Royal Regiment of Scotland kilt pics

**Retro Red** · 5th July 07, 10:21 PM

WOO-HOO!!! It's finally here!

Took over 2 1/2 weeks to get here (not what I was expecting when I shelled out the extra dough for airmail), but the Royal Regiment of Scotland kilt arrived earlier, today.

That's the good news; the bad news is they sent me one that's too long!

So, looks like I'll have to go to the extra trouble of getting it shorten by 2 1/2 inches.

But anyway, it's a beautiful tartan & a fine kilt. That military box pleat is pretty amazing & the pleats swish like no kilt I've ever seen - it's like it's alive!

Here's some pictures of it fresh from the package.

Once it's altered to the correct length for me, I'll get some pics of me in it.

Lot's of little box pleats held together with basting stitching

A couple more looks at the basting stitches before they're removed. (For w2f's benefit.)

(more pics to follow...)
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**Retro Red** · 5th July 07, 10:31 PM

taking the basting stitches out...

It's too bad this is out of focus cuz it was not only suppose to show the kiltmaker's label, but also the waist liner, which is a coursely woven cotten material; quite different than any civilian waist liners I've seen. I was told that this material is suppose to be more comfortable, but I believe the real story is that it is cheaper. Perhaps some of our more knowledgeable kilt maker's & kilt historians can provide further explanation for the different waist liner material.

(more piccies on their way...)
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**Retro Red** · 5th July 07, 10:36 PM

the military box pleats set free from their shackles...

trying to show the military box pleat innards...

(one more batch of photos on the way...)
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**Retro Red** · 5th July 07, 10:41 PM

left & right set of buckles (tho' the 3rd extraneous buckle has since been removed); notice the traditional military use of solid black material rather than matching tartan for the buckles.

That's all the pics for now. I'll post more after it's been hemmed & I can wear it without it hanging below my knees.
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**cessna152towser** · 6th July 07, 01:21 AM

Looking good, once you have had the length adjusted you will wear it proudly.

**McClef** · 6th July 07, 02:08 AM

The overall workmanship and quality looks good, shame about the length though as it means extra jonesing.

**BruceK** · 6th July 07, 07:32 AM

As I posted in the original thread I received my Argyll kilt yesterday and it's too long as well. (I'm detecting a pattern here...

) How / Where does one go about getting a kilt shortened?

**turpin** · 6th July 07, 07:35 AM

I'm betting that it has a typical high military rise, and that is why it's too long overall. You may have confused their length as stated on ebay with "drop" from true waist. Any time I am looking at a kilt on ebay I always ask the seller whether the stated length is total top to bottom, or from the center of the top buckle.

**Retro Red** · 6th July 07, 11:30 AM

Hey, Bruce, I PM'd Barb T about the possiblity of hemming my RRS kilt, here's her reply -

"Well, I suspect that you got caught by the fact that "length" to a kiltmaker is the distance from the center of the buckle to the bottom. So, if your kilts are 24" overall, you need to give a kiltmaker a length of 22" to get a kilt that is 24" long (i.e., 22" length plus the rise). Ditto 21" for an overall length of 23". That's because the amount of rise can vary from kilt to kilt. It's the length from the center of the buckle that is the same for a particular size person.

I do know military box pleated kilts, and they would be extremely difficult to hem. It's possible to hem a heavy-weight, knife-pleated kilt, but a military box pleated kilt has too many little folds to hem well. I hate to say it, but I think you're stuck. What about selling it to someone else on eBay or in the forum?

Sorry for the bad news!

Barb"

So, that kind of explains how we both ended up with longer than expected kilts. I was going to write to Bill at Argyll Kilts & see if there was any chance of exchanging for a shorter version. Have you heard back from him?

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**BruceK** · 6th July 07, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by turpin

I'm betting that it has a typical high military rise, and that is why it's too long overall. You may have confused their length as stated on ebay with "drop" from true waist. Any time I am looking at a kilt on ebay I always ask the seller whether the stated length is total top to bottom, or from the center of the top buckle.

That's precisely the measurement I sent the man. I measured the overall length of one of my other tanks and said that was the overall length I needed. I suspect something got confused somewhere along the line... Note that specific lengths were not listed on eBay - there were a variety of them available.