Buckles or Laces?

[Jock Scot]

I've never heard of this tradition of black hose causing offence at weddings. Granted, I don't live in Scotland, but having been on this forum for almost 10 years and having seen probably hundreds of discussions of wedding attire with input from Scots of all persuasions, I would be surprised that such a tradition had never been mentioned. Not that I have reason to doubt Hirsty's experience with it, but I'm wondering if it's a very regional thing, or perhaps just a tradition within certain social circles?

I must say that I have not ever heard of black hose causing offence, or even that they might. On the other hand, apart from perhaps a pipe band that might wear black hose, most of us up here just don’t wear them.

I think we need to be very careful of mixing pipe band attire and general civilian kilt attire as they do have different traditions. We also need to remember that pipers are entertainers and showmen and as such, much of their attire should not be regarded as useful guide to general civilian kilt attire.

[Hirsty]

To put the black hose matter into context - the first I heard this mentioned was from my grandfather who was a kilt wearer even prior to entering military service during the Second World War and this was advice passed down from his father.

Now it wasn't just from this side of the family. From both my mother and father's sides this piece of advice (amongst many others) was passed on and my family was from all over - Arran, Angus, the Lothians, Dumfriesshire, Fife, the Borders, Inverness-shire.

My family are from working class and upper middle class with the merging being so scandalous, even more so than my great-grandfather being a (not so) former priest, that my mother's branch dropped the name Falconer and took the name Little.

Also, I have heard this advice regarding black hose from sources other than my own family so I can surmise that it wasn't limited to one family or one locale or one class nor was it a recent affectation.

Personally, I wouldn't take a wedding guide as gospel - it is an industry notorious for being subject to the whims of quick-changing fashion.

Please note - I did say previously that it depends on the people and gave an example of a wedding that I attended where the groom was wearing black hose. However, I can think of less than a handful of times that I saw someone in black hose and every time it was noted by others.

As for funerals, not everyone has black hose, never mind highland dress so they may not necessarily be wearing them.

Now my advice on hose is just that - advice. Take it or leave it. But please be aware that it was given without any mischievous or mendacious intent. It was given in the spirit of camaraderie.

[kingandrew]

Perhaps this is an example of something that was traditional in some areas at one time that has fallen out of practice in the decades since. We have all seen that fashion is a fickle thing and I certainly find people dressing for the theater, church, office work, and other daily events--let alone special occasions like weddings--in ways that would have been shocking or scandalous a few decades ago (I grew up in the 70s ad 80s). It would not surprise me to discover that such a tradition, regardless of how widespread or localized it was, would have melted away under the forces of change, informality, and "athleisure."

Andrew

[McCracken140]

I think we are at risk of confusing ‘traditional’ with ‘customary’. A good example is what was mentioned earlier re hose and brogues in black tie

Tartan hose and bucklers are ‘traditional’. This had been the practice for formal evening wear for well over 100 years.

Solid coloured hose, in a dark colour or in a colour of the wearer’s kilt, worn with ghillies or polished day brogues, is the most common standard in the modern day. This is, currently, ‘customary’.
It has been accepted for long enough that it seems relatively immune to the changing winds of fashion, yet it has not been established for multiple generations, so personally I don’t believe it (yet) constitutes a ‘tradition of dress’.

Indeed the hose ‘fashion cycle’ evidently can be relatively short lived as shown by the examples of the G1 pipe bands.

Regarding the ‘tradition’ of white hose for weddings and black for funerals— I have really no clue about this, but from I have read in this thread, I would bet that it was a definitive custom at one point in some areas of Scotland. However, if it were a long-standing tradition we would have heard about it by now.

[McCracken140]

As it were, I think the best policy is a tasteful combination of our traditions, the current customs, and a little bit of the trends, in that order. If you were to go “Full Send” with a traditional evening outfit, like our icon PM John D Burgess, you would look great— but you’d stick out like a sore thumb, to the point of being perhaps even ostentatious.
If you went all the way with the current custom, you would blend in to the uniform crowd of black PCs, navy blue hose, and white sealskin sporrans.
If you only wore the fresh trends you’d look like you came out the wrong end of a hire shop.

The best policy is a combination of all three factors. This reminds me of something I read, along the lines of “Living in the present, with strong roots in the past, looking towards the future.”

What would Highland Dress be without it’s history? Yet we don’t want to look like a bunch of MacLeay brigadoons. And what kind of society has “fashion conscious” folks like us who don’t indulge in a little bit of changing styles?

//End Speech lol

[Me cousin Jack]

More and more I’m liking not only the look of this type open shoe, but the additional cooling I’m invisioning it provides.