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?
By all means, you can do with very few, and they don't need to cost a fortune. Find out, which accessories might be close to must-haves, which ones might be nice to have, and which ones 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 don't need any at all. Especially in summer when you would otherwise wear shorts. To consider might be a kilt belt. Otherwise, simply wear one of your normal belts.



Wearing just the kilt is something very non-Scottish. But assuming, you are not Scottish and not in a Scottish context, it is OK - to my opinion.

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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 these 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. It is called a sporran.
There are three types of sporrans, dress sporrans, semi-dress sporrans, and day wear sporrans. For casual wear the day wear sporran is the right one. 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.

Earlier mentioned Championkilts.com is selling some sporrans without tassels.



Often sporrans with tassels are cheaper than those without them. An example is this fine and most affordable sporran from Tartanista London.
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. On most sporrans they are.

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 ones are also to buy.
From Tartanista they are to have in black and brown at most affordable prices.

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 bicycle or whatever. But back to the question, you must not.



In disfavour of the sporran is also the fact that smart phones have become big, very big and are close to growing out of today's sporrans, meaning you must have another place to accommodate them. Or sporran makers are to adjust sizes in accordance with today’s needs.
Also, 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 take a look at Tartanista, London.

There are some less 'Scottish' alternatives, however. Before mentioned Championkilts.com is, along with ordinary kilt belts, selling some double prong fashion kilt belts.
And so does Tartanista.

I have once made my own belt but it hardly pays out when you can get one that cheap.

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, red, and navy.

Kilt hose must not be solid coloured. In fact, some Scots like diced ones, 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.

Tartanista claims that when they ship to some EU-countries, like Germany and France, they'll cover the taxes.

Another fine source might be Brevin & Co. Their kilt socks are very good. Being sold by Amazon, you might avoid taxes and customs declaration fee.

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 'must-have' high land items for 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. Then, 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, it is OK.




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 that 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! Therefore, only fasten a kilt pin to the outer apron.

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Taking it further

For dress up situations where you should otherwise wear your best evening suit or a tux, you might consider 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 very very seldom wear a sgian dubh and when, only at dress up occasions AND when there is 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 represent the level 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 them.
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, except for really dressed-up situations, a nice day wear sporran over a semi-dress one; this due it's cleaner design. Many, with a more traditional approach than me, might disaggre on the sporran question.

That was what should be said about special kilt accessories.

What else to wear with your kilt?

In general, wear what you should have worn with trousers in the same situation, only it should, with a tartan kilt, be monochrome.

On your head

A cap, a sun hat or nothing.

On your upper body

A t-shirt, polo shirt, oxford shirt, in fact any shirt you should otherwise have worn with trousers or shorts.

Shirt tucked-in or untucked?

Tucked-in is the general answer and on which purists insist. And with oxford shirts, I agree. However, men today are increasingly wearing t-shirts and polo shirts untucked when in jeans and shorts; why should it be different when in a kilt for casual wear? I myself, in general, prefer tucked-in shirts.



Depending on temperature, a sweater over your shirt is what to wear and always untucked, of course. A nice hoodie is also a possibility.

As outer wear on cold days a short wind breaker (bomber jacket type) or anorak will be perfect and look nice with your kilt.

Never wear a coat, covering your kilt and, like already mentioned, never one of your normal jackets which should be too long and look totally wrong.

On your legs and feet

After Brexit, cheap items like kilt socks have become absurdly expensive for EU-citizens, because the declaration fee might be higher than the price of the socks. You can either buy more at a time to share the fee, or you can look for alternatives.

Must I wear kilt socks when temperatures are high?

According to the purists, YES, but the 'Kilt Police' shall probably accept them scrunched down.
In that case, you can just as well wear suitable cheaper knee-high socks. When scrunched down, nobody can tell the difference, and the knee highs shall, due to less material, feel more comfortable.

Also, on a hot day I think that short socks or “invisible” socks or no socks are making a lot more sense than thick woolen kilt hose - provided the kilt is worn as casual wear and not to a wedding where a dress code must be followed.

Could I wear knee high socks, which are thinner than kilt hose?

No, not if rules are to be followed. But again, if you think your calves must be covered and temperatures are high, and you are probably the only man wearing a kilt, which practically is always the case, I don't see why you should not.

But optically, thin, non-tranparent over-knees socks, which can be folded down under your knees like kilt hose, might be a better choice than knee socks. Then you must visit a women's store, however, or order online.

Can I wear tights or leggings on a cold day?

The YouGov research, refered to earlier, indicated that some kilt wearers will wear tights and leggings under their kilts. On kilt forums, where it has been discussed, some are OK with it; others (most) are against. But after all, you can see men wearing them under shorts, so why not? They should be non-transparent of course. And you might consider wearing kilt hose over your tights.

When HRM King George IV in 1842 visited Scotland (it was the first visit of a British monarch to Scotland in 183 years) he, at the grand ball, was wearing pink tights, in a newspaper described as "buff coloured trowsers like flesh to imitate his Royal knees under a rather shortish (meaning too short) kilt".

Foot wear

Wear shoes fitting the purpose. For casual functions sneakers will often do. Heavy-duty shoes and walking boots are also popular. Or loafers and dress shoes. Simply wear shoes which you should have worn at similar occasions and in trousers.


  

If I let go of the sporran?

A shoulder bag is the obvious choice. Men do wear them already, so no big deal about that and suitable ones should be easy to find. For example Eastpack makes some nice shoulder bags. You can have them in about the same size as a sporran or you can have them bigger to accommodate a Mini-iPad or a regular iPad or a laptop. And in many colours. They are all unisex.

Sometimes, however, you have pockets enough in windbreakers etc.




By the way, the kilt itself, being unusual and thus an eye catcher to some extent, might, compared to neutral jeans and shorts, provide some added security against pickpockets, these types wanting to be operating as unnoticed as possible.

Colour coordinate

Think colour scheme when wearing a kilt. Colours of other clothing items should always be in harmony with one of the colours in your tartan or match them.

Under your kilt

What you wear – or don’t wear - under your kilt (or trousers) 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 'going without' at least once, this being part of the game, so to speak
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.

Considering, that almost half of all kilt wearers (according to earlier mentioned YouGov research) will not wear regular underwear under their kilt, there should be a big market potential for a solution, which can solve the hygiene problem while still letting 'them feel the breeze'.

The solution is called a kilt liner. But even if making a lot of sense, obviously nobody is making or selling them any longer. The company which until recently did, had a very old fashioned website, a good reason, why it couldn't go on.
Another reason might be that kilt wearers have found other solutions regarding the hygiene question. Or they wear their kilt so seldom that the hygiene factor is not an issue.

A kilt liner is - or rather was - simply a thin skirt or a half slip. Instead, a so-called skater skirt will do the job. And this might be what probably many kilt wearers have realized and practisize.



Such skirt is, contrary to what the “authorized” kilt liner was, wide, really wide, and accordingly much more like a kilt, in fact. The elastic waist and the jersey fabric you’ll know already from your underwear or sport clothes. So, nothing feminine per se about that. When worn under a kilt a skater skirt is just open, roomy underwear, which shall protect your precious kilt efficiently against you. 

The skirt shown under the kilt above is grey, but unless the kilt is grey, a black skirt is to prefer, because it better 'disappears' into the shadow under your kilt.

But how about comfort, you may ask? Try it out. I guess you'll find the “semi-commando” solution coming very close to the ‘real thing’.
However, if you think tradition must be followed, forget about this advice and do what do you must.
To be mentioned: 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.