Going to a ball don't want to look like a goof

[OC Richard]

Richard, where did you get your tartan hose?

The castellated Isle of Skye hose were got used on Ebay. Happily the guy had just as big feet and calves as I do.

The Drummond of Perth (House of Edgar "muted range") hose were made to measure by Kilkeel in Northern Ireland whose main business is full tartan hose for Highland Dancers.

http://www.kilkeeldancinghose.co.uk/

It's strange how the various streams of Highland Dress have diverged over the years, and things which were once universal have been jettisoned by some streams and been retained by others.

In the old days plain hose were only worn in Outdoor Dress with tweed jackets; at all other times everyone wore tartan or diced hose.

Due to the twin impacts of Kilt Hire and modern Pipe Band dress, which around 1970 both switched to plain hose, tartan hose have become much less common today's Highland Dress.

But tartan hose are far from dead! Because there's one stream of Highland Dress in which they remain de rigueur: Highland Dance outfits.

And to supply the thousands of Highland Dancers worldwide there are firms dedicated tartan hose production. Since nowadays Highland Dancers usually choose tartans (designed specifically for Highland Dancing) which have all sorts of bright garish colours, these tartan hose makers maintain a huge range of yarn colours and can match pretty much any tartan.