Hose Height / How much knee?

[Macman]

I like mine a tad shorter. I'd estimate 2 - 3 fingers below the hinge bone on the outside.

[BBNC]

Wherever you feel looks good on you, or whatever your better half thinks. But if you have to have a measurement, 2/100 of a mm is impressive to say if someone asks, and most folks haven't a clue what that means, LOL.

[Steve Ashton]

I chose this photo to show hose height simply because I was up on a stage so you are not seeing the parallax effect in other photos. The photographer was lower, about the height of my sporran so you are seeing everything straight on.



I'm in the school that likes my kilts at the top of my kneecap and my hose higher than that worn in the military.

There is a bone that you can feel just under the bottom of the kneecap and half way between the front of your leg and the side of your leg.
The top of my hose in this picture are right under that bone. This is also one hand width under the bottom of my kneecap.

This is higher than you see in the pic posted by MacMan above.

[SeumasA]

I'm only 5'7" but I have big calves (16 inches), so the only thing that works for me is to put the garter right above the top of my calf muscle. That just happens to work out to Nathan's three fingers below the kneecap.

[ASinclair]

I like my kilt to stop at the top of my knee. I'm a runner, so I have large calves. I pull my hose up to just under my knee cap. Here's a picture --

IMG_0269.jpg

[Aussie_Don]

I'm still sort-of new, but as far as hose length I'm more or
less forced by biology. I've got big calves -- as in 16" -- and
the only place that works for hose tops is just above the
bulge of the muscle. (And, FWIW, I'm about 6' and 15% body
fat -- so they aren't going to get smaller.)


This leaves the hose top only about 1 or 2 fingers below
my kneecap Any lower and they'd fall down. And my
sgian dubh would fall out.

-Don

[McRoy]

I've always followed what I was taught in the military, two fingers below the knee bone you can feel to the side just under the kneecap. IMHO the hose pulled up to the hem of the kilt looks a tad retarded.

[Father Bill]

I've always followed what I was taught in the military, two fingers below the knee bone you can feel to the side just under the kneecap. IMHO the hose pulled up to the hem of the kilt looks a tad retarded.

As a former teacher, please: the word "retarded" is not the general word for bad things, and is rather offensive in general context.

[OC Richard]

Interestingly this article which talks about the Inverness Kilt Society discusses this very thing, hose height.

In The Graphic, 9 August 1913, there is an article about the kilt (Is the Kilt in Danger?) wherein is mentioned

The Inverness Kilt Society, aided by Lord Lovat, Lord Seafield, The MacKintosh, and Lochiel, have just drawn up rules for the correct wearing of the Highland costume.

...Hose are to be worn one inch higher than the centre of the calf.

...There should be about the width of a hand between the top of the hose and the bottom of the kilt.

The main point of the article is that the kilt is losing popularity in the Highland battalions due to having too much cloth, but mainly because of the ancillary things such as spats, hosetops, and the hair sporran. The article calls for the introduction into the army of long plain hose and leather sporrans (both of which were done a year later).

Here it is



Note that all four of the hose illustrations show hose being worn higher than the traditional Army height. (Well, the Seaforth Highlander, 2nd from left, is very close.) When I wear my diced hosetops at the necessary height (necessary to make the correct number of diamonds appear) and my kilt around the top of the kneecap in the old way, the distance between the edge of the kilt and the top of the hose is around TWO hand-widths.

Note in the centre photo, showing an army kilt being worn, how amazingly high the rise of the kilt is.

[MacGumerait]

[QUOTE=Steve Ashton;1244802]I chose this photo to show hose height simply because I was up on a stage so you are not seeing the parallax effect in other photos.




Yes , I know what you mean . I can see that kilt hose height is the focal point of the pic .