When to wear black/brown?

[ardchoille]

Am I correct in assuming that a black kilt belt and sporran are to be worn with modern tartans and a brown kilt belt and sporran are to be worn with ancient/weathered tartans? What's the rule of thumb for black and brown leathers?

[gilmore]

Generally it is, or used to be, that brown belt and sporran is day wear and black is evening.

[Jock Scot]

There are no hard and fast rules.You would be better with black for evening wear.Brown sporrans were not seen at all in my youth(1940/50's) and I suppose, nor was weathered tartan either.Black or fur was the norm, then, for daywear too.I personaly wear black in the day, but brown looks fine to me.Not too sure about weathered tartan though.

[ardchoille]

Well, I have only two kilts in ancient tartans, no weathered. I have black belts and sporrans but no brown - I was thinking that I need to buy some brown items. Just wanted to learn more about this.

[Hamish]

There are no hard and fast rules.

Very true, Jock!

You would be better with black for evening wear.

Oh, definitely.

Brown sporrans were not seen at all in my youth(1940/50's) and I suppose, nor was weathered tartan either.Black or fur was the norm, then, for daywear too.

How strange you should said that, Jock - I should have said it was quite the opposite! My first two day sporrans (in the early 1950s) were brown - I remember having no choice of colour and a very small selection of models/styles! It was some years before I obtained an evening sporran (which came in black, but without fur). Fur, or sealskin, was reserved for the Dress sporran - silver cantle and sealskin with no leather being visible from the front.

Having said that, we were no doubt still suffering the shortages and restrictions imposed during WWII and were glad for whatever we could obtain!

I personaly wear black in the day, but brown looks fine to me.Not too sure about weathered tartan though.

Nowadays, I wear either brown or black during the day, depending upon the tartan I happen to be wearing - some tartans just do not look right with black accessories, whilst others do not suit brown. "Accessories" embrace belt, sporran/sporran strap and shoes - do not forget the shoes!

One thing I do not do, is mix black and brown accessories, nor do I wear a dress belt (with a waist-plate rather than a pronged buckle) during the day. Having said that, I do have a brown pigskin belt with a brass waist-plate, intended for day wear, but I have not worn it for years! As far as buckle colours go: generally it is brass buckle with brown belt and chrome/silver-coloured buckles with black belts. Again, other combinations just do not look right!

I agree about the 'Weathered' tartans though, and whilst I know they are generally a fairly recent introduction, I cannot help but find most of them VERY attractive, along with 'muted' or 'ancient' colours. Modern colours I find, in the main, are too intense or saturated. Fortunately: each to his own, eh?

Take care,
Ham.

[ardchoille]

I think I'm just going to not worry about a belt. Every kilt I have remains in place without a belt anyway. I'm going to buy a nice brown sporran to wear with my ancient tartans and keep the black sporran for my modern tartans.

I've also seen that it seems to be acceptable to wear tennis shoes with kilt hose. I need to go shopping

[sydnie7]

[snip] I've also seen that it seems to be acceptable to wear tennis shoes with kilt hose. I need to go shopping

To me, tennis shoes/trainers and kilt hose look silly. Maybe some boots/hikers can pull it off, but generally with anything other than a dress shoe, I'd rather see scrunched down socks (could be kilt hose, just not worn at full height). But see above re: no rules!

[JerseyLawyer]

Sure there are rules - for example, the pleats go to the back. You can be a rebel and wear them to the front if you want, but people will just think you're a doofus.

Anyway, I digress, because I agree there are no hard rules on this one. With the exception, possibly, of brown not being proper for evening. I think either black or brown is fine for daytime.

Hamish is right about the evening belt, but then again, in most stores, that's all you'll find (the black belt with silver waist plate). So, lots of people, myself included, wear them during the day too. I'd just avoid anything jeweled or made of patent leather in the cold light of day.

[Jock Scot]

Well alright,save yourself some money and stick with black,that will be fine.Of course if you want to ring the changes with brown, than thats fine too!

[beloitpiper]

I recently bought a brow belt and shoes to go with my brown sporrans, and I now prefer brown over black. Like gilmore said, brown for day/casual, black at night.