Boots or dress shoes with vest and tie?

[kingandrew]

I agree that dress shoes are te way to go with a tie and vest.

I think combat boots can look cool with a kilt, but I'd pair them a leather jacket and a white t-shirt. Definitely a more casual combo.

I have a pair of hiking boots I wear casually with my kilt, along with a turtleneck and a "varsity" style jacket. But I wear brogues or other dress shoes with a dress shirt and tie (and choice of kilt vest and/or jacket).

Andrew

[OC Richard]

The most important thing is to be comfortable for your parade!

The fact that you're wearing fairly dressy clothes from the waist up is why people are recommending shoes rather than boots.

My perspective is that there are various modes/genres/styles of kilt-wear. Generally people dressing in one of these "fashion cultures" display a certain degree of internal consistency.

Here are some:

Modern traditional Highland Dress. The style that's come down to the present day through an unbroken chain of evolution from unknown origins. This style has remained practically unchanged for a century.

Here are two civilians and one military man in the 1950s. The civilians' attire would look normal today, as it would have in 1920. The footwear is plain black shoes.



Historical Highland Dress. This is going back in time and plucking out a style which is extinct/no longer in fashion/no longer mainstream. In the mid-to-late 19th century it was quite common to wear ankle boots with Highland Dress. This style is now undergoing a bit of a revival.



The Utilikilt fashion culture. This began in Seattle only around 20 years ago and from the get-go was a complete fashion culture which generally included certain hair styles, tattoos, piercings, shirts, and footwear. The latter was generally Doc Marten ankle boots.



An interesting evolution of the Utilikilt fashion culture has been it being embraced by people in the US military