Argyle kilt hose - success!

[James MacMillan]

I wear formal highland attire frequently. A few weeks ago I decided to find out if I could spiff up my appearance by adding diced hose or tartan hose to my wardrobe. I went in search of low cost knee sox. - - - No luck ! Sure there are diced hose and tartan hose available, but for nothing cheaper than $60 and some for as much as $200.

Then I thought of the argyle socks that are commonly worn with golf plus fours or knickers. There were several suppliers on the web. I narrowed my search down to four places, and ordered two pair of socks from each.

The three below were disappointing. The socks were poor quality, one size fits all, (which means they don’t fit me!) and just didn’t work for wear with the kilt.

http://www.golfknickers.com/ - - - No good
http://tbarryknickers.com/ - - - No good
http://www.onlygolfapparel.com/ - - - No good

Then today came the last order and I finally found a place that sells a pretty good product. The socks are soft, come in sizes for real people and look nice. They have a bunch of color choices that should fit the color scheme of almost any tartan. For formal wear I chose one pair in black and red argyle and another in red and black argyle. I think either will look nice with the PC and fly plaid. -- Make that red&white and black&red....... duh!

http://www.golfknickersusa.com/ - - - - Servicable!

I’ll have the Battle Axe take a flic of me in my finery and see what you guys think.

[gilmore]

Thanks for checking these out, and sharing your findings with us. It's very much appreciated.

[beloitpiper]

Very nice! Excellent find!

[emolas]

Nice socks and an excellent price. Are they long enough to fold over at the top?

[Alan H]

Did you ever post these pictures?

[M. A. C. Newsome]

So for about $150 plus shipping (I'm estimating based on the cost of the socks listed on those pages) you got six plairs of poor quality socks that are of no use, and two pairs of "servicable" socks.

When for about the same amount of money you could have gotten a high quality pair of real Scottish-made full Argyle hose.
http://giftshop.scottishtartans.org/hose_argyle.htm

I notice sometimes that in search of a less expensive alternative we sometimes end up spending as much, if not more, money over time than we would have if we had just saved up and bought the real thing to begin with.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

So for about $150 plus shipping (I'm estimating based on the cost of the socks listed on those pages) you got six plairs of poor quality socks that are of no use, and two pairs of "servicable" socks.

When for about the same amount of money you could have gotten a high quality pair of real Scottish-made full Argyle hose.
http://giftshop.scottishtartans.org/hose_argyle.htm

I notice sometimes that in search of a less expensive alternative we sometimes end up spending as much, if not more, money over time than we would have if we had just saved up and bought the real thing to begin with.

Spot on, Mr. Newsome. Spot on.

[hospitaller]

I notice sometimes that in search of a less expensive alternative we sometimes end up spending as much, if not more, money over time than we would have if we had just saved up and bought the real thing to begin with.

True, but now he knows where to get perfectly good hose, and if he wants more than 1, he will still pay much less than a single pair of the expensive ones.

trade offs, remember, not everyone is loaded with hundreds of dollars to spend in a single pair of socks or a sporran.

So, we learn from other's experiences.

If I ever win the lottery, I will buy your stuff Matt, until you carry affordable stuff for those of us in a tight budget, no dice i'm affraid (no pun intended)

[duchessofnc]

True, but now he knows where to get perfectly good hose, and if he wants more than 1, he will still pay much less than a single pair of the expensive ones.

trade offs, remember, not everyone is loaded with hundreds of dollars to spend in a single pair of socks or a sporran.

So, we learn from other's experiences.

If I ever win the lottery, I will buy your stuff Matt, until you carry affordable stuff for those of us in a tight budget, no dice i'm affraid (no pun intended)

I've been to Matt Newsome's shop , live and in person because I am from his town and I found that his stuff has been reasonably priced. Because I am extremely into textiles, I have also had the greatest pleasure of examining the products at the Scottish Tartan Museum's shop and found it some of the highest quality around and in fact not only is worth what it is but he could probably get away with charging just a wee bit more from it because the products that are sold are products of the HIGHEST quality and will last years and years, where as something cheaper will get worn and faded for a few months.

I respectfully request that until you learn about quality vs. money that you don't be quite so critical of individuals such as Matt Newsome who has done nothing but share his extreme wisdom of Scottish attire to this board.

[Captain Karrot]

I respectfully request that until you learn about quality vs. money that you don't be quite so critical of individuals such as Matt Newsome who has done nothing but share his extreme wisdom of Scottish attire to this board.

I didn't read Hospitaller's post as being critical of Matt. Simply that for the quality product's he supplies, you typically have to pay a premium. I understand his position, though. When I read a post discussing a hundred dollars or more for kilt hose, I simply by-pass it. I can't afford that. I also can't justify, in my value system, paying that much for what amounts to a pair of sock - no matter the quality. Don't have anything against those that can, just not my cuppa.