Familiarity Breeds Contempt

**MacMillan of Rathdown** · 26th March 11, 10:27 PM

Originally Posted by xman

Is anyone familiar with seeing White hose at other formal occasions, state dinner, tartan balls, Robbie Burns Day? Am I wrong in my impressions?

At last year's Tartan Ball in Washington DC only about 25% of the gentlemen were wearing white hose, down from about 30% last year. The pleasantly surprising thing was the number of gentlemen in diced hose-- eleven, by actual count.

**Nighthawk** · 26th March 11, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by Spartan Tartan

I'll bet no one complains about the white socks in there!!!

There were socks being worn?

...oh yeah... There they are...

As to the ghillie brogue issue... What Jock said!

**Fitzy** · 27th March 11, 06:33 AM

To throw my 2 cents in, having been in the same position,... I finally had to realize that no matter what I thought of my Brother's view of wedding attire,...

It was his day, his way, that only mattered.

When my then widower brother was getting re-married, he asked me to be his best man. Of course I was proud to say yes, not knowing what was coming.

Both having a love of the water and sailing, the couple decided to hold the wedding ceremony on the beach at their yatch club. Having grown up on the water front I thought that a great idea, ..... until,...

My Brother had found a shop that rented tux,... with matching shorts. He and I were to row ashore (read now add being bare foot) and join the ceremony at the shore line....where everyone else was in conventional wedding attire.

I've worn tux in so many friend's weddings that I swore I'd not with my own - which I didn't. Instead, I had a blue jeans and embroidered shirts hippy wedding not uncommon in the mid 70's (the girls wore apliqued denum skirts). So, unconventional attire in a wedding party was not something I was against.

However, 20 years later, being alot wider, the pictures I was getting of what we'd look like in Tux with shorts didn't set well with me.

After some time reflecting, I realized that no matter what my views were, all that realy mattered was that it was my brother's day, and as best man it was my job was to make his day great in anyway I could. So, as they say, I took one for the team, satisfied that it made my brother happy.

Plus, it wouldn't be my wedding pictures I'd be looking back on and seeing myself as the world's stubbiest Penquin, wishing the tide would come in and hide the fact I was wearing a tux with shorts, no socks or shoes.

The pay back will be that if I re-marry, he'll be asked to be my best man, and wear a kilt. Considering his strong views about kilt wearing, it will be a true test of brotherly love !!!

Paul

**McElmurry** · 27th March 11, 09:32 AM

Each time someone walks out into public in a kilt they leave an impression on those that view them. Ideally that impression is positive and the place of the kilt in modern society is enhanced. Sometimes the kilt is not worn well and a negative impression is left. Marketers tell us it takes many (perhaps dozens) of positive impressions to overcome one negative impression. In order to promote the kilt in general members of this forum try to make suggestion that help folks leave good impressions. This promotes wider acceptance of the kilt and we all benefit whether we go clubbing in leather or hill walking in tweed.

In my opinion, and within the context stated above, white hose have no impact. That is they don’t clash nor do they look smart. There are many things a kilted man could do that would look much worse. Until someone comes on the forum and says “I would like to replace my light colored hose, what are some good colors that go with McOnion ancient?” there is not much we can do for them. What we can do is complement folks who post photos with nice hose combinations. The noobies will eventually get the idea when they are ready to go to the next level.

**Mike_Oettle** · 27th March 11, 10:58 AM

McElmurry posted this picture, saying “My wife says this young feller can wear whatever color hose he wants.”:

Well, since there are no kilt police, we can’t stop him. But aside from his white hose, I also feel his choice of tartan out of place.
Probably there will be several here who disagree with me, but my feeling on white setts like this Gordon Dress is that they are for women’s wear, not men’s evening dress.
What says the forum?
Regards,
Mike

**davidlpope** · 27th March 11, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by Mike_Oettle

Probably there will be several here who disagree with me, but my feeling on white setts like this Gordon Dress is that they are for women’s wear, not men’s evening dress.
What says the forum?
Regards,
Mike

Discussed Here:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...tartans-55188/

**Cowher** · 27th March 11, 12:18 PM

If he is insistent on wearing ecru hose at least push him towards the Jannette Murray Aran hand knit hose.
As far as white or ecru hose becoming traditional. I think it could be on it's way, but the fact that we are debating the issue tells me it's not quite there yet. Yet I do have to side with xman over nighthawk. Even if the subject was not part of the original way if it becomes so widely used it becomes a tradition and therefor traditional. For example when Christianity was first starting Jesus and his apostles didn't use imagery or icons in worship. In fact they spoke against such things but not long after the last Apostle died the use of icon became common place. I am sure everyone here will agree the use of icons or imagery is traditional in Christianity. sorry I don't mean to start a religious discussion it's just the example that came to my mind.

**OC Richard** · 28th March 11, 03:48 AM

Originally Posted by McElmurry

I don't care for that at all! A "dress" tartan, white hose, dirk belt peeking out from under the waistcoat, informal sporran, buckle-less ghillies, kilt pin worn too low and crookedly...

I was playing in pipe bands c1980 when the "arran knit" offwhite/natural hose became all the rage, and also c1990 when the dreaded stark white bobbletop/popcorn top piper's socks became all the rage. How white hose became standard for Evening Dress, I just don't understand. It never would have done in the old days.

When time for my marriage I opted for coloured hose, blue.

About ghillies, they show up in the 1860s in The Highlanders of Scotland, usually in tan leather, worn with outdoor dress. At that time they evidently were viewed as somewhat rustic.

By the 1920s ghillies had moved indoors, black, with nonfunctional decorative buckles affixed, and worn with Evening Dress. At this time ordinary shoes were usually worn with Outdoor Dress. (For Evening Dress, buckled ghillies never seem to have been nearly as popular as Mary Jane style buckle shoes and slip-on loafer style buckle shoes, and the military always used the latter styles for Levee dress and Mess dress, never the ghillies.) In my old Highland Dress catalogues the ghillies worn with Evening Dress always have buckles affixed, never plain.

Pipers, however, had always had a penchant for ghillies, and you see pipers wearing them both with outdoor dress and formal dress from the 1860s up to today, in the old days often with buckles affixed.

In any case the modern notion of Evening Dress = Prince Charlie + white hose + buckle-less ghillies has always struck me as a bit odd.