Deciding how to pleat a kilt

[Kitfoxdave]

This ripping, by the way, is terrifying to watch.

It is also terrifying when you do it with your own hands the first few times!

[OC Richard]

Of course, as a relatively new "fashion" tartan, restricted by its designer, I have no idea how one would obtain actual cloth.

There's no better model for the Scottish Wildcat tartan than its designer, Glen Allardyce.

And photos, much less computer graphics, don't do it justice.

Sale of the tartan raises funds to protect the endangered Scottish Wildcat. I'd contact Glen to find out when another run will be done.

[jsrnephdoc]

There's no better model for the Scottish Wildcat tartan than its designer, Glen Allardyce.

And photos, much less computer graphics, don't do it justice.

Sale of the tartan raises funds to protect the endangered Scottish Wildcat. I'd contact Glen to find out when another run will be done. (He's on Facebook.)

Awesome photo. Not only is everything coordinated (some might quarrel about the different color leathers in sporran vs. shoes, but coordinating his grass, the wall of (presumably his) house, and his multicolored beard is something few of us could even ponder)!

[User]

...
some might quarrel about the different color leathers in sporran vs. shoes..

Mixing brown and black leathers? No wonder he designed a Scottish Wildcat tartan, he's a savage!

Lovely tartan. Hopefully I'm in a position to afford it when another run is woven.

[OC Richard]

Some might quarrel about the different color leathers in sporran vs. shoes...

And many more, over three centuries, including clan chiefs and kings, might quarrel about having sporran and shoes match.

[jsrnephdoc]

And many more, over three centuries, including clan chiefs and kings, might quarrel about having sporran and shoes match.

I wouldn't take much advice from the guy upper left in the photo montage, who seems to have invented utilikilts 2 centuries before they became popular, but who couldn't remember to feed his dog, but at least now I have official permission to unleash two of my brown sporrans after dark

Curious that there aren't any examples of black "dress" cantled sporrans being worn with brown shoes. Does the old sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander aphorism not apply?

[OC Richard]

I wouldn't take much advice from the guy upper left in the photo montage, who seems to have invented utilikilts 2 centuries before they became popular...

Lord Duffus, c1710. He's wearing the breacan-an-feileadh or "belted plaid" due to the "little kilt" having not been invented yet.

Curious that there aren't any examples of black "dress" cantled sporrans being worn with brown shoes.

Black leather sporrans are a creature of the 1980s. The first time I see them listed in a catalogue is 1984. There's a page of brown leather sporrans pictured, with a footnote that a few of the models are available in black.

It's also the first listing I have offering what they call "Day/Evening" sporrans, what we call "Semi-Dress" sporrans. Both black "Day" sporrans and black "Semi-Dress" sporrans arose at the time Kilt Hire was taking off, which I believe was the cause.

Brown shoes don't ever seem to have been much of a thing with Highland Dress.

So it's rare to find a pre-modern images of matching sporran & shoes either brown or black.

[jsrnephdoc]

Brown shoes don't ever seem to have been much of a thing with Highland Dress.

So it's rare to find a pre-modern images of matching sporran & shoes either brown or black.

Too bad. I have black Ghillie Brogues, and they're worn often enough by Scots, and sold often enough by "high-end" Scottish retailers that the disdain you and Jock have for them doesn't seen to diminish their usage, so I wear mine for nighttime outings.

On the other hand, my brown AND black wing-tip "tongued" brogues were purchased simultaneously (a week or two after the first that destroyed my home). Same size, same manufacturer, same boxes, but the brown ones fit SO much more comfortably, even now, a decade later, that I wish I could deploy them more often.

[Jock Scot]

If it's any help to you Doc., I only wear a black sporran and happily wear black or brown shoes with it depending on my mood and occasion. My Grandfather used to wear a black sporran in the 1930's until his death in the 1950's. I would not loose too much sleep about matching black/brown shoe colours to the sporran . This matching business can be over-thought and seems to worry those on your side of the Atlantic rather more than us over here.