Casual shirt color for Isle of Sky

[OC Richard]

Hello!

I recently got my second kilt from USA Kilts in the Isle of Skye tartan and absolutely LOVE it. I’m having a hard time finding a casual (t-shirt/long sleeve) colored shirt to pair with it.

Not sure what you mean by "pair with".

If you mean match, in common modern traditional Highland Dress there's not a concept of matching a shirt with a specific tartan.

Rather, a button-up shirt with collar in pretty much any ordinary shirt colour is worn with any tartan kilt.

Traditionally, for Day Dress a plain, or Tattersall, shirt is usual.

Now, what's a "Tattersall" shirt? It's one of those things that "you know when you see it" but putting it into words gets overly complicated.

Other than that, plain white shirts are the most common, but pale blue, pale yellow, etc are also seen.

Here are some Tattersall and Country Check shirts. Any of these shirts would pair with Isle of Skye (or any other tartan) just fine.



"Tattersall" implies a two-colour check pattern, square and equally spaced.

"Country check" implies a similar pattern but with three (or sometimes more) check colours, clearly seen in the shirt to far right.

[Tobus]

"Tattersall" implies a two-colour check pattern, square and equally spaced.

"Country check" implies a similar pattern but with three (or sometimes more) check colours, clearly seen in the shirt to far right.

I'm not sure that the definition of Tattersall is limited to two colours. I Googled around, and it appears that virtually everyone describes it as either "2 to 3" or "2 or more" colours. And I have certainly purchased shirts with a 3-colour check pattern that were called Tattersall, while others of the same design were called Country Check. From what I've seen, many use the terms Tattersall and Country Check interchangeably. Maybe it has more to do with Tattersall being even thickness of checks, where Country Check has variations in the thicknesses of the checks? I won't claim to be able to explain the difference, but I happily wear them all with the kilt and don't think the nomenclature really matters.

(I do have some checked shirts with base colours other than white/cream, but those don't get worn with the kilt.)



As to the original question, though, I feel like we're forgetting that this was asked in the contemporary kilt wear forum. So the OP is not necessarily looking for the traditional Scottish take. A kilt in Hawaii is non-traditional enough by itself, and I will go ahead and assume that he won't be wearing it with kilt hose or other traditional accoutrements, so perhaps the Tattersall shirt is not really what he's looking for. Personally, I wouldn't go out in public in a kilt whilst wearing just a t-shirt, so I really can't help there.

[kilted2000]

For some real world examples of kilt wearing, including the Isle of Skye tartan, have you seen this thread? I refer to it often. https://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/...entures-72206/

[OC Richard]

About "matching" colours in general, I prefer co-ordinating rather than matching.

The Isle of Skye tartan has purple, dark brown, and three different types of green as its main colours.

For co-ordinating purposes this list tells us what colours NOT to choose for some, or all, of the accessories.

Not shirts, but hose just to show the colours, here's my IoS kilt worn with Tan, Claret, and Blue.

None of these colours appear in Isle of Skye (though yes Tan is merely a much lighter Brown).

[Kitfoxdave]

I can relate to your desire for casual....
An off white linen shirt would work with the IoS, be light weight and cool in the tropical climate. (Would also help to reflect some of the sun).
The tattersall shirts are an option, but the cloth seems a bit heavy in the Florida heat and humidity, probably similar in your locale... a light shade of green may go as well. Best thing would be to take a friend that is good with color choices and wear your kilt to the shops. Once you have the colors chosen, you can expand your search online.
I find the T shirts to be hot and clingy in the heat of the day.
USA KILTS casual? Great in the hot and humid weather... neighbor found one for me in a thrift shop for $25 with a jacobite shirt.

Might try Etsy as well in your searches...

Best of luck

[MichiganKyle]

Isle of Skye goes well with lots of different-colored shirts. Haven't been to Hawaii in years, but I would probably wear something like this:

https://www.kuhl.com/kuhl/mens/short...irt/?color=Ash

"Blackout" and "Pirate blue" also go pretty well with it. These guys work pretty well, too:

https://www.eddiebauer.com/p/1295059...leeve-polo-2.0

For a long-sleeve option, this in Black, Moonless Night, or Charcoal has served me well:

https://www.jcpenney.com/p/stylus-me...plType=regular

All three of them are polyester or polyester/spandex, so add a cotton undershirt for moisture-wicking and all of them do an excellent job of keeping you cool and comfortable.

[Tomo]

IoS - colour-wise pretty much anything will go (although would try and avoid looking for an exact match with any of the dominant colours in the kilt). I tend to wear pale blue cotton shirts with all of my kilts (regardless of the tartan), these normally have a fairly subtle check in them (gingham or prince of wales etc.). Personally, I'm not a big fan of tattersall, I would also steer clear of ghillie shirts.

[Riverkilt]

I live in Arizona where it's hot too. Those Columbia, or those Guides Choice, shirts made for fishermen work well for me with Isle of Skye. USA Kilts Isle of Sky in this pic.
Most of these shirts have lots of pockets too. May not need a sporran.

[Riverkilt]

I live in Arizona where it's hot too. Those Columbia, or those Guides Choice, shirts made for fishermen work well for me with Isle of Skye. USA Kilts Isle of Sky in this pic.

Most of these shirts have lots of pockets too. May not need a sporran.

[SF Jeff]

IoS has ben my go-to kilt for many years. Mine is from the Lochcarron mill which if I remember right, has more subdued colors in IoS than other mills. IMO it is one of the most versatile tartans when it comes to accessorizing. As OC Richard's pic above show, you can do just about anything with it. Dress it up with black leather, shiny metal and a fine wool vested Argyll, or dress it down with brown leather, brass or antiqued metal and an earth-toned tweed jacket (which is my preference, although I am putting together a more formal set up).

As for what type of shirt, I've always been rather casual above the waist, especially alternating between NorCal and SoCal, where it can be rather hot when a lot of our events are held. The Pleasonton games (triple digits sometimes) are t-shirts for sure, but the Seaside games in October are sweater weather. In Hawaii, you're probably looking at lighter fare. I think something like a lightweight t-shirt in any shade of gray will work just fine.