The Ghillie Shirt

[Tobus]

Tobus,

I've made some changes to the outfit, what do you think?

Better? Worse? Do I look smarter? Do I look more ridiculous?

I put the hose lower and the kilt higher again? Does it look good?

I think lowering the tops of your hose looks much better! It makes a big difference in how it accentuates the shapes of your calves and helps provide some separation between the hose and the kilt. I still think it would be much improved in a non-white hose colour, but the height looks great.

Raising the kilt helped too, of course. And this is a tricky one which has to be adjusted for body shape (i.e. position of your natural waist) as well as how your kilt was made. If you bought a kilt with a 'standard' drop that wasn't tailored specifically to your dimensions, then it can be awkward trying to find the right balance between where the top of the kilt rides on your midsection and where the selvedge falls in relation to your knee. Where you are wearing it in your last set of photos is about as high as you could go. You might feel more comfortable actually lowering it back down a little bit, and it should still look fine since the hose height helped with that visual separation.

I noticed that you lowered where you're tying the laces on your ghillie brogues. If you insist on wearing those, I do think that's a better look than the high wrap you had before. And I just noticed you were wearing flashes; they almost escaped notice because they're so far back around the sides of your legs. Moving them forward around your legs (to the 2:00 and 10:00 positions) will make them much more visible.

I am considering giving the kilt up.

Why? It is your national dress! You have a lot of years ahead of you, during which you can add some very nice pieces to your wardrobe and refine your look as your tastes change and your experience level grows. You have access to multitudes of kilt-related things there that many of us don't. If you're discouraged by the steep learning curve, don't be. Everyone here is on your side!

[MNlad]

What kind of plaid is that? Just curious.

It's a short plaid in weathered Mackenzie. The only time I ever wear it is on cool days at our local Renaissance festival.

[Panache]

If you're discouraged by the steep learning curve, don't be. Everyone here is on your side!

Here Here!

I cringe at the memory of first photo of the outfit I posted on XMTS...

Luckily I read a lot, listened to the good advice of the more experienced, looked at all the photos and came up with looks that worked for me.

There really are no wrong first steps on a journey. Far better to get moving and learn as you go rather than just stand there and never go anywhere!

Cheers

Jamie

[Tobus]

I cringe at the memory of first photo of the outfit I posted on XMTS...

Luckily I read a lot, listened to the good advice of the more experienced, looked at all the photos and came up with looks that worked for me.

There really are no wrong first steps on a journey. Far better to get moving and learn as you go rather than just stand there and never go anywhere!

Agreed.

And just to show Patrick that he's not the only one who has been down this path, I'll go ahead and post this cringe-worthy photo of my first kilt outfit. My thoughts at the time, being brand-new to wearing the kilt, were very similar to Patrick's. I genuinely thought that white hose and a ghillie shirt were correct and proper. Why? Because that's what I kept seeing advertised at kilt shops! It didn't take long before the more knowledgeable people here set me on a different path, and I am eternally grateful for their guidance, even if it was somewhat embarrassing along the way. It took a while for things to sink in and for me to develop a new internal image of what makes a kilt look distinguished or well-presented.

The second photo is fairly representative of what I wear nowadays when I put on the kilt for a Highland Games or other occasions where "smart daywear" seems appropriate.

This just shows where I started and where I've ended up. Everyone will end up somewhere different, based on their own personal style. But it is interesting that so many people start at the same place (white hose and ghillie shirt, thanks to generic marketing devices). I look forward to seeing how Patrick's style changes over time as he discovers the world beyond stark white shirts/hose, and starts exploring the many other options.

[Taskr]

Tobus, are you sure you weren't a model for some of those shops back in the day Unfortunate we don't see more representations of "nowadays" on those sites.

Patrick, this is what I meant by wearing a boot instead of ghillie brogues. There's something about a boot instead of a shoe that brings the look into "rustic and romantic". I'll see if I can find a pic of the boot I found at an incredibly reduced sale price.