Am I being too matchy-matchy?

[Dale Seago]

Brown sporran, black shoes. . .My first thought on seeing that was "I'll have to try it sometime and see if it works for me".

Then I remembered I did do that at least once, at dinner at a restaurant. The sporran and kilt belt here are dark brown; you can't see the shoes, but I remember that I was wearing black brogues:





Maybe I'll do that sort of thing more often. . .

[gwynng]

Nice looking sporran. Is that tartan in the Hamilton Grey family? (AKA - Grey Douglas, Hamilton Granite or likewise)

[Dale Seago]

Nice looking sporran. Is that tartan in the Hamilton Grey family? (AKA - Grey Douglas, Hamilton Granite or likewise)

My mom's a Morton (Douglas affiliation); the tartan is Douglas Grey. Good guess!

[gwynng]

Well not that good a guess. It looked really familiar because I just made a kilt in Douglas Grey! Guess I have to starting thinking about a brown sporran after all.

[OC Richard]

photos of HRH the Duke of Rothsie, and that's the fact that he wears black shoes and a brown sporran.

When I first got into kiltwearing in the mid-1970s I got the impression, from catalogues and photos etc, that in Highland Day Dress brown sporrans were the norm and black shoes were the norm. In fact I had been around Highland Dress for a while before I saw my first pair of brown ghillies, or my first black Daywear sporran. The first time I saw a guy wearing all matching leather with Day Dress (sporran, ghillies, and waistbelt all exactly matching brown leather) it struck me as strange. (It was an American guy BTW.)

This impression has only strengthened over the years, especially now since I've begun collecting vintage Highland Dress catalogues. In the old catalogues I have from the 1920s and 1930s all of the Daywear sporrans illustrated and listed are brown leather, usually pigskin or occasionally deerskin, and all the shoes illustrated and listed are black. In other words it would not have been possible for a gent to outfit himself from one of these Highland Dress outfitters in Day Dress with matching leathers.

Now for pictures!

Brown sporrans and black shoes have been with us since the earliest clear depictions of Highland Dress, here in 1714



and in 1930



and in the 1920s




and in this 1938 catalogue you can have any colour you want, as long as you want brown

[TheBrus]

That's interesting. I can't think why no one thought to make black sporrans back then, but I would imagine the black shoes are due to the ubiquity of shoe blacking. Black shoes would be easier to maintain, I suppose, because of the universality of shoe polish color. Personally, I think the normal distress that brown leather gets through use would be more aesthetically pleasing on a brown sporran. Not sure if any of that's true, but that's what I was thinking.

[Tuirc]

Whether "proper" or not, I don't mix leather in other than daywear occasions. In daywear, I may wear my hiking boots which are brown. Haven't given it a moment's thought. There's also a bit of green Goretex that goes well with the kilt.

[TheOfficialBren]

I will second that, Tuirc, regarding the hiking boots and green Goretex as I do something similar, myself.

I often wear my Doc Marten's (in brown) with my simple, self-made black sporran (originally brown leather that I dyed black) and I also wear my Doc Martens with a vintage(WWII) army amunition pouch on a matching belt.

Currently my only kilt right now is a Stillwater Thrifty Black Watch so either option seems appropriate.

[Dangerdean]

For the time being I think I'll have to just wear what I have, as my current dress shoes are neither black nor brown.

[TheOfficialBren]

Those are handsome kicks, Dangerdean!