Colors - Matching

[Jock Scot]

Blimey MacLowlife! I have never ever thought along those lines! Maybe, I have ended up with the sort of effect that you talk about, maybe not, I don't know. But that all requires far, far too much thought for me!

[creagdhubh]

There are theories about colors- about what goes well together and what does not. There is also dogma, or a set of ideas that go beyond mere theory, but still has no means of proof. Why? Because we are talking about matters of taste. Having said that ( and implying that nobody can dispute matters of taste) let's take a look at the color wheel.

Imagine a triangle. At each point, place a color- red, blue, yellow. Now place a second triangle on top of it to form the Star of David. Between red and blue, put purple, between blue and yellow, put green, and between yellow and red, put orange. The first three colors are the primary colors, the second are secondary colors. Each primary color is directly across the center of the star from a secondary color- blue is across from orange, etc. And each pair of colors across the center is a pair of Complimentary colors. That is, blue looks good with orange, red with green, and yellow with purple.

Of course, there is a whole different way of characterizing colors- warm ( or yellowish ) and cold ( bluish). And there are dozens of other ideas, like the one that compares colors to the seasons of the year. Generally speaking, though, people like to see complimentary colors together. They also like to see warm colors with other warm colors and cold ones with cold ones.

You will note, however, that such classic combinations as the blue and green of the Campbells and the Black Watch do not follow this rule. And we have not even mentioned brown or black. My advice is to look at the colors in your tartan and see if you can "pull out" minor colors ( i.e., accent them) by repeating them in another part of your outfit. Or go for a nice contrast where matching won't work. My final advice is to close your eyes and throw on the first five things you put your hand on. Take a look. If it scares you, change. If it looks surprisingly good, wear it.

Finally, everything goes with black. But all black? Maybe not.

As a former K-12 Art educator with an undergraduate degree in fine art and a master's in education, I know precisely where you are coming from in regards to the colour wheel (as well as colour theory) and you raise some very interesting points. Well said!

[Carlo]

I had a good laugh when I came across the following statements.

MacLowlife here:

(...) That is, blue looks good with orange, red with green, and yellow with purple. (...)

The Wizard on another thread:

(...) My advice would be don't worry about matching solid colored fabrics exactly to one color of a Tartan. The only thing I would NOT do is pick solid colors that clash with your Tartan. Solid Orange with a Predominantly Blue Tartan may not go too well. (...)

Edit:
Obviously if you want to read the context, both quotes link to their original place.

[HippieLee]

...That is, blue looks good with orange...

I am sure that fans of the University of Florida Gators would agree however, as a man conceived in Tallahassee and lifelong fan of the Florida State University Seminoles, I was born to recoil at the sight of that particular combination. ;-)

[TJ Kelley]

I am sure that fans of the University of Florida Gators would agree however, as a man conceived in Tallahassee and lifelong fan of the Florida State University Seminoles, I was born to recoil at the sight of that particular combination. ;-)

Heheeheee, as a Iowa Hawkeye I feel the same way about Silver and Red.

[KiltFitz]

I tend to enjoy matchy matchy and mixed colours, it depends on the event. I have a very matchy-matchy formal outfit which I get lots of compliments on but I think mixed colours are better for daywear.

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I wore both of these outfits to the same wedding in fact. One daywear for the ceremony and the other for the reception

[OC Richard]

The military often retains very old ideas about Highland Dress. One of these is to NOT match things to the tartan! So we have red & white hose and a red jacket worn with Black Watch tartan, which contains neither red nor white



And in the mid-19th century it's still going strong in civilian dress, this brilliant used of red & yellow tartan hose and a brown jacket with a Black Watch kilt, which contains none of these colours

[OC Richard]

Strange... the site won't let me edit my message all of a sudden, so here it will be as a separate post.

So here's the sort of kit I'll grab out of the closet when I'm heading out for a piping gig.

I like claret or royal blue hose with my Isle of Skye kilt; neither colour appears in the tartan. (I always wear a jacket, it so happens I just took my jacket off here)



Now, if I were to theorise about it (I was an Art Major after all) I can see that I've chosen warm/cool colour-pairs for the hose/flashes and shirt/necktie, each colour-pair having internal harmony but not matching anything else (claret v scarlet etc). I usually wear royal blue flashes with those claret hose, so the hose/flashes are claret/royal blue while the tie/shirt are scarlet/sky blue.

I've noticed over the years that wearing one of the kilt's major colours with hose and/or jacket will drain that colour out of the kilt, mute the kilt, while wearing contrasting colours tends to vitalise the kilt and let the tartan's colours zing. (The Army knew this in 1739.)

[frank_a]

This is funny. I have tried not to be too matchy-matchy after some shots I posted a while back with my clan tie and flashes. Then I got involved with the local St. Andrews Society. These guys almost to a man dress with ties and flashes that match their kilts. So at last night's meeting, I did the same, with a light blue dress shirt, lovat blue kilt hose, my dark gray tweed vest, and my VMac tailored kilt jacket with my Ancient Campbell kilt. I was floored with the compliments I got. Mind you, this was just an experiment, as they will have to put up with me in tattersall and/or brightly colored shirts and regimental ties with colored flashes. Still, when in Rome...

Frank

[Nathan]

I prefer a more colour coordinated approach but that might just be because my kilt has red, green, blue, black and white so most of the accessories available are sold in these colours. I don't go out of my way to match the exact shade. For example, my lovat green tweed jacket, the forest green TOS, the loden green hose and the bottle green in my kilt aren't exact matches, but they certainly are complimentary.

I often wear a tattersail shirt with tan and black checks but that is coincidentally picked up by my sporran and shoes regardless of whether I go with black or brown.

I like to pick up the red in my kilt with my garter ties and checked hose cuffs. A burgundy pocket square also ties in with the reds. As I said, I'm not concerned with shade, really.

I sometimes wear my dad's "matching" tartan waistcoat but it really isn't because the set is smaller and the white is yellowed by my father's nicotine addiction.

The diced hose I wear with my formal rig aren't visible in the photo but they are claret and green diced which pick up the major colours from the clanranald tartan. My Balmoral doublet is bottle green which is a colour in my tartan, but so is black so even if I went with the more common choice, I'd still be picking up a colour.

When I wore my new charcoal jacket recently, I opted for charcoal hose to compliment the jacket rather than any of my other hose (several shades of green, navy) that would pick up the tartan. My usual red garter ties did pick up the red in my kilt and my necktie, a burgundy, gold and green also tied in with the tartan, though not exactly.

The shot with my fellow xmarks members at the Embro games was on Canada Day, so red and white were a deliberate feature in the ensemble.

I don't go out of my way to match every bit and bob but I also don't feel the need to avoid it either. I like to look pulled together, but I think avoiding exact shades helps avoid a matchy matchy look while still achieving a look that displays something other than random. To each his or her own.

Scottish Festival - Rideau Acres May 25, 2013 - Nathan Bishop MacDonald in Highland Kilt.jpg

Rick MacDonald and son Nathan MacDonald in Highland Attire at Kingston Scottish Festival 2013.jpg

Cobourg Highland Games - June 15, 2013-8907.jpg

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Clan Donald Tent - Cobourg.jpg

Clanranald tartan kilt with charcoal argyll jacket.jpg

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