How do you wear your garter ties?

[BoldHighlander]

Okay, recently I had ordered a pair of size large garter ties, but found that they were just a tad on the short side. So, I exchanged them for the extra-large pair. Now, I find that these are just a wee bit too long (or so I thought)!

In the end I tucked the extra bit up under the fold-over of my kilt hose.
It worked okay, but I'm still disappointed....and it seemed to make things a wee bit bulky (the full story can be found here).

I've always liked the look, but I only recently started wearing traditional garter ties. After viewing photos of the rabble who wear this style, including this one of Matt Newsome (& including his tutorial below),...





...I was always under the impression that one wears them with just the fringe peeking out from under the hose cuff, like this found on the House of Cheviot website:



It was while doing a search for Country/Shooting Hose the other night, and coming upon the afore mentioned House of Cheviot website that I discovered the wearing of the garter ties also like the following examples (this is very much how mine look before tucking the extra-length back up under the cuff):







I started to wonder *if* this was only acceptable with hunting attire, as illustrated in the above photos, or if one could wear the garters like that with the kilt, so I did a search on XMTS. Unfortunately there are just too many threads that pop up when one looks for "garter ties", though I did find these two examples.

The first is of Matt (I'm not picking on you Matt! ) & the second is of Riverkilt (Ron):


(the above is not as long as the House of Cheviot examples, but longer than in the two previous Newsome examples)



So, my question is, (for those who wear Traditional Garter Ties), how do you wear your garter ties?

Do you leave just the fringe sticking out? Do you allow the extra-length to hang out? Does it even matter? And why do you choose to wear them in the fashion you choose?

If you have photos, could you post them please?

[Downunder Kilt]

Terry I really think it's up to individual choice, much like the common garter flashes. I personally like only showing a wee bit of the flash beyond my hose top yet there are those that show the whole shebang and some in between.
I say go what you feel comfortable with.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Terry,

I also think it is individual preference. I, personally, don't like them to look too long. (Reminds me of one of my kids walking around with his shoe laces untied). :-)

That being said, some of my hose have a larger cuff than others, so more or less of the garter will show. Generally, only the fringed part, or slightly more, will show. That photo of my green cabled hose with the blue garters is about as much as I will typically have showing.

There are a couple of things you can do with your extra-long garters. One, you can tie them in such a way as to have a shorter end the knot. Sounds like that's what you are doing now.

The other thing to do would actually be to shorten the garter. If you look carefully at your garters, you'll see that the fringed bit is actually a separate part that has been sewn on to the garter. It would be possible for you to remove the fringe, shorten the garter however much you think it necessary, an reattach the fringe. In this way you can have a custom-length set that should work perfectly for you.

[Tobus]

I don't really have much choice. The garter ties I have are just long enough for only the fringe to be exposed. I'd have to really stretch them out or tie them extremely tightly for there to be any of the flat part showing.

[BoldHighlander]

The other thing to do would actually be to shorten the garter. If you look carefully at your garters, you'll see that the fringed bit is actually a separate part that has been sewn on to the garter. It would be possible for you to remove the fringe, shorten the garter however much you think it necessary, an reattach the fringe. In this way you can have a custom-length set that should work perfectly for you.

Now I hadn't thought of that Matt! Thanks for pointing that out!

And thank you everyone that replied, I really appreciate the feedback

[figheadair]

When I get a moment I'll post some pics of one of the traditional styles worn on the outside of the hose.

[BoldHighlander]

When I get a moment I'll post some pics of one of the traditional styles worn on the outside of the hose.

Looking forward to them Peter, thanks!

[longhuntr74]

Looking forward to them Peter, thanks!

....Impatiently waiting...

[Jock Scot]

Good lord Terry what are you doing?!!!!? Garter ties with shooting gear!!!! You are in danger of starting WW3!!!! Feelings on this subject make the "flat cap" and the "white hose" controversies pale into insignificance!

[piperdbh]

Easy, Jock. Those pictures came from your country, so it would have to be a "civil" war.

I have some garters that are just short enough to not be able to wrap them around my leg the way Matt shows in his video, but just long enough to hang down too low when tied. Does anyone know a knot that will use up some of the extra length, but lie flat against my leg?