Colours combining with Black Watch kilt?

[sadkingbilly]

Hey all,

I'm very new to wearing a kilt and for the moment only have black watch. Now originally I was planning to wear my very formal 5-button black jacket to create a formal wear but after thinking about it for a while it seems a bit somber and dark. Besides "serious black" I also own "daywear grey" and "informal camel" jackets. Neither of those seem to really fit with black watch though. Perhaps I could wear only the waistcoat (also formal 5-button) and a dress- or casual shirt with or without a tie BUT.. This makes for another question.

Do any of you wear black watch and what colours can I use without giving people a headache? Of course, white always works (in any shade). Does (light) green complement the kilt or will that look rediculous? Problem is, I don't have a dress mirror so it's always sort of a guess how I look. Any advice, comment or remark, positive or negative, is quite welcome!

[Standard]

In informal settings I've been pleased with a tan (khaki) coloured shirt on many occasions. It can tend to give it a military look depending on the type of shirt chosen, but the tan in my opinion goes very well with the Black Watch, and does tend to brighten up the colours a bit.

[sadkingbilly]

Thanks for your reply. Can I ask what colour hose you wear with the khaki shirt? For now I only have a pair of charcoal but I'm considering a pair of white/cream and a pair of bottle/lovat green ones to lighten the black watch. I have to admit the kilt is not as dark as I'd like (the colours are pretty full and bright, not toned down) but that's to be expected from a 60 pound kilt. (I chose PV over wool since wool gives me an itch when it's not been in the freezer for at least 48 hours, luckily that also saved me 80% of the price)

Another issue is shoes. I dislike the ghillie broghues (seems to me they are for highland dancing) and the formal wear shoes I do own look out of place. Also, I'm afraid the militairy boots I like for hiking will make me (the kilt) look like some alternative-style wear. Anyone got thoughts about that?

[Guinach]

I'm new to wearing a kilt, but I plan to wear the BW kilt I just ordered, with buckle shoes.

Flying Canoe Traders sells a modern shoe made by boulet in Canada that I have worn regularly.
Unfortunately they generally do not do mail order.

gggodwin also sells a very nice buckle shoe. Heavy weight leather, good shank, lined with calfskin. Made in Pakistan (I think)

Najecki is another seller of a good shoe made in Canada.

Kon

[brewerpaul]

I wear Black Watch quite often. For me it is a kilt that is attractive yet doesnt have many other colors to deal with. What I dont do is use much green with it as the main color is a green. You are pretty free to use what you like within reason. Claret, burgundy, light blues, steel gray, reds (though to me to Christmasy), and khaki all go well. I often wear mine with brown tweed with blue top stripe kilt hose and find a blue or beige shirt to go with it. If you are dressing up a wasitcoat would work well, even a black jacket as long as you dont wear a black shirt. Either work with the color in your shirt and kilt hose or your kilt hose and tie. Lots of breadth here so it depends on what you like in color....

[longhuntr74]

Yup...I basically agree with brewerpaul. Black watch is one of the most universal kilts you can own...and it goes with almost anything! I don't know that my variant is "mostly green" though...mine is so dark that the black and blue seem to dominate and the green is the lighter accent color. Today I'm wearing mine with brown leathers, mustard and olive green kilt hose, and a khaki/tan long sleeve shirt. I frequently pair it with lovat or ancient blue hose or tan hose as well. It goes great with blue shirts, white shirts, tan shirts, yellow shirts...anything to brighten up the somber tones.

Regarding jackets...I can't think of a single color that wouldn't go well with it (though I might shy away from navy blue).

[AKScott]

I own a black Watch as it is my wife's favorite of the universal setts.

In general I try to stay away from dark things with it, mine seems quite dark at any sort of distance. I find lovat blue to be extremely versatile hose with Black Watch, bottle green not so much.

I would save the formal jacket and formal waistcoat for formal events.

I could get a lot of mileage out a camel colored coat with my Black Watch, if I had a camel colored coat. Black Watch kilt, camel coat and lovat blue hose I would go with probably bright reg garters most of the time, any shirt and any tie. Light blue shirt with a bright yellow tie. Dark blue shirt with a bright red tie. How about a tatersall shirt or three?


Limitless options really.

[The Wizard of BC]

If I can pass on a small piece of advice that I try to give my customers.

Just because you begin to wear the kilt does not mean that everything in your wardrobe must now match the kilt. You don't do that with trousers do you?

The kilt is very capable of standing on its own.

Think of an event where kilts would be worn. Most of those attending would be dressed in similar jackets, ties etc. But each would be in their own Tartan. And it all seems to work.

What I do when I get dressed in the morning is go onto my closet and choose a shirt. Then over to my dresser and pick out a pair of hose to coordinate with the shirt. It is my shirt and hose that I try to coordinate color wise.

Then I put my kilt on.

Now granted, I have more than one kilt and mulitple hose to choose from, but the idea is that if the rest of your outfit is coordinated it will work with almost any Tartan.

I often do a thing for my customers. I show them what I am wearing that day and ask if they think the colors work. When they agree that they do I walk over to my off-the-rack rack and pull off a kilt is a different Tartan and hold it if front of myself. I then ask if this still works.

As long as I pull off the rack a Tartan that does not obviosly clash with my shirt and hose (such as a bright green shirt and hose with a blue X Marks Tartan kilt) almost any Tartan works.

I can see in their eyes the relief as it sets in. The panic subside. As soon as the customer sees that they do not have to buy a whole new wardrobe just to coordinate to their new kilt.

If you can pick a tie and shirt to go with your suit you can coordinate a kilt outfit.

[OC Richard]

I'm very new to wearing a kilt and for the moment only have black watch.

black jacket... seems a bit somber and dark.

what colours can I use without giving people a headache?

In the old days (18th century) things hardly ever matched. Hose were usually some red & white pattern regardless of kilt. This originally civilian aesthetic was carried into the Army. It being the Army, red coats were used. So, both the jacket and the hose contrasted with the kilt completely.



Then in the 19th century some regiments went to red & black hose. To my eye, nothing looks quite as good with a Black Watch kilt as either red & white or red & black diced hose.

For plain hose, the Army has long used Lovat Green. Once again the Army kilt has both the jacket and hose not using any of the colours of the kilt itself.



I'm a supporter of NOT echoing the kilt's main colours in the hose etc. Were I to get a Black Watch kilt today, and put together an ensemble, I'd probably get a pale Lovat Green tweed jacket and Claret or red hose.

For Evening Dress, to avoid looking too dark, I might see how a Claret or red jacket looks with my kilt, just to brighten things up. I can imagine a red jacket and buff waistcoat looking smashing.

This mid-19th century portrait is, to me, one of the best examples of the brilliant use of contrast in a Highland costume: none of the kilt's colours appear in either the jacket or the hose. If I had a Black Watch kilt I'd be very tempted to get hose like this!

[Bill aka Mole]

My SWK heavy is in Black Watch and the first proper kilt hose I bought was in Oatmeal (tan) color. Even with a claret colored polo shirt it doesn't look exceptionally bad.