Just to illustrate how pervasive the "white hose = dress up" mindset is, here's a pic from a Burns Supper I attended this past winter:



The three X-Marks members are NOT wearing white/cream: Steven (black), Seumas (back row, blue), myself (diced). The five or six additional kilties who didn't make it into the pic all had white hose on, as well.

I must say, the cream/off-white shade looks much better than the stark, blinding white...!