Kilt accessories

The modern, tailored kilt which is ubiquitous at Highland games gatherings around the world has associated with it an evolving style of wear. This style includes the accessories and other accoutrements which are typically worn with it. In this sense, it is very much like other items of the fashion world.

Along with this development, a range of opinion concerning proper, appropriate, or even correct styles has also developed. Attitudes range from those who hold very firm views on the etiquette of how, where, and with what, to wear the kilt, to those with more relaxed views, such as is represented by the following quotation from Matthew Newsome's Patented Advice for the First-Time Kilt Wearer:

Remember that when it comes to modern fashions of Highland dress, what you will read will simply be the opinion of the author and nothing more. Note, I said "modern fashions of Highland dress." When it comes to historical matters, we can certainly say what people did and did not wear, as a matter of fact. But this doesn't need to dictate what you can or cannot wear at present. When it comes to this, there are no rules, only opinions, and you can choose to give as little or as much weight to them as you wish.

Keep this in mind throughout. Unless you are a member of a military regiment, a pipe band, or some other quasi-military group that has a specific dress code, your kilt is not a uniform. It is an article of clothing, just like your trousers, and you should feel free to accessorize it however you think best.

This article will attempt to detail some of the more common kilt accessories as seen in actual wearing practice. In this sense, it is like a dictionary which catalogues usage, not an etiquette book which declaims on proper style. However as in all cases of dress for men do not expect to turn up at a formal event such as a Royal Garden Party wearing something silly without being the object of ridicule. The same as not wearing correct evening dress at a white tie affair.

Traditionalists insist that unornamented brown leather belts, sporrans, and shoes should be worn for daywear. Black leather and silver ornamentation are reserved for evening wear (White tie, Black tie, or Mess dress). A gentleman's Argyll Jacket in tweed or solid color is suitable for daywear for those occasions that would usually require a sports jacket or lounge suit, while an Argyll Jacket in black or a Prince Charlie Jacket are suitable for evening wear. With some ensembles, a fly plaid is added in the form of a pleated cloth in the same tartan as the kilt, cast over the shoulder and fastened below the shoulder with a plaid brooch.

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Wikipedia