Hose to Kilt Combo

[FossilHunter]

Just so you know, the traditional kilt-wearer in Scotland almost never wear black, white or cream coloured hose.That is more of a kilt hire outfit look. Most don't match or, even think about it, their hose to anything and various shades of red, greens, browns, blues and yellows are the usual choices for our hose and no real thought is given to matching anything else, although by accident they might match something else that might be being worn at the time.
For example my tartan has blue, green, red, black and yellow within it so its quite difficult to find hose that doesn't match something! The answer? Don't bother worrying about it!

I believe you often wear mustard or claret hose which, perhaps unintentionally, match some of the minor colors in Macleod of Harris but in a non-matching shade. I think this often creates a nice look.

Matching without matching as it were.

That’s not to take away from your notion of not worrying too much about the hose color.

[OC Richard]

Almost everywhere else I've read (or watched; e.g., on USA Kilts's monthly Kilts and Culture videos, the typical advice is to pair the hose with a dominant color in the kilt and/or jacket.

With Jock Scot here you get the tradition-based Highland Scottish view of things.

With me you get the historical view on things (when wearing my Historian Hat) or the view grounded in standard colour and design concepts (when wearing my Art Degree/Art Department Hat).

With USA Kilts you get the current American view.

The truth is that in Highland Dress the concept of matching jacket and hose to the colours of the kilt has never existed. Anyone who proposed that is speaking from their own ideas, not of Highland Scottish ideas, nor of standard art design ideas.

Now putting on my Art Department hat, and purely speaking from a design standpoint, matching never works.

You wouldn't decorate the interior of your house having the walls, carpet, all furniture, all artwork on the walls the same colour.

The trick is to co-ordinate, which is the diametric opposite of match. That's why when you go to the paint section they'll have brochures giving three-colour paint schemes.

Three-colour schemes are also standard in fashion, and a Highland outfit can be viewed from a fashion standpoint (though as I said this isn't traditional).

With a Highland outfit you have three main bands of colour: jacket, kilt, hose. Co-ordinating these means NONE of them matching.

Now to put my Historian Hat on, there is indeed a longstanding practice in Highland Day Dress to match the tweed of the jacket to the hose colour. (The designer would balk at this! You have three colour-blocks, design revolves around "rules of three", why throw away one of the three?)

Yet, going back to Victorian times up through the 1960s there was a longstanding idea of matching tweed and hose. Articles about Highland Dress mention this over and over, and it's seen in countless paintings and photographs.

Here starting in the 1860s are fifteen examples of men matching their hose colour to their tweed jacket colour

[Jock Scot]

I think the handmedown culture is still alive and well in Scotland, so I think that approximate fit is more important than colour and always has been. So we have become accustomed to seeing many and various colours of hose/tweed worn with the kilt over the years. So much so, now we experienced traditional types don't even notice or bother about it.

You chaps who are outwith Scotland are used to wearing and seeing brand new and new to you kilt attire and apply modern day colour matching thoughts. Its hardly surprising that the new modern day kilt wearer within Scotland and outwith Scotland are confused!

[jsrnephdoc]

putting on my Art Department hat, and purely speaking from a design standpoint, matching never works.

You wouldn't decorate the interior of your house having the walls, carpet, all furniture, all artwork on the walls the same colour.

The trick is to co-ordinate, which is the diametric opposite of match. That's why when you go to the paint section they'll have brochures giving three-colour paint schemes.

Three-colour schemes are also standard in fashion, and a Highland outfit can be viewed from a fashion standpoint (though as I said this isn't traditional).

So, clearly, given the range of opinions already expressed, there's NO consensus on what color hose to wear, other than that black, white, and cream are perhaps abominations birthed from simplicity of inventory maintenance by the kilt hire industry.

The 3-color palette approach makes some sense to me, and given that on many kilts there are ALREADY more than 3 present, it's possible to "pull" a narrow stripe into more interest by coordinating IT with the kilt. But it also seems obvious to me that the kilt and hose should NOT be in the kilt's dominant color, so long as they don't clash. And, living in America, I guess considering fashion makes some sense. But the tartan mills certainly have caught on to that as well, cranking out so many "new" color schemes even for family tartans (there are now more than 40 different options on most kilt shop's websites for "Robertson" tartans (many of them quite similar to each other, of course, just different sett sizes or cloth weights, but the "dark," "muted," "weathered," etc. variations are largely in existence to foster cloth sales.

So perhaps there are two DOMINANT opinions being voiced here. One is just to be sure that a kilt wearer is NOT monochromatic and that the kilt and hose should not intensify that. The other is "who cares?" Just wear whatever comes out of the drawer first, and since you never succumbed to the kilt hire shop mantra in the first place, your choices will NOT include white, black, or cream.

[GG]

Any colour you like, apart from white or black will be fine.

This was about what I should have said too, except that I'm not so much against black, white, and cream kilt hose, as is Jock. It probably comes from the fact that I'm not biased regarding the kilt hire business, this not existing in my country. To me any colour or shade, visually matching a tartan is ok, and with most tartans, I know of, kilt hose in very many colours shall go.

Now, having looked at the Angel's share tartan, I recognize some limitations. It is difficult. Dark blue and brown, being part of the tartan, could be possibilities, charcoal and perhaps dark green or bottle green too. But so could cream and white, and black - from a pure visual point of view..

But for a valid answer, I should have to see the tartan, not just a photo which might in no way be correct or correctly rendered.

[Janner52]

The trouble with black, or very dark hose, is that the modern tendency to wear the kilt covering the knee and the hose meeting it in the middle, does not create a good visual effect.

[Arnot]

The trouble with black, or very dark hose, is that the modern tendency to wear the kilt covering the knee and the hose meeting it in the middle, does not create a good visual effect.

You're right, but I think that would apply to any colour. That's really never a good look in my opinion.

[Jock Scot]

GG.

Biased?I think not. If people ask for advice then yes, I do try to give advice as best as I am able. Yes, I do give examples of good practice and the not so good in my humble opinion and kilt hire is just a handy example of how not to dress in kilt attire to best effect. Ultimately, what people choose to wear is entirely their choice.

[FossilHunter]

Not being a native kilt wearer, my objection to black and white hose isn’t from any tradition I grew up with. However it is an ugly and uninspired choice.

If a pair of Lewis hose in black is the same price as a pair in whatever color you like, why would you choose black? Now it’s one thing if someone adores black but most of the time I see it suggested as a “safe” choice that goes with anything. As Jock has pointed out, besides the traditional argument, most tartans “go” with any number of colors so it’s rare to find a pair of colored hose that would actually look bad. I’m sure it’s possible but it’s not worth the heartburn it gives so many new kilt wearers.

On the other hand, black doesn’t really “go” with anything. It lacks the subtle complex earthiness of tweeds or the vibrant pop of many tartans. It’s safe because it’s boringly inoffensive and I think being forgettably dull is about the worst way to wear highland dress.

[GG]

GG.

If people ask for advice then yes, I do try to give advice as best as I am able. Yes, I do give examples of good practice and the not so good in my humble opinion...

But of course you do, Jock. I think, we all do. That's one of the advantages with a forum like XMTS where opinions can be shared. Some, we agree to, some not; and sometimes, we are in two minds. Afterall, our judgement and advice are functions of personal preferences, background etc. This also applies when talking colours.

I should like to suggest another procedure when choosing kilt hose colour, by the way. It is not just - to my opinion - a question of tartan but also of the colour of the 'top' - polo shirt, t-shirt, dress shirt, sweater etc.
Therefore, it might be a good idea to start with the kilt, then choose a suitable 'top' to go with it, and from there decide upon kilt hose colour, in order that the whole combo shall look at its best.
Here, I might be biased of my Scandinavian background, tending to keep things simple, meaning not too many different colours at the same time.