Flashes -- proper arrangement

[jrmiller]

Guys,
Thanks for your thoughts on the sporrans, I am still on the fence on the issue.

I did purchase a set of tartan flashes that match my kilt.

Can you give me some advice on placement of the flashes and how you roll your kilt hose once the garter is attached.

Thanks,

[Bugbear]

They go on the outside of the leg, and usually somewhat toward the front. I put them along side my leg bone toward the front, but others also put them more toward the side.

I made the mistake of having them placed on either side of my leg at first because mine are in two pieces. I probably had in my mind the clocked stockings or something, but that is wrong placement.

I do not put the garter strap at the top of where the hose will be folded over. It's usually somewhere in the middle of the fold where my leg muscle begins to taper toward my knee. I also try not to worry too much about how much is showing below the hose; just as long as they are at the same heighth on both legs and showing at least an inch or so of flash above the top of the knotched cutout.

[george7]

There are two schools of thought here, the fashion world and the military style. Fashion types will tell you to wear them however you prefer and will tend to wear them on the outside of their legs. Military and pipe band types will suggest wearing them so that they're sort of forward facing, just touching the tibia.

[Sionnach]

There's a good description of flashes placement in J. Charles Thompson's book So You're Going to Wear the Kilt (a worthwhile read, IMHO). As for rolling of the hose- I cannot say much- nor do I recall it being covered in the book. I have just followed pictures posted and assessed myself in the mirror. You will get varying opinions I am sure and hopefully, Hamish will chime in.

[george7]

The hose I got from Higgins require me to fold them down and then back up in order to show the celtic hose top pattern. My piper's hose (I think they came from Henderson's) just get folded down where they need to be to expose my knee.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

It's not how far forward, but rather how far back the flashes should go. Imagine a line along side your leg from your ankle bone to the top of your hose. Your flashes should go no farther back on your leg than to the point where the line bisects the center of the flashes. If you prefer your flashes a little more to the front, then the back edge of the flashes should just touch that imaginary line.

Generally it is considered appropriate to have 2-3 inches of flashes showing beneath the cuff of the hose.

[Rex_Tremende]

I can't improve on the advice on the placement of the flashes that Rathdown and others have already provided, but as for the placement of the garter in relation to the top of the hose, it's usually tucked into the fold at the top. This is because if it were any lower it would either slide back up or cut into my ample calves. If I am going very casual - weekend errands and such - i sometimes omit the flashes and just wear the garters to hold the hose up.

Regards,
Rex.

[PiobBear]

I wear my hose 3 finger's width below the bone you feel on the outside of your leg below the knee (lateral tibial condyle). I wear my flashes so that the medial edge would "split the diamond" if I were wearing diced or Argyll hose, even if I'm wearing solid color hose; in other words; the inside edge of my flashes line up with an imaginary center line of my leg with solid color hose, and a very real center line with diced or Argyll hose. How far back the lateral edges of the flashes go I couldn't care less.

[Bugbear]

It got me wondering, so I measured the knotched cutout thing on the end of the flashes. On mine the tails are about an inch long. I usually try to get the foldover of the hose to end about two fingers above those tails; that's about two and a half inches showing, but I have skinny fingers.

It's just easier for me to put the edge of the front flash along the side of my leg bone to make sure they are at the same placement on both legs. And I also use three-fingers-width from the knee cap to place the top of the hose. I figure I have skinny knees and it all works out proportionally with the skinny fingers issue.