Quote Originally Posted by Tiny View Post
I have a couple pairs of "cream" hose but to my eye they just look white.
At least with the hose worn by Pipe Bands, the difference between the cream hose and the new pure white hose was very clear. When the top bands began showing up with the pure gleaming stark white hose it really stood out as looking sharp and crisp and all the cream hose suddenly looked dingy and dull. No band wants to look dingy and dull, so they all scrambled to get the new stark white hose.

About the hose being long, yes, the hose worn nowadays by most pipe bands, called "Piper Socks" by the maker, are very long, going halfway up your thigh, and are then folded over two or three times to get the bulky turnover cuffs that pipe bands like.