Interesting find on a Geoffrey the Tailor kilt

[NorCalPiper]

I did a buckle move to day on a Geoffrey kilt and realized that he does not employ a reverse pleat on the under apron. Is the reverse pleat a "kilt maker's option". I always have employed it and found it unusual that it wasn't employed on this kilt.

[Downunder Kilt]

I have a fully hand sewn kilt from Scotweb that does not have a reverse pleat on the under apron (fringe side) I purchased it about 4-5 years ago, just before they went to machine or hand sewn. It is their model known as The Balmoral and I believe made by the firm Balmoral

[Guinness>water]

My kilt made by Geoffry tailor dosent have a reversed pleat. It being the first kilt I ever bought, I didnt know there was another way.

Check your PM, by the way.

[xman]

This Geoffrey, part of the Kilt Kollection, does not either.

[davidg]

I purchased a traditional 8 yard hand sewn heavyweight from them about 18 months ago and mine does have a reverse pleat

[Barb T]

This Geoffrey, part of the Kilt Kollection, does not either.

When a kilt has an inverted pleat under the underapron, it allows the underapron to "move" as the wearer walks without pulling on the pleats. Without the inverted pleat, the last pleat in the kilt feels a tug and opens up as soon as the wearer takes as step. If I were to put the very classy embroidery inside the last pleat that XMan's kilt has, I would want it to open up every time the wearer took a step. Otherwise, it would never show. So, I would leave out the inverted pleat in that case. On the other hand, for a kilt without this kilt of embelishment (virutally all kilts), an inverted pleat helps keep the line of the pleats looking nice when the wearer is walking. Takes a little more tartan, but a kiltmaker isn't really saving much in terms of tartan cost or labor by eliminating it.

[Barb T]

And the post I just made implies that kiltmakers who leave out inverted pleats do so for a specific reason. In most cases, a kiltmaker actually just makes a kilt a particular way because that's the way that particular kiltmaker learned how to make a kilt.

Some variations don't make a whit of difference, whereas others matter a lot. I don't make our band kilts (except my own), because a) it's too boring and 2) I know how many of the people in the band treat their kilts....Aaaaanyway, the company that makes our band kilts has kiltmakers that put darts in the front of the kilts that need a lot of shaping, and they continue the taper of the pleats and the apron edge all the way to the top of the kilt. This makes the top edge the smallest part of the kilt, and it has the inevitable result that the kilt sags because it's impossible to buckle a kilt tight when the smallest part is at the top of the kilt and not at the line of the buckles. My point? This is not the right way to make a kilt and makes the kilt hang wrong, but they've been doing it that way for years.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I just completely ripped apart a G.T. made kilt (several years old) for a complete rebuild for a client. It had a reverse pleat on the under-apron, just as you'd normally expect.

[NorCalPiper]

Seems strange......I would understand if it were a possible time saver NOT including it to keep the price down, but that aspect of the build takes very little time, and I feel adds a certain tailored dimension to the kilt. Go figure......

[davidg]

Seems strange......I would understand if it were a possible time saver NOT including it to keep the price down, but that aspect of the build takes very little time, and I feel adds a certain tailored dimension to the kilt. Go figure......

Not all kilts are equal though. GT makes a range of different specs and it would be interesting to see whether there was a common link between those that have this reverse pleat missing (e.g. casual kilts or similar). Certainly there would be a marginal saving in cloth used which could amount to a considerable financial saving if selling such kilts on a large scale