The Kilt Hose Quandary

[Blu (Ontario)]

In the depths of winter, I tend to dispense with the fashion dictates of warmer weather and go with what makes sense. Going bare legged in the arctic temperatures of deep winter does not make sense... neither is it something to be trifled with. Temperatures in Ontario can be downright dangerous at times.... no "winter wonderland" I assure you.

Safety before fashion.

[Chef]

Well I must admit I think the idea of whether hose are worn up or down while hiking is a somewhat silly question. I realise that it is fashion...I also remember when we wore knee high tube socks for gym...but fashion is bloody silly if your legs are cold. When I was young we always wore our hose up (the fashion of the day I guess) unless we got to warm and then we pushed them down. So I am sure the fashion police faint away if you pull them up because your legs are cold.

[Robin]

And what about "ankle height" shoes?

I own a pair of brown ankle height brogues and my hiking boots are also not that bulky...lightweight ankle height Timberlands.


The Timberlands


The ankle height brogues


Timberlands in the mud with hose up

I personally think the brogues look perfect with hose up...in fact it will look really silly to wear them with hose down. And since my boots are sort of low profile I think they look ok also with hose up.

[LoftGuy]

Hi Robin,

I must agree with you, both brogues and boots look fine with hose pulled up. And, good choice wearing hose the same colour as the mud.

Bob

[Macman]

I'll wear hiking boots with hose up if it's cold. It's just more comfortable for me sometimes. I remember seeing old pictures somewhere of guys in "hiking kilted" attire, with hiking boots and socks rolled down, and with their hose and flashes as well (i.e. two pairs of socks) and I thought it looked fine and presented a balanced look.

[Ialtog]

I've been thinking about exactly this issue as I spend a lot of time birding and I live at 7,000 feet. It can be fairly nippy in August. I don't have much experience with this, being new to kiltdom, but it seemed to me that the color of the hose would really affect this, wouldn't it? Off-white hose might look a bit more odd pulled up with hiking boots than say, brown?

[Riverkilt]

I agree...function before fashion when out in the weather.

With the cold weather I've started wearing my heavy kilts and with that, indoors in the office, have worn my kilt hose up.

The flashes are a bit over the top for the casual atmosphere of my office, but I do wear the matching tartan flashes with my heavy kilts. I paid for them....and I think it does add a bit more of a traditional/ethnic look.

I sometimes wore flashes with my solid contemporary kilts last year but when I look back at the pics now I wonder why.

Ya just gotta play with it.

And, I have it on good authority that time spent in front of a mirror working on getting your kilted look "just right" is added to your life span.

Ron