some pop. Do get hung up on matching exactly to the main colors or you'll drive yourself crazy. Wearing some hose with the lesser colors in the tartan make it stand out.

Number 3, if you're going to wear a tie with it, match it to your hose or a more subdued color in the tartan. That will tie everything together and having your tartan come out like a show piece.

This is coming from person who only ordered their first kilt recently for my wedding and an accountant but can strangely match colors.

I hope this helps!

Matt

[Tobus]

I haven't been too active on the forum in the last few months, so I apparently missed this thread.

But I take umbrage - severe fist-shaking-at-the-sky type umbrage - at the notion that this tartan is ugly. FYI, the Gunn tartan is very similar to (and often confused for) the Colquhoun tartan. The colour scheme I see in your kilt looks just like the "ancient" colours in my own Colquhoun kilts. I consider it a beautiful tartan in all shades and schemes. If you think that's ugly, you just need to change your mind and that's all there is to it!

Yes, it's very easy to go overboard with the greenish-bluish theme and end up with everything looking matchy-matchy or washed out. The Lovat green and Lovat blue hues are the worst for it. For that reason, I tend to stick to brown hues for accessory items, much as you have done in your latest photos. This lets the tartan speak for itself, as it were. But don't be afraid to use other greens too, or bold colours when called for. As others have said, don't overthink it. One of the great things about a primarily green-blue tartan is that you can either let those colours stand out from earth-tone backgrounds, or make them the background (much like blue jeans) whilst making other colours stand out.

Here are some random examples of a couple of my Colquhoun kilts in lighter hues like yours, showing the colours I typically wear with them. Even if my kilt were more faded-looking from the ancient colours to a muted colour scheme, it wouldn't change anything in my mind.

[tokareva]

Thanks for the tips Tobus, your kilts in the ancient tartan looks great and has a lot more contrast than mine,especially in the back.
I really like the dark green hose you have chosen with the kilts, I will try to find some in that color but yours look custom made maybe. I have mostly resolved the issues I had with the kilt and it is more comfortable than the heavier Black Watch that I have, so I'll make it work.

I think the main issue with it,is that it just seems much more limited in what works with it ,unlike the Black Watch which seems to go with almost anything.

[MacGumerait]

Some of you may be happy to know that I have decided the Muted Gun is not so bad after all, especially seeing the pics Richard posted. I even wore it today.A few weeks ago I heard a young woman on her phone in Target (dept.store) say she just saw somebody in the ugliest kilt... that looked like a girly kilt, so that must have stuck in my head subconsciously. The Muted Gunn is still my least favorite Gunn version however.

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I really like your muted Gunn tartan , you have a very smart looking kilt .

Try wearing a dark olive or darker brown top / sweater with claret ( burgundy ) hose and watch that kilt pop out to the eye .

All in all , I think you have a very handsome kilt .

Cheers , Mike