Hello from southern Illinois

[Bheleu]

Hello all my name is Paul and I want to buy my first kilt, but I am uncomfortable with measuring. In looking for a place that would be able to measure me I came accroos this site and found the name of a store fairly close but it seems as though the store has closed. I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of someone who could measure in the area of Carbondale illinois

[Father Bill]

Welcome to the "Great Rabble"!

Although it's always nice to meet your kiltmaker and be measured in person, many folks have to order from a distance, and I can recommend any of our advertisers for that. The one thing on which to be cautious, is that each of them has their own way of measuring, so don't use the instructions from one and then order from another - recipe for problems there!

Good luck and we'll look forward to all the pictures!

[KiltedSergeant]

There is a very good chance that you won't be able to find a tailor knowledgeable about kilts to measure you. So, I would take Father Bill's advice; decide from whom you want to order a kilt, print out their measurement instructions, then take them to a tailor to do the measurements for you according to those instructions. He/she might charge you for the task, but it would be money well spent. However, I believe most would do it for free, hoping of course that someday when you need tailoring/sewing you would use their paid services, and that you would spread the word of their kindness!

[RichardtheLarge]

I forget which website I saw that does this, but someone is recommending the “towel method” for getting the length right. The waist and hip measurements are pretty straightforward (just remember that a typical kilt height is around or even slightly above your navel), but length is tricky because the measurement changes if you’re leaning or shifting around.

With the towel method, you hold a folded towel across your kilt waist line and adjust the depth of the fold until the long towel panel runs from the waist line to the top of the kneecap (I’m one of those “show the whole knee” people). Then, you could clamp the fold in position with a binder clip and measure the length of this panel. This measurement is a very good way to gauge your true kilt length.

[Tomak]

Hello and welcome from Southern California.

[Liam]

Welcome from Western Canada!

[Jack Daw]

Hello and welcome from Houston, TX. BTW, my grandfather was born in Grand Chain, IL, and his uncle is buried in the Masonic cemetery there. This uncle and my great grandfather had a wagon-making shop in Golconda in the 1880s.