House of Cheviot/ Gaelic Themes color comparison?

[kingandrew]

I really feel like any of these grey colors will look suitably "dressy" and will match whatever you wear them with. The bison browns would also look fine. If you want a little more flash, the brighter colors from HOC (mustard yellow, tartan red) will also look fine, but make a bolder statement.

From your description, the outfit is mostly neutral colors and black, so nearly any hose color should work well. This means you can pick a calm grey pair and a more assertive bright pair to get 2 contrasting looks, as long as your budget supports buying 2 pairs of hose.

Andrew

[Dollander]

My advice is to develop your own style. And it will change with time!
Slainte

Well, yeah, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. I know in a nutshell what I want, and I know what I think looks good when I see it. I'm fully aware that my accessories don't have to match one of the colors in my kilt (though I've given up trying to tell that to my one coworker who always has to comment whenever I wear burgundy hose with my blue/green/azure MacCallum modern kilt ), or each other. But that doesn't mean they can't, either.

Here is the tartan from which I'll be making the kilt. I overlayed the muted swatch on a kilt in the modern equivalent for comparison, photographed by the light of my nightstand lamp and on the hood of my car on an overcast afternoon, respectively:
tullibardinemutedmodern.jpg
Tartan red would clash, claret would be redundant, black is boring, and ecru and lovat green are too light for my tastes. I've seen pics of a predominantly-red muted kilt worn with bottle green, and I thought it looked good in it's own right, but it's not the look that I personally am after.

Originally I was considering getting both a tie and flashes in HOE's muted green. Then I ordered a sample of olive green satin from which to make my own (tie from the shiny side, flashes from the matte side). It was a different shade than the muted, but it still looked good with the tartan...except that in certain lighting it turned a putrid shade of bronze. Meanwhile, I went to the thrift store intending to purchase an ugly enough tie that I wouldn't mind cannibalizing to make a pattern (and for the interfacing), and instead found the green tie I mentioned. Obviously I won't go with green flashes if I opt for green hose, so I'm thinking perhaps blue or red instead...or maybe I'll just remember that I'm dressing for myself and not the rabble as a whole, and go ahead and make myself bias-cut tartan flashes from the excess fabric:
flashtemplate.jpg

But back to the hose, my only concern is whether or not I'll like the color when I see it in person. As I said before, I like how my grey and charcoal GT hose look with the tartan, but Steve's photo shows that they're they're medium-light and medium-dark compared to their very light and very dark HOC equivalents. I'm planning to head to USA Kilts on Saturday...or next Saturday if it indeed snows this weekend like they're predicting. Maybe I'll like the mid grey when I see it, or the ancient green. Or maybe I'll hate them both and take my chances with the bison or charcoal...so perhaps I should find out which retailer has the most painless return policy, so I can order both and return the pair I don't like without losing too much money in the process.