Customer photo courtesy of Scotweb
Edinburgh Castle guard - Photo courtesy of Corgi
42nd Regiment Officer circa 1780A reader expressed doubt about how it could take Corgi eight hours to make a pair of socks adding The Trad should add a "Gullible Approved Badge." That's a stamp up there, mate and these are tartan hose not socks. With help from Corgi and a little research I learned why it takes eight hours not to mention some other tartan facts.
"To start with the yarn is specially twisted and dyed for us and is not generally available. It is a 4 ply pure merino wool. We knit the leg part of the sock on a flat knitting machine and it is then linked together by hand into the tube shape of the leg. By knitting it flat we can vary the thickness of the leg to allow more room for well developed calf muscles.
This 'tube' is then picked up stitch by stitch by hand on a 100 year old hand sock knitting machine and the foot section is added completely by hand. The toe is then linked closed, again by hand. Finally the sock is washed, then pressed in a 60 year old flat bed press on specially shaped wooden boards." Chris Jones, Corgi Hosiery
There are a number of hose patterns Corgi make to be worn with a kilt. The idea is not to match the hose to the kilt but rather for the hose to compliment the colors of the kilt. As an example, I've seen both red and navy checked hose with the Black Watch kilt as well as a burgundy and white check.
When it comes to who can wear tartan, Alastair Campbell of Airds, writes in Brian Wilton's, Tartans, "So the answer to the question 'What tartan am I entitled to wear?' is - Any tartan you fancy. The sole considerations are good taste - some tartans are appalling clashes of color!"
And you don't have to wear a kilt. When the Urban Outfitter designer showed me the Black Watch golf jacket, I mentioned the ugly lining should be replaced in three panels with the 42nd's regimental colors of green, navy and burgundy. This is where - what you wear - not only looks good but has some intelligence and thought behind it. Even if it's just you who understands what's going on.
I love a man in a kilt. I expect to see at least three tonight at a black tie affair, but I was surprised to see a guy wearing one last week in a store in Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteAbout ten years ago we went to St. Andrews for a conference and for the last night's gala, the host provided the entire kit to all the men. After we wrestled DOTR into everything, he said "man, I hope I don't have to go to the bathroom, I'll never get this back on."
I just lifted the front of his "skirt" and said DUH. Love that man.
Knowing it materrs to you, matters. Really it does.
ReplyDeleteBrummagem Joe, the leopard is a great movie and a better book.
ReplyDeleteas for this post, lots of talk about of skirts and hose.
It's very odd - I was on my way to a doctor's appt this morning when I passed a new sign advertising a place called the "Tilted Kilt Pub".
ReplyDeleteWhat is it when you see something, then read something, and they are all related? Coincidence or what?
I need to stop in at the Tilted Kilt.
silk - tilted kilt is a breastaurant in the vein of hooters, but with girls wearing kilts instead of orange shorts.
ReplyDeleteDallas said...
ReplyDeleteBrummagem Joe, the leopard is a great movie and a better book.
I've had the book for forty years and read it a couple of times. Like all novels it's more nuanced than a movie can be but I recently re-watched a re-issued version of the movie which is truly magnificent. Lancaster moves like I want to move, and Cardinale glows. God is she sexy. The entire second half is given over to the ball scene where the women's costumes are magnificent but they are outdone by the men's, particularly the uniforms which are incredibly accurate. No wonder the producer of the movie went broke.
Been trying to get my husband into a Utilikilt for years, to no avail.
ReplyDelete