Looks and why they work.

[Shuteye]

Very casual, modern for relatively cool weather - Quicksilver tweed flatcap worn backwards, stone/leather necklace with a pictish horse etched on the stone, celtic theme leather wrist brace, Lowa boots with snowboarding socks, 2" plain belt, and a glass of wine for good measure. Levi jean trucker's jacket mixes well. I like my UK Workman for cool weather with boots. My first try a posting a pic with new photobucket account. Woo hoo, it worked!

So what makes this look work in my mind? Because I feel just like I do in jeans, which I have worn most of my life. It's casual in an everyday sort of way and makes me feel comfortable with myself when out and about town.

[3fingerslinger]

16 oz. Lochcarron Dunbar modern (my family tartan) Dunbar tartan tie w/ black shirt, red flashes, 2" kilt belt, daywear horse hair sporran, and my best accessory......my wife Lisa..informal Vegas wedding, not overdressed but not in a t-shirt while wearing a traditional tartan kilt.



SWK heavyweight shadow tartan w/ matching flashes, Scottish Hooligan Society shirt, spiked armbands, black kilt hose and 2" kilt belt, daywear sporran black......perfect for playing parties and shows or going to parties and shows.



SWK Irish tartan w/ badger sporran, bottle green kilt hose, green flashes, 2" kilt belt, Clan Dunbar shirt and again, my ultimate accessory Lisa (she just makes me look good) and our Irish Wolfhounds Hale and Caradoc.





And this is the look that my wife likes best.....

[AKScott]

This is a look my fiance really likes. I also posted it in the fedora thread. I shoulda worn my sunglasses for this, pretty bright out today.

Spring melt is a very akward footwear season here, we get about six weeks of ice sheets in the morning with afternoon mud puddles. Thankfully the melt is well underway.

I would be fine hiking or doing yardwork in this, but I am very ready for boot season to end.

[AKScott]

Shuteye, looking good.

[CMcG]

Shuteye, looking good.

***

I'd like to follow up on the modern kilt look. Once upon a time I made a pilgrimage to the Utilikilt flagship store in Seattle. I was wearing baggy jeans, skate shoes, a hoodie, and a ballcap, which I figured I should be able to swap a Utilikilt into without difficulty. Wrong! I looked like a dude in a skirt

Where did I go wrong? After some reflection and Google image searching, I've come to realize some things about the modern kilt aesthetic. The best accessories are the ones that symbolize toughness and/or manliness: facial hair, boots, muscles, tattoos, chains, leather, sunglasses, and dirt.

This is not to say that one can't wear a modern kilt in other ways. I'm sure a tee shirt and flip flops, for example, is very comfortable. But to my eye, the lack of traditional indexes pointing to Highland masculinity are a weak point that must be taken into account.

Look at Shuteye, in post #11. Facial hair and boots! Also check out a thread I started a while back for Xmarkers' modern kilt pics.


And here are a selection of pics courtesy of Google:

[TheNaughtyScot]

Major point of fashion that has been true regardless of trends:

Your belt, shoes, and sporran should match. Brown with brown - Black with black.

It's the most noticeable flaw when properly accessorizing your kilt. If you take time to match these items, it will pull the rest of your outfit together with a unifying theme. Please do so.

[CMcG]

Major point of fashion that has been true regardless of trends:

Your belt, shoes, and sporran should match. Brown with brown - Black with black.

It's the most noticeable flaw when properly accessorizing your kilt. If you take time to match these items, it will pull the rest of your outfit together with a unifying theme. Please do so.

Let's qualify this a bit, because matching leathers is a not universally true sartorial point.

In traditional Highland civilian dress, for example, mixing of leathers is quite common. Furthermore, part of a rebel modern kilt look is a "devil may care" attitude, which ironically can also include not bothering to match stuff.

Kilt wearing that adheres to a more contemporary North American aesthetic might look more unified with matching leathers... and colour coordinated everything else while you're at it

[Zardoz]

Major point of fashion that has been true regardless of trends:

Your belt, shoes, and sporran should match. Brown with brown - Black with black.

It's the most noticeable flaw when properly accessorizing your kilt. If you take time to match these items, it will pull the rest of your outfit together with a unifying theme. Please do so.

While I personally follow this rule of thumb, I think you'll find some folks feel that a little mis-match; like a brown sporran with black shoes for daywear, is OK. I'm sure they're right, but it makes a little fuse blow in my head
I eliminate the issue in my wardrobe by having only black leathers, and not feeling bad that I can color coordinate.

[kiltedwolfman]

Not to tear this thread away from it's orginal intent but I have often wondered where the idea of brown for day and black for evening wear came from? I personally prefer to wear what I like regardless of time. If it's 20:30 hours and I feel like sprting brown all over then you betcha I'm sporting brown. That being said I almost always wear black as it happens to be one of my favourite shades, and can go with practically anything.

[AKScott]

Major point of fashion that has been true regardless of trends:

Your belt, shoes, and sporran should match. Brown with brown - Black with black.

It's the most noticeable flaw when properly accessorizing your kilt. If you take time to match these items, it will pull the rest of your outfit together with a unifying theme. Please do so.

I respectfully disagree.

I recall my mom laying down the matching leather law for my second day of kindergarten. I had met a very cute girl the previous day and appeared at breakfast for day 2 in my favorite slacks, with my favorite shirt and my favorite tie. That would be plaid slacks, a vertically striped shirt and a paisley tie.

While it is difficult to go far wrong with matching leathers, it also shuts out many combinations that can work.

WRT the wizard's recent challenge that we provide pictures rather than mere doctrine, I submit the following. I should point out in advance today is my day off and I am still on my first cup of coffee. I cropped my face out as I still look a bit of a fright this morning. I see the yellow stripe on my front apron is off center and my garter ties are usually better length balanced than this. Likewise I see that I really do need to move my sporran strap buckle around back - I am waiting for my tank ( due any day now) to arrive before I finalize strap construction.