Scathing Attack on White Socks

[The Wizard of BC]

Thank you Anne the Pleater for bringing up this point.

I think it is good to remind ourselves from time to time, where much of what we think of as accessories for our kilts comes from. Prior to the Regency period and the introduction of long pants by Beau Brummel, most men in the western world were wearing powdered wigs and short pants with white knee hose.

White was considered the mark of a gentleman because it is harder to keep clean. Clean and starched anything denoted one with enough money to afford servants.

The military use of white in uniforms also comes from this period, for much the same reason. White leather and canvas requires daily 'chalking' to keep them white. Polished brass, and in fact almost all 'bright' metal required daily polishing. Even the 'spit shine' of our shoes date from this period.

It is pretty easy to follow this trend in fashion all the way up to today. Our wing collars, on tuxedo shirts with starched panels, are stark white. Our Jabot and lace cuff are always white. When I was growing up in the '50's a brand new, spotlessly clean, white t-shirt became famous. In the '60's no business man would be caught dead in a soiled white shirt. (Many would keep spares in their desk drawer and changed their shirt two or three times during the day.)

Anyone today who has ever worn white hose with their kilt can attest to the amount of trouble white is. And I'm not talking about ecru or 'cream' hose.

So, in effect, white has always said to the world "I've made it" "I have enough money or spare time to care for my whites".

I sometimes think we forget this in today's world. We have washing machines and synthetic fabrics that retain their bright white with very little work. Our fabrics today retain hard, sharp creases without constant starching and ironing.

I can agree with the fashion gurus that white socks with dress trousers is not a good fashion statement. If however, you want to be historically accurate and traditional in your kilt, a pair of "The whitest of white" kilt hose do have a place in your wardrobe.

[auld argonian]

The ubiquitous white cotton tube sock seems to be the popular favorite for all occasions in these parts...now being replaced by the white cotton "footie" sock that allows men to display their nkles....and we all know how THAT drives the wymmins wild.

But question is...since the white kilt sock thing is a creature created by rental companies, what does a knowledgeable kilty to do when he's asked to stand up to a wedding and all the gear is hired and white socks are included? If it's "better dead than Red", is it "rather fight than wear the white"?

Best

AA

[HippieLee]

My personal general rule is:
Never wear white socks with any shoe dressier than sneakers.

My weekend attire is almost always jeans, tennis shoes and concert t-shirt. I always wear white socks - either long tube socks if I'm wearing my Chucks high-tops or those ankle socks if wearing my cross-trainers.

But at work I don't wear sneakers (except on casual friday) so I have always worn colored socks - usually dark blue or black although I do have a pair of bright blue and silver Dallas Cowboys socks I wear when I feel like sportin' my team. And Romo hasn't fumbled. I should probably get a pair of Garnet and Gold FSU socks too.

But none of that has much to do with how I will wear my kilt attire - my first kilt won't be here until November so I have time to read threads like this and plan my look. I like learning the "rules" and knowing why customs are customary so I'll know better if and when I should break the rules and/or disregard the custom. I trust you ladies and gentlemen to teach me in that regard WAY more than I trust some fashion website bloggy thing. :-)

Edit to add: I didn't mean to t give the impression I cross train - that's what the shoes are, not what I do with them. Unless by "cross-training" you mean holding a beer in each hand and alternating which one I drink from on each chug.

[Kilted Cole]

I'm going to wear white sock now, just as my way to say......well......what they can do to themselves for being over opinionated ........yeah....you know where I'm going with this.

[Kilted Cole]

So yeah......take that letter to the editor....:butt:

[Chas]

So yeah......take that letter to the editor....

Oh dear. What are you wearing on your head?

[Kilted Cole]

Oh dear. What are you wearing on your head?

LOL...front view of a black flat cap. lol...yeah....not the best pic of it. D' Oh!

[mookien]

What I take from all this is that if I wear a "sports" kilt (whatever that is) I should wear white socks and sneakers. I'm glad to get that fashion advice. I plan to give it all the consideration it's due.

[WillowEstate]

But none of that has much to do with how I will wear my kilt attire - my first kilt won't be here until November so I have time to read threads like this and plan my look. I like learning the "rules" and knowing why customs are customary so I'll know better if and when I should break the rules and/or disregard the custom.

The only rules is there are no rules! Dress maketh the man, they say and for me, that's it. What I wear expresses my personality on any particular day and the image I choose to present to the world. If the world doesn't like it, that's the world's loss.

I do wear off white hose with some old white leather Nike trainers and very occasionally with a kilt and "proper shoes" but generally, I prefer darker colours with the MacKenzie tartan, modern and Seaforth.

Oh, and like HippieLee, I'm fit enough I don't need to "train" - the Nikes are just comfy!

[tundramanq]

Take note that cream/offwhite is the color of natural wool. To get white you have to strip the lanolin and bleach the wool.

Here my knee high cotton/spandex support hose only come in black and white. I have to dye some of the white ones to increase the variety of colors to choose from. I choose the color I wear based on that looks good to me that day. White gets worn about as much as one of the colors or black.