It seems that my current hose are ready to give out on me, having served admirably for seven months of near-daily use. They were "piper-style hose" from kiltrentalusa.com, and were a nice machine-washable (although they shrunk a bit) model. The only downside was that they were tight around the toe area,which doesn't help matters, as I am prone to developing ingrown toenails. Because of this, I am looking to replace them with more comfortable, and hopefully more durable hose.

I'm on a budget, but I'd rather have three pairs of durable, comfortable hose than numerous, less resilient ones. Wool content is no issue, and, if anything, I would be interested in fully synthetic hose for the lower cost, decreased insulation (I am almost always uncomfortably warm), and the "wear once and wash" ability. As for color, I am not averse to off-white, but would like the option for lovat blue or green to be worn with Saxon dress... Bottle green gets faded too quickly, as do other saturated colors like navy blue or charcoal. Pale colors, in my opinion, have the added bonus of framing the kilt when worn with a pale shirt, as I invariably do.

I have 19-inch gorilla calves and size 11.5 EEE feet, so stretch is my friend.

Any recommendations as far as make and model are appreciated, as I've yet to spot anything that seems very promising.