Don't get ripped off on things you don't need. The list of accessories is long, really long. And within every category there are so many varieties. But don't despair. Perhaps you don't need any at all and by all means you can do with very few and they don't need to cost a fortune. Find out, which accessories can be close to must-haves, which ones might be nice to have, and which you shouldn't consider at all for casual and smart casual wear, and some not even for dress-up events.

Kilt accessories are related to the traditional kilt.

Really casual

When going really casual you can wear just the kilt. Especially in summer when you would otherwise wear shorts. To consider might be a kilt belt. Otherwise, simply wear one of your normal belts.

Just the kilt is something most non-Scottish. But assuming, you are not Scottish and not in a Scottish context, it is OK.

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Smart-casual

There are only four accessories which I consider being really basic. They are

1) a sporran
2) a kilt belt
3) kilt socks
4) garters

To some they might be one or two too many; to others too few. But let's go through them.

 

A sporran

A traditional kilt has no pockets. The “authorized” pocket for a traditional kilt is a purse to hang on your front and is called a sporran.
There are three types of sporrans, dress sporrans, semi-dress sporrans, and day wear sporrans. For casual wear only the day wear sporran is a possibility. Sometimes it is called a leather day sporran.

With or without tassels?

Most sporrans on the market come with tassels on the front. When you are walking they make you sound like a drummer. To most kilt wearers it seems to be OK. To me it is not.
I suggest you go for a plain leather day sporran without these noisy and annoying tassels.
Often sporrans with tassels are cheaper than those without them. If you buy a sporran with tassels, and you don’t like the noise they produce, cut them off. Just be sure that they are fastened under the sporran flap.



Earlier mentioned Championkilts.com is selling sprrans without tassels.

Chain or strap?

With very few exceptions, sporrans are delivered together with a metal sporran chain.

A chain can be a little bit hard on your kilt, however. That is what many frequent kilt wearers think, and accordingly they, for casual wear, prefer a leather strap. Me too.



I have made me some black and brown leather straps for my day sporrans. But such are also to buy. Tartanista, a London based company, sells cheap leather straps in black and brown. (Should you feel tempted to buy one of their 'value kilts', don't think of wearing a sporran).

Must I wear a sporran?

Going without a sporran is definitely against rules. Kilt and sporran are often considered strongly connected items. Some kilt wearers will even say that without a sporran a kilt is a skirt. That makes no sense. A car from which something as essential as the wheels have been stolen is still a car, is no bycycle or whatever. But back to the question, you must not.


About the casual kilt CLAN says



In disfavour of the sporran is also the fact that today’s smart phones have become big, very big, and soon they’ll grow out of sporrans, meaning you must have another place to accommodate them. Or sporran makers are to adjust sizes in accordance with today’s needs.
If your kilt is designed to sit low, which, according to CLAN, a casual kilt should, a sporran might either hang too low or be too close to the top of the kilt.

A belt

An original kilt belt & buckle might be a little bit overdressed for casual wear; nevertheless it looks quite good; and wide-enough ordinary belts are hard to find elsewhere. Also, kilt belts and buckles are most affordable, so go for them. You might have a look at Tartanista, London
There are some less 'Scottish' alternatives, however. Before mentioned Championkilts.com is, along with ordinary kilt belts, selling some doppel prong fashion kilt belts.

Must I wear a belt?

Technically there is no reason why you should wear a belt with a kilt. By means of buckles and straps it stays up perfectly well. However, a kilt looks at its best together with a 2 ¼-2 ½ inch wide belt.
If you are wearing a sweater untucked - as it should be – a belt is unnecessary. If you are wearing a waist coat, you should not wear a kilt belt!



 

Kilt hose

Long socks, called kilt hose or kilt socks are common with the kilt. They are basically "over knees" and meant to be folded down about one inch (2.5 cm) below your knees, contrary to knee high socks that end just below them.
They come in many colours.

White socks, whether long or short, are not to everybody’s taste; nevertheless, most kilt socks are probably white or off white. The reason might be that they'll go with practically every kilt.




Other popular colours are black, charcoal, lovat green, lovat blue, bottle green, dark grey, bordeaux, red, and navy.

Kilt hose must not be solid coloured. In fact, some Scots like diced ones. So I have been told. I definitely prefer solid coloured socks. In my book, mixing different patterns is bad taste but you do also sometimes see it in women’s fashion. So, we are all different.

All kilt vendors I know of are selling kilt hose. You might also take a look at Tartanista.
Due to the customs clearance fee, which always applies when goods are sent from 3rd countries to EU-countries, it might be a good idea to order more socks at a time.

If your shoe size is 39-43 (6.5-10 US; 6-9.5 UK) you might be able to find some thick overknee socks - in local women's stores or on the internet. In off white or charcoal they have no gender, but might very well be faster and easier to get. Prices are the same or cheaper. And no taxes and fees come on top, if you are an EU-citizen.

Garters

Kilt socks are sliding down, which is most annoying. To overcome this problem, you'll need garters. They are invisible when your socks are folded down just below your knees as they should. I'll go as far as to say that garters are the most important accessory for kilt wearing.

Garters always come with flashes.
Considering, like me, flashes overdressed for casual wear? Just remove the flashes from the garters, or don't mount them. When you think you need the flashes put them on. It is very easy.

This ends the list of the high land items you need when wearing traditional kilts in a smart casual way. For less than £70 you can have them all.

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Dress it up a bit

You might invite your wife to a nice restaurant or go to the opera house or theatre. In these cases you'll probably need a few more or other accessories:

A kilt jacket

Men's ordinary jackets are too long to wear with a kilt and should look absolutely ridiculous. You’ll have to invest in an Argyle/(Argyll) or Braemer, of which the Argyle is the most popular one. It is available in various colours like lovat blue, lovat green, and of course black, the latter probably being the most versatile one. Price level £150-£250.


  

Flashes

Supposing you already have garters, you’ll also have flashes. For dressing up they might be fine. How to wear them is described on the next page.

A kilt pin

Many kilt wearers are always wearing a kilt pin. It is cheap, and if you want one, buy one, and wear it. Also, for casual wear.




A kilt pin is for pure decoration and to be fastened to the outer apron about three inches up from the bottom of your kilt and about two inches from the apron fringes.
Some will say a kilt pin, due to its weight, helps keeping the kilt down in windy weather. It is not my experience.
For obvious reasons a kilt pin is not welcome on board a flight.

Kilt pins are available in many designs. From about £10.

I have several kilt pins, but I will only wear them at dress-up situations and even then, far from always.

A warning

By NO means a kilt pin shall hold the two aprons together. It should destroy your precious kilt in no time!

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Taking it further

For dress up situations where you could not go without your best evening suit, you might need some extras.

 

A sgian dubh

The sgian dubh is the Gaelic name for the special knife to be worn in your right (or left) kilt hose. Be aware, however, that in some countries the wearing of it could bring you to jail if the blade is a little bit too long. And don't even think of wearing one in an airport.

You can have sgian dubhs which are made of harmless plastic, and nobody knows until you draw it. But also replicas of weapons may not be permitted on board an airplane or they might otherwise be considered illegal. 
 

I will only wear a sgian dubh at dress up occasions AND when at no risk of being accused of illegal possession of weapons.

 

Ghillie Brogues

Special shoes with long laces to tie around your ankle. Unless you'll wear your kilt at white or black-tie events, you don't need them.

The full packet

The two pictures above illustrate where many other kilt sites start. Should you like to know more about how to dress for such rare occasions you'll find excellent advice on some of tthem.
To my opinion, they are big overshooting the mark when it is about wearing a kilt as daily attire, meaning to replace jeans, shorts and equivalent, and where the kilt should just be considered another piece of clothing, rather than part of national dress.


 

Don't waste your money

A dirk in the belt, a bonnet, feathers, cap badges, and a plaid over the shoulder? Absolutely NO. Too much national dress and should look rather ridiculous if worn by a non-Scott.

Let's sum it up

1. For casual, really casual wear you don’t need accessories at all.

2. For casual/smart casual wear you should probably invest in

a day wear sporran
a kilt belt
kilt socks
garters.

None of the items must be expensive. Black leather things go with all kilts. Black, white, and dark grey or charcoal kilt socks go with most tartans.

3. For dress up events like visiting better restaurants, going to the theatre, concert hall etc. you should complement with a kilt jacket.

All other accessories are up to you, unless we talk black and white tie functions, where rules must be followed.

Regarding the sporran, you above might have noticed the mentioning of a semi-dress sporran. It has more decoration of some kind than a day wear sporran and is what you 'should' wear at such events.
I prefer, at all times, a nice day wear sporran over a semi-dress one; this due it's cleaner design.

That was what should be said about accessories. Except, perhaps for one thing, which might come in handy; regardless of how you else are going to accessorize your kilt:

 

Under your kilt?

What you wear – or don’t wear - under your kilt is a matter of personal preferences. But the idea of wearing the kilt “like a true Scotsman” on a more or less regular basis might appeal to many. Probably every kilt wearer has tried it at least once. It is part of the game, isn't it? However, before you ditch your underpants keep in mind: Wool kilts must be dry cleaned and even if some PV-kilts are machine washable they might still need a lot of ironing.

With only 5-6 kilt wearers out of 10 (according to earlier mentioned YouGow reserch) wearing regular underwear under their kilt, there should be a big market potential for a solution, at the same time solving the hygiene problem and still letting 'them feel the breeze'.

A kilt liner

Such solution does exist. It is called a kilt liner. But even if making a lot of sense, obviously only one company is selling them, AktiveSkin. Their kilt liner is $24 + shipping (+ VAT, if you are an EU citizen). It is 46 cm long, is made of nylon and comes in two models, one black opaque and one in sheer i.e. transparent nylon.

A reason that SktiveSkin is alone on the market might be that some kilt wearers have found other solutions for the hygiene issue.





But how about comfort, you may ask, when wearing a kilt liner or skater skirt as underwear? Try it out. I guess you'll find these “semi-commando” things very much as good as the ‘real thing’.
However, if you think tradition must be followed, forget about this advice, whether kilt liner or skater skirt, and do what do you must.

Besides, on windy days or when you have to do a lot of sitting there certainly are better, more straight-forward solutions than going full- or semi-commando. And even then, the kilt is a most comfortable garment.