Kilt minor colors and hose bottle colors

[dea3369]

Almost all the kilt hose threads I've read bring up either "a kilt's minor colors" or hose "bottle colors."

How do "bottle" colors differ from "regular" colors? Why are they called bottle colors?

Are the kilt's minor colors those of the tartan's overcheck (i.e., the thin stripes that are on "top" of the wide stripes of the undercheck)?

Some of those thin, overcheck stripes are bounded by a different colored "border" on either side, such as those in a Mackenzie. Would that "border" color also be a minor color?



Thank you.

[Chas]

I have always called it the background and the overcheck.

I think minor colours would be called such, because there is physically less of them. So they would be the overcheck. The majority of the colour being the background.

The only bottle colour I have ever heard of is Bottle Green. And I believe that what you are calling border colours are called guards. But I would not think of the guard colour as part of the overcheck, rather a support for it.

I don't know if any of this helps or hinders.

Regards

Chas

[M. A. C. Newsome]

"Bottle green" refers to a shade of dark green, which is also sometimes called "tartan green" depending on the kilt hose manufacturer. "Bottle" is not something that refers to a specific range of colors, it's just a descriptor used for that particular shade of green, like we have "navy blue" and "charcoal grey" and "kelly green."

And the minor colors in a tartan are simply those colors which there are physically less of. Accent colors, if you will.

[ForresterModern]

In the piece of tartan you display I would say the dominant or background colors would be the brown, medium grey, and either charcoal grey or black major stripes that flank those dominant color bands, while the accent colors would definitely be the white and red highlight stripes, and I would include the black accents stripes that marginate the red and white, which appear darker to me than the dark charcoal grey of the background.

The only two instances of the use of the term bottle as it relates to kilt wear is as above the "bottle green" color, and bottles of fine whisky that we may use to fill our flasks for our sporrans or for an evenings relaxation.

Cheers.

[tulloch]

I think whatever color hose you choose, if it is solid, (rather than argyl), I would use a color that is similar to but less prominent than one of the colors in the tartan. For the above I think a dusky off-white, a maroon or a light, pale blue. You could also head into shades of brown. Mostly I would want that beautiful tartan to be the thing seen with other things - the jacket, waistcoat, hose and cap being subordinate to it.

[dea3369]

As always, thank you to all for your insight.