The Ghillie Shirt

[Tobus]

My suggestions (again, take them or leave them)

- Get some Dark socks. The white just cuts your height in half and makes your calves look huge instead of shapely. Dark socks with the Ghillie Brouges will elongate your figure and balance the look.
- Get a Dark Ghillie Shirt. I would actually suggest dying the one you have along with the socks at the same time (you seem to like matchy matchy so it’s a cost effective way to improve your look)

Many great points in your reply, Lady Grey. I've quoted only a couple of them here for discussion.

One of the reasons that stark white is a turn-off to many folks is just as you said: proportionality suffers. White has a visual widening effect, where dark colours are visually slimming. These can be used to great effect when done with purpose.

Dyeing is a great way to re-purpose white hose without having to ditch them entirely. But, with that said, it probably would not work to dye the ghillie shirt and white hose with the same dye. They are different materials and the end result will likely be two different shades. The shirt is probably a cotton material, or a high-cotton blend, whilst the hose are probably a blend of nylon and/or other synthetic materials for stretchability. Hose are notoriously difficult to dye.

Looking back at my previous photos, the white hose that I originally purchased were going to be thrown in the trash once I decided I wouldn't wear white hose any longer. So I dyed them with Rit dye, in a dark forest-green colour. They looked great initially, but the more they got rinsed and then worn and washed, the dye quickly faded. Being inexpensive hose, they are made from synthetic materials (plastics, basically) that just really don't take a true dye. Luckily, they faded to a lovely pale green that's very close to a Lovat green. Here's what those white hose look like today, years after attempting a dark green dye:



I am quite certain that if I had tried to dye that white ghillie shirt, it would not have ended up the same colour. I didn't even keep the shirt; I sent it back, so it's a moot point.

All of this is to say that I agree with the dyeing suggestion for economy, but it might be better to use different dyes on the shirt and hose, and not try to make them match.